Yes — and this deserves a clear answer because the confusion is understandable. Sainsbury’s exited banking (its core banking business transferred to NatWest) and arranged for LV= to offer replacement car and home insurance to those customers — but Sainsbury’s has confirmed that its life insurance, along with pet and travel cover, continues to be available as before. What changed behind the scenes is administration: policy servicing now runs primarily through Legal & General’s online portal rather than Sainsbury’s banking systems, and claims are handled directly by Legal & General. Existing policies are unaffected — same cover, same premiums, same claims process — and new policies can still be taken out. In practical terms, Sainsbury’s was always the shop window rather than the insurer: Legal & General has provided and underwritten these policies throughout, and that continues.

Legal & General — one of the UK’s largest and longest-established life insurers. Sainsbury’s Financial Services acts as an introducer: the branding, the Nectar points and the shop window are Sainsbury’s, but the policy you hold, the underwriting decisions, the ongoing administration and, crucially, the payout when your family claims are all Legal & General’s. That is genuinely reassuring — L&G paid out 97% of life insurance claims in 2024 and its products carry 5-star Defaqto ratings — but it also frames the key buying question: since the underlying policy is a Legal & General one, it is worth comparing what the identical or equivalent cover costs bought directly from L&G or via the wider market, because independent reviewers have found the direct route sometimes cheaper. The Nectar points sweeten the Sainsbury’s route; whether they sweeten it by more than any premium difference is a two-minute comparison.

They are a genuine perk with a calculable value — up to 32,000 Nectar points depending on the product and premium (worth roughly £110 to £160 to spend at Sainsbury’s), typically awarded after around five months of premium payments, with some policies also earning double points on shopping and fuel while the policy runs. The honest arithmetic: a life insurance policy runs for decades, so even a £3-a-month premium difference against a cheaper equivalent policy would outweigh the points within four or five years — and independent reviews have found Sainsbury’s premiums are not the market’s cheapest, with the same Legal & General cover sometimes costing less bought directly. So treat the points as a tiebreaker, not a reason: compare quotes across the market first, and if Sainsbury’s lands within pennies of the best price for the cover you want, the points tip the scales pleasantly. If it doesn’t, £160 of groceries is expensive at £30 a year for 20 years.

It is a standard guaranteed-acceptance over-50s plan — provided by Legal & General, open to UK residents aged 50 to 80 with no medical questions, paying a fixed cash sum on death, with the current promotion adding 22,000 Nectar points (worth at least £110) after qualifying premium payments. The product works exactly as this category always works, which means the category’s honest caveats apply in full: there is no cash-in value at any point, cover stops if you stop paying (losing everything paid in), and live long enough and your premiums can total more than the eventual payout — these are features of over-50s plans generally, not Sainsbury’s specifically. Guaranteed acceptance earns its place for people whose health would make underwritten cover difficult or expensive; for healthy applicants in their 50s, a standard underwritten policy usually offers far more cover per pound and deserves a quote first.