LifeSearch
LifeSearch is the UK's largest specialist life insurance broker, providing fee-free expert advice across life, critical illness, income protection, and business cover from 15+ major insurers, distributed via its digital platform, partner banks and building societies, and white-label PoweredBy LifeSearch technology.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1998
- HeadquartersMilton Keynes, United Kingdom
- Headcount251–500
- GTM typeB2B and B2C
- OfferingServices
What LifeSearch does
LifeSearch is the UK's largest specialist life insurance broker, founded in 1998 by Tom Baigrie and headquartered in London (registered office at 11-21 Paul Street EC2A 4JU, with operations in Milton Keynes). The company provides fee-to-consumer advice across the full protection product suite — term and over-50s life insurance, critical illness cover, income protection, private health insurance, family income benefit, terminal illness cover, and business protection (key person, group life, death in service) — sourcing from more than 15 major UK insurers including Aviva, Legal & General, LV=, Vitality, Royal London, Zurich, Scottish Widows, Unum, and MetLife. Under the two-entity regulated structure of LifeSearch Limited (Appointed Representative) and LifeSearch Partners Limited (FCA-authorised), the business earns commission from insurers when policies are placed, while advice is delivered free to the consumer.
Its core technology is a digital-first distribution platform with hybrid advice capability, underpinned by PoweredBy LifeSearch — a white-label offering launched in February 2023 that lets partner brands run online, offline, or hybrid protection journeys with tele-interview disclosure, pipeline management, underwriting support, retention/lapse management, claims handling, and trust placement services. The platform is offered to banks (Lloyds, Bank of Scotland), building societies (Yorkshire, Skipton), comparison websites (Compare the Market, MoneySuperMarket, NerdWallet), wealth managers (2plan), consumer champions (Which?), pension platforms (PensionBee), fintechs (Financielle), and insurers.
The go-to-market combines sales-led direct-to-consumer advice (phone and online quote-and-buy), distribution partnerships with major comparison websites and financial institutions, and white-label B2B enterprise advisory to brands that want to embed protection inside their own propositions. The protected customer base exceeds 1.9 million, with 14,000 new policies written per month as of 2026 (up from 10,000/month), £229 billion of total cover placed since 1998, and £105 million paid to 1,418 claimants in 2024. Revenue is generated primarily through insurance commissions on each placed policy, supplemented by partner technology and managed advisory fees from PoweredBy deployments.
LifeSearch firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- LifeSearch
- Legal name
- LifeSearch Limited
- Website
- https://lifesearch.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1998
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 251–500 employees
- Short description
- LifeSearch is the UK's largest specialist life insurance broker, providing fee-free expert advice across life, critical illness, income protection, and business cover from 15+ major insurers, distributed via its digital platform, partner banks and building societies, and white-label PoweredBy LifeSearch technology.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
LifeSearch industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Life Insurance Brokerage
- NAICS
- Insurance Agencies and Brokerages (52421)
- SIC
- Insurance Agents, Brokers & Service (6411), Life Insurance (6311)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Life & Health Reinsurance Brokerage (FSAOAHAF)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Basic Group Term Life (Employer-Paid) (FSAIADAA), Whole Life Insurance (FSAIABAA)
Keywords
Where LifeSearch is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Milton Keynes
- HQ country
- United Kingdom
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices1 record
Markets served
LifeSearch business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B and B2C
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations
Revenue model
- Insurance Commission: LifeSearch receives commission payments directly from insurers when they sell a particular insurer's policy. This commission is included in the customer's monthly premium. The advice to consumers is fee-free, with no obligation to purchase.
- Partner Technology & Advisory Fees: Revenue from providing PoweredBy LifeSearch technology and advisory services to partner brands including brands seeking digital-first, human-centred, or balanced protection offerings.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Freemium | Monthly | Fee-free protection advice for consumers |
Go-to-market motion3 records
Distribution channels6 records
Marketing channels7 records
LifeSearch product offering
Product offeringCore offering
LifeSearch is the UK's leading specialist life insurance broker, providing free expert protection advice to consumers on life insurance, critical illness cover, income protection, private health insurance and business protection. The company compares policies from over 15 major UK insurers and earns commission from insurers when policies are sold. It also offers PoweredBy LifeSearch, a white-label technology and advisory platform enabling partner brands and financial institutions to deliver protection journeys to their own customers.
Product overview
LifeSearch is the UK's leading life insurance broker offering a comprehensive protection advisory service combining digital self-service tools with human expert advisers. The core offering centers on comparing and recommending protection insurance products from major UK insurers, including Life Insurance, Critical Illness Cover, Income Protection, Private Health Insurance, and Business Insurance. Additional specialized products include Family Income Benefit (regular income replacement), Terminal Illness Insurance (early payout for terminal diagnoses), Children's Critical Illness Cover (child protection add-on), Death in Service (employer benefit), and Over 50s Life Insurance. LifeSearch provides fee-free advice, earning commission from insurers when customers purchase policies. The company also offers PoweredBy LifeSearch, a white-label technology solution for partner brands. Supported by partnerships with over 15 major insurers including Aviva, Legal & General, Zurich, Vitality, and Royal London, LifeSearch has protected over 1.9 million lives since 1998.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- PoweredBy LifeSearch: A service that helps partner brands with online, offline, or hybrid protection journeys using new technology and award-winning advice, including expert tele-interviews, pipeline management, underwriting support, and claims handling.
Products and services
- Life Insurance Term life insurance providing a lump sum payment to protect family or loved ones upon death, with level or decreasing term options for fixed or reducing payouts across the policy lifetime. For UK individuals and families.
- Critical Illness Cover Insurance that pays a lump sum upon diagnosis of serious illnesses or disabilities such as cancers, heart conditions, and strokes. Policies may allow multiple claims for different conditions. For UK individuals and families.
- Income Protection Insurance Insurance that pays a regular income if the policyholder is unable to work due to sickness or disability, with monthly payouts continuing until return to work, retirement or policy expiry. For UK workers.
- Private Health Insurance Private medical insurance covering costs of private treatment including diagnostics, consultations, specialist fees, private hospital accommodation, medications, therapy, cancer treatments, rehabilitation and palliative care. For UK individuals seeking faster access to private treatment.
- Business Insurance Group of protection products for SMEs shielding employees and employers from financial impact of key person's sickness, critical illness, or death. Includes relevant life cover, key person insurance and group protection. For UK SMEs, sole traders, limited companies, partnerships and LLPs.
- Family Income Benefit Life insurance alternative paying a regular tax-free income to family upon death within the policy term, replacing lost income and covering ongoing bills and mortgage payments. For UK families seeking income replacement rather than lump sum.
- Terminal Illness Insurance Insurance typically built into life insurance policies that pays the full life insurance benefit upon diagnosis of a terminal illness expected to lead to death within twelve months, rather than waiting until death.
- Death in Service Employer-provided benefit paying a tax-free lump sum (typically 2-4 times annual salary) if an employee dies while working. Often set up in a discretionary trust. For UK employers offering employee benefits.
- Over 50s Life Insurance Life insurance product designed for individuals aged 50 and over, offering an easy way to obtain life insurance coverage with simplified acceptance criteria. For UK customers aged 50+.
- PoweredBy LifeSearch White-label technology and advisory platform that enables banks, building societies, price comparison sites, wealth managers, consumer brands and other insurers to offer protection solutions through their own channels. LifeSearch handles expert tele-interviews, pipeline management, underwriting support, claims handling and trust services. For enterprise B2B partners.
Quantifiable outcome
- £105 million+ paid out to 1,418 claimants in 2024
- +3 more outcomes
Companies that use LifeSearch
Customer profileNamed customers5 records
Segments4 records
Ideal customer profiles4 records
LifeSearch technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration1 record
Feature2 records
LifeSearch partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
33 partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.
- Skipton Building SocietycorePartnership to provide life insurance advice to over one million Skipton Building Society members.
- All in PlacecoreLifeSearch partnered with All in Place to enable accountancy firms in the UK to offer life insurance and business protection solutions to SME clients. The collaboration aims to improve advisory services and address the risk assessment gap among UK accountancy firms. It also introduces a standalone division, All in Place Now, to facilitate access to expert guidance.
- FinanciellecorePartnership to address the gender protection gap - women are 20% less likely to have cover than men. LifeSearch provides Financielle's 200,000-strong female community with access to handpicked female advisers for protection guidance. Focus on women aged 45-55 going through life transitions like divorce.
- FinanciellecoreFinancielle, founded in 2021 by Laura Pomfret and Holly Holland, is a personal finance brand helping women take control of money. Partnership enables protection advice access for their female community.
- 2plan Wealth ManagementcoreProtection referral partnership with UK's top wealth management firm. 450+ advisers can refer clients needing protection to LifeSearch, which takes on regulatory responsibility for protection advice.
- NerdWallet UKcoreLifeSearch selected as NerdWallet UK's advice and technology partner for their life insurance comparison service. Consumers requiring advice are directed to LifeSearch's expert advisers. NerdWallet provides guidance to 20 million consumers monthly.
- Yorkshire Building SocietycorePartnership providing life insurance advice to Yorkshire Building Society's over one million members, enabling them to consider protection as part of their financial planning.
- PensionBeecorePartnership making protection planning easy so customers can consider protection from the start of their saving journey, creating financial freedom.
- Compare the MarketcoreMajor UK price comparison website partnership enabling customers to access LifeSearch protection advice and quotes.
- MoneySuperMarketcoreLeading UK price comparison website partnership providing protection advice access for MoneySuperMarket customers.
- Which?corePartnership with consumer champion Which? enabling their members to access LifeSearch protection advice.
- Lloyds BankcorePartnership enabling Lloyds Bank customers to access LifeSearch protection advice services.
- Bank of ScotlandcorePartnership providing LifeSearch protection advice to Bank of Scotland customers.
- Trinity Insurance ServicescoreExpanded partnership with military insurer providing access to advice over phone and online purchase options for the military community with unique needs.
- Protection Distributors Group (PDG)coreLifeSearch is a founding member of PDG, established in 2016, ensuring the UK's longest established and largest intermediary firms lead the market with a voice for the consumer, challenging industry for positive change.
- Cooper ParryminorAccountancy firm partnership enabling business protection services for their clients.
- AvivacoreKey insurer partner providing life insurance and protection products through LifeSearch.
- Legal & GeneralcoreKey insurer partner providing life insurance and protection products through LifeSearch.
- VitalitycoreKey insurer partner providing health and protection insurance products through LifeSearch.
- GuardiancoreKey insurer partner providing protection insurance products through LifeSearch.
- Royal LondoncoreKey insurer partner providing protection insurance products through LifeSearch.
- Scottish WidowscoreKey insurer partner providing life and protection products through LifeSearch.
- LV=coreKey insurer partner providing protection insurance products through LifeSearch.
- ZurichcoreKey insurer partner providing protection insurance products through LifeSearch.
- UnumcoreKey insurer partner providing income protection and insurance products through LifeSearch.
- The ExetercoreKey insurer partner providing protection insurance products through LifeSearch.
- British FriendlycoreKey insurer partner providing protection insurance products through LifeSearch.
- Beagle StreetcoreKey insurer partner providing life insurance products through LifeSearch.
- Holloway FriendlyminorSpecialist insurer partner providing protection insurance products through LifeSearch.
- National FriendlyminorSpecialist insurer partner providing protection insurance products through LifeSearch.
- One FamilyminorSpecialist insurer partner providing family-focused protection products through LifeSearch.
- MetLifecoreKey global insurer partner providing protection insurance products through LifeSearch.
- British Insurance Brokers' Association (BIBA)minorIndustry body partnership and recommendation as trusted insurance broker.
Scale indicators11 records
Recent moves7 records
Expansion highlights6 records
LifeSearch competitors and assessment
Company assessmentMarket position
Competitive moat6 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
LifeSearch social profiles
Digital presenceLifeSearch compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance1 record
LifeSearch financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
LifeSearch leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles6 records
LifeSearch funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
LifeSearch M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about LifeSearch
What does LifeSearch do?
LifeSearch is the UK's leading specialist life insurance broker, providing free expert protection advice to consumers on life insurance, critical illness cover, income protection, private health insurance and business protection. The company compares policies from over 15 major UK insurers and earns commission from insurers when policies are sold. It also offers PoweredBy LifeSearch, a white-label technology and advisory platform enabling partner brands and financial institutions to deliver protection journeys to their own customers.
Is LifeSearch a public or private company?
LifeSearch is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was LifeSearch founded?
LifeSearch was founded in 1998. It employs 251 to 500 people.
Where is LifeSearch based?
LifeSearch is headquartered in Milton Keynes, United Kingdom, in the Europe region.
How does LifeSearch make money?
Two revenue lines are on record. Insurance Commission is the primary driver. The others are partner Technology & Advisory Fees.
Does LifeSearch have an API?
No public API is recorded for LifeSearch.
What industry is LifeSearch in?
LifeSearch's product category is Life Insurance Brokerage. Its primary akta.pro industry code is FSAOAHAF, Life & Health Reinsurance Brokerage, with a secondary code of FSAIADAA, Basic Group Term Life (Employer-Paid). Its NAICS code is 52421 and its SIC code is 6411.