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Surrenders and maturities

Frequently asked questions

Here are the answers to some of the questions you might have about the surrender or maturity of your Royal London life, savings or investment policy. These answers don't relate to Royal London pension, car, home or business insurance policies or funeral plans.

Surrendering means cashing in your policy early. It may mean that you may get back less than you have paid in. It may also mean that you get back less than you would if you continued to pay your premium. If you cash in a policy that includes life cover, the life cover will stop, so we won’t pay anything when the life assured dies.

Before you decide to cash in your policy you should consider other options that you may have. These depend on the terms and conditions of your particular policy but could include the following:

  • Selling your policy. If you have a with profits endowment or whole of life policy, you can get details of companies that buy and sell these by calling The Association of Policy Market Makers on 0345 833 0088.
  • Reducing your premium
  • Taking a break from paying your premium
  • Stopping paying your premium. If you keep your policy but stop paying the premium, we will pay less money when the policy ends than if you had continued to pay the premium.

For further information about the options available for your particular policy or cashing it in please contact us. While we can provide information, we cannot advise you what to do. If you are in any doubt as to what to do, you should contact a financial adviser for advice. If you do not have a financial adviser, you can can find more information about how to find an adviser in your area and other useful independent resources on our site. Advisers may charge for providing such advice and should confirm any cost beforehand.

If your policy has been assigned, it means that rights to claiming on the policy have passed to someone else, for example a bank or building society. In this case, before you can cash it in we will contact the bank or building society.

You do not need to contact us when your policy matures as we will automatically send you a cheque unless you have assigned your policy. If you have assigned your policy, it means that rights to claiming on it have passed to someone else, for example a bank or building society. In this case you will need to contact the bank or building society first.

If you have assigned your policy absolutely, it means that ownership has passed to someone else. In this case we will send the cheque to the new owner.

If you have a with profits policy, you can read about how we manage our with profits fund, including how we decide bonuses, in the PPFM section of our site. 

  • Depending on the type of policy you have, you may be able to surrender your policy before the maturity date.
  • This means that you will not get the same amount back from your plan and any final bonus will not be included
  • If this is something you want to discuss further, please call us on:
    • 0345 050 2020 for endowment savings plans taken out with Royal London, Refuge Assurance or United Friendly
    • 0345 605 0050 for plans taken out with Scottish Life
    • For CIS plans 0345 605 7777 - Lines are open 8am to 6pm Monday to Friday, excluding bank holidays.
    • For plans formerly with Abbey National or Santander, please call 0345 271 0007 - Lines are open 8am to 6pm Monday to Friday, excluding bank holidays.