Can you get life cover for a parent in Nigeria from the UK? The options compared

What routes do families actually use?

There are four main routes: a Nigerian life policy, a UK over-50s or life plan, a diaspora funeral cash plan, or a family savings fund.

A Nigerian policy is bought from an insurer licensed by the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM). A UK plan is regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), but the UK over-50s plans checked for this page accept only people who live in the UK. A diaspora funeral cash plan is sold to people living abroad and pays a cash sum when a named relative dies. A family fund is money relatives put aside together, with no insurer involved.

This is general information about how the options differ, not a recommendation. Which one suits a family depends on the person's age and health, where the beneficiaries live and what the family can pay each month, and a qualified adviser can help with that decision.

How does life insurance work inside Nigeria?

Life insurance in Nigeria is regulated by NAICOM under the Nigerian Insurance Industry Reform Act 2025, which commenced on 31 July 2025 according to the Act as published in the Official Gazette.

The Act brought the old Insurance Act and four other insurance laws together into one statute. Two of its rules matter most to a buyer: there is no cover until the premium is paid in advance (section 60), and the insurer must deliver the policy document on or before the day cover starts, and if it has not been delivered before a loss occurs, the insurer cannot rely on the policy's terms to refuse the claim (section 17).

An individual life policy is one a person buys on a particular life. A policy on someone else's life is void without an insurable interest, and the Act counts the customary-law relationship in which one person takes on the maintenance and care of another (section 66). The policy must name the person insured and the people it benefits (section 67).

Group life is cover an employer buys for its staff. Every employer must keep group life cover of at least three times each employee's annual total emolument, paid to the employee's named beneficiary (section 68). It is cover for employees, so it does not help a parent who has retired.

Individual plans for older relatives exist. One Nigerian family funeral plan reported in 2019 let a policyholder under 65 add parents and parents-in-law up to age 75, with a nine-month wait before a parent's death could be claimed.

NAICOM's register listed 12 life insurers and 8 composite insurers (which sell both life and general insurance) in November 2026. In August 2026 NAICOM confirmed 48 insurance companies and two reinsurers as meeting the new minimum capital rules under the 2025 Act.

Can a UK over-50s or life plan cover a parent who lives in Nigeria?

Normally not: the UK over-50s plans checked for this page are open only to UK residents, so a parent living in Nigeria would not qualify.

One provider's plan is for UK residents aged 50 to 80. Another's terms require the person to be resident in England, Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland, which excludes the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man. A third requires the person to be in the UK with a legal right to live here, to regard the UK as their main home and not to intend to move abroad permanently. These terms were checked in November 2026.

MoneyHelper describes over-50s plans as a fixed monthly payment for a fixed lump sum, usually for people aged 50 to 85, with acceptance guaranteed and no health questions. Regular life insurance assesses health, lifestyle and family history instead. How UK over-50s plans work, including their waiting periods and costs, is covered in the guide to over-50s life insurance in the UK.

What about diaspora funeral cash plans and family funds?

Diaspora funeral cash plans are sold to people who live abroad and pay a cash sum to named beneficiaries when a covered relative back home dies.

One UK-based provider in this category, as reported in the Nigerian press in July 2026, markets its plans with guaranteed acceptance, no medical examination and sums set in pounds, dollars or euros. The regulator that matters is the one where the seller and the insurer behind the plan are authorised, which may be a different country from where the buyer lives, so it is worth checking the names on the documents against that regulator's own register.

A family fund is money relatives set aside together, in a shared account or a contribution circle where members pay in each month. Nothing is insured: it pays only what has been saved, but there is no waiting period and no one loses past payments for missing one.

Many Nigerian families also raise money after a death. A 2023 study of bereaved people in Ebonyi State found online committee of friends groups on WhatsApp being used to raise burial funds, in response to the rising cost of burials.

How do the options compare?

What does NAICOM say about claims?

Under the 2025 Act an insurer must settle an admitted claim within 60 days of being notified, or pay a ₦500,000 penalty and monthly compound interest on the claim.

If the insurer declines a claim, or says documents are missing, it must say so in writing with its reasons within 60 days of receiving the claim (section 210). Where a claim stays unpaid, the person claiming can ask NAICOM to pay it from the insurer's statutory deposit.

NAICOM asks people to use the insurer's own complaints process first and says it intervenes in genuine claims disputes. Complaints go through its online portal at complaints.naicom.gov.ng or by email to complaints@naicom.gov.ng, with the policy details, the nature of the complaint and supporting documents.

A death claim needs paperwork from Nigeria. One Nigerian life insurer's published claims procedure, checked November 2026, lists a notification letter, the original policy document, a medical certificate of the cause of death, a death certificate, a burial certificate, the attending doctor's report and, after an accident, a police report, and it pays only if premiums are up to date.

Before you buy any life cover for someone abroad, check

The same checks apply to any policy or plan on the life of someone who lives in another country.

• Confirm in writing that the person qualifies where they live.
• Look up the seller on the regulator's own register.
• Ask which insurer pays the claim and where it is licensed.
• Find out how long the waiting period is.
• Ask what is paid if they die during the waiting period.
• Ask how, in which currency and to whom a claim is paid.
• List the documents a claim needs from their country.
• Name the beneficiaries and keep their details current.
• Get the policy document before cover starts.
• Ask what happens if a payment is missed.
• Agree who in the family keeps the papers and makes the claim.

Questions people ask

Related

• How does over-50s life insurance work in the UK?
• What a funeral costs in Nigeria
• Wills and documents with a parent in Nigeria
• What happens to a Kinship Plan when someone dies