Legal & General

UK financial services and insurance provider. Products & services: Life insurance, pensions and investments.

Updated: 3 August 2026

Company Overview

Industry: Insurance and long-term savings (life & protection, pensions, annuities, retirement, investments)
Parent company: Legal & General Group Plc (FTSE 100)
Regulator: Financial Conduct Authority and Prudential Regulation Authority
Ombudsman: Financial Ombudsman Service (insurance/protection) or The Pensions Ombudsman (occupational/workplace pensions)
Founded: 1836 (Legal & General Group)
Legal entity: Legal and General Assurance Society Limited (no. 00166055, FRN 117659)

0.66per 1,000 policies (2,895 complaints opened)Insurance & pure protection - 0.66 per 1,000 policies in force
97.33%(44.48% within 3 days plus 52.85% after 3 days but within 8 weeks)Insurance & pure protection complaints closed within 8 weeks

What customers complain about

Complaints about Legal & General cluster around the administration of pensions, annuities and retirement income - delays, transfer and payment processing, and communication - alongside insurance and protection claims (life, critical illness, income protection). L&G publishes its own complaints figures every six months by product category. For the second half of 2025, Legal and General Assurance Society Limited opened 2,895 insurance and pure-protection complaints (0.66 per 1,000 policies, 39.25% upheld) and 1,519 decumulation and pensions complaints (1.30 per 1,000 policies, 75.31% upheld) - a notably higher uphold rate on the pensions side. The most important thing to know is that escalation differs by product: unresolved insurance and protection complaints go to the free, independent Financial Ombudsman Service (normally within six months of L&G's final response), while complaints about how an occupational or workplace pension scheme is run usually go to The Pensions Ombudsman instead. The FCA and PRA regulate L&G but do not resolve individual disputes.

Complaint categories

1
Pensions, annuities and retirement administration
Complaints about the decumulation and pensions category - covering annuities, retirement income, transfers and payment processing - are opened at a higher rate than insurance complaints (1.30 vs 0.66 per 1,000 policies) and are upheld far more often (75.31% in July-December 2025), indicating administration and processing issues are a recurring problem area.
Legal and General Assurance Society Ltd published complaints data, decumulation and pensions category, Jul-Dec 2025 (legalandgeneral.com).
2
Insurance and protection claims and service
Life cover, critical illness and income protection complaints fall in the 'insurance and pure protection' category. These are opened at a lower rate (0.66 per 1,000 policies) and upheld less often (39.25%), and are the disputes most commonly escalated to the Financial Ombudsman Service.
Legal and General Assurance Society Ltd published complaints data, insurance and pure protection category, Jul-Dec 2025 (legalandgeneral.com).
3
Getting to the right product team
Because L&G runs separate complaint channels for each product - life cover, annuities, pension risk transfer, workplace pensions, personal pensions, investments and later-life mortgages - a common practical difficulty is simply reaching the correct team and using the escalation route that applies to that product.
L&G 'Making a complaint' page lists a different phone number, email and postal address per product (legalandgeneral.com/existing-customers/making-a-complaint).

Latest statistics

97.33%(44.48% within 3 days plus 52.85% after 3 days but within 8 weeks)Insurance & pure protection complaints closed within 8 weeksJul-Dec 2025

Figures are Legal & General's own published complaints data for Legal and General Assurance Society Limited, reported to the FCA under DISP complaint-reporting rules and split by product category. Most recent period: 1 July to 31 December 2025. L&G reports the share closed 'within 3 days' and 'after 3 days but within 8 weeks' separately; the two combined give the share closed within eight weeks. Pensions complaints are upheld far more often than insurance complaints.

Contact methods

Complaint journey

1
Contact the right L&G product team
Complain to the team for your specific product, by phone, email or post.
Typical responseSame day
What happens
Legal & General has no single complaints line - use the channel for your product. For example, life cover is 0370 010 4080 / online.complaints@landg.com; annuities and retirement income 0345 7660 813 / Annuities.Complaints@landg.com; workplace pensions 0345 070 8686 / wscomplaints@landg.com; personal pensions and investments 0345 678 0020; later-life mortgages 03330 048444. You can complain by phone, letter or email, though L&G advises not to include personal, financial or banking details by email. State clearly what went wrong and the outcome you want, and quote your policy or plan number.
2
Acknowledgement and handling
L&G confirms it has your complaint and tells you who is dealing with it.
Typical responseVaries
What happens
L&G says it can usually resolve most issues straightaway; if it takes longer, it will contact you to let you know who will be dealing with your complaint. Keep the reference number you are given for any later escalation. L&G's published data shows a large share of insurance complaints (44.48%) are closed within three working days, but only 14.88% of pensions complaints are, so pension cases more often take longer.
3
Investigation
L&G reviews your policy or scheme records and the events complained about.
Typical responseUp to 8 weeks
What happens
L&G investigates and aims to resolve the complaint as quickly as possible, keeping in touch until it is resolved. Under FCA rules a firm has up to eight weeks to issue a final response before you can take a regulated financial complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service. In July-December 2025, over 97% of both L&G's insurance and pensions complaints were closed within eight weeks.
4
Final response
L&G sets out its decision, its reasons and your escalation rights.
Typical responseBy 8 weeks
What happens
L&G issues a final response explaining its decision. This letter tells you how to escalate, but the route depends on the product: for insurance and protection it points to the Financial Ombudsman Service. For pensions, L&G notes that Financial Ombudsman Service referral rights may not be offered in all circumstances and that escalation rights differ by complaint type and product held - occupational and workplace pension administration complaints usually go to The Pensions Ombudsman.
5
Escalate to the correct ombudsman
Take an unresolved dispute to the FOS or The Pensions Ombudsman, depending on the product.
Typical responseFOS: within 6 months of final response
What happens
If you remain unhappy after L&G's final response, or eight weeks have passed with no resolution, escalate to the right free, independent body. For insurance and protection, that is the Financial Ombudsman Service (0800 023 4567; complaint.info@financial-ombudsman.org.uk; Exchange Tower, London E14 9SR), normally within six months of L&G's final response letter. For the administration or management of an occupational or workplace pension scheme, use The Pensions Ombudsman (0800 917 4487; enquiries@pensions-ombudsman.org.uk; 10 South Colonnade, London E14 4PU), which normally requires you to have complained to the scheme first and applies its own time limits (generally three years from the event).

Response times

Legal & General says it can usually resolve most issues straightaway and will contact you if a complaint takes longer to tell you who is handling it, keeping in touch until it is resolved. Under FCA rules it has up to eight weeks to issue a final response on a regulated financial complaint before you can refer it to the Financial Ombudsman Service. Its own published data for July-December 2025 (Legal and General Assurance Society Limited) shows 44.48% of insurance and pure-protection complaints closed within three working days and a further 52.85% within eight weeks (97.33% within eight weeks in total); for decumulation and pensions, 14.88% closed within three days and a further 84.13% within eight weeks (99.01% within eight weeks) - pension complaints take longer to resolve on average.

If your complaint isn’t resolved

If Legal & General can’t put things right, you can escalate — free of charge — to an independent body:

Financial Ombudsman Service

Recent news

12 June 2024
At a Capital Markets Event, new CEO Antonio Simoes (in post since 1 January 2024) set out a strategy to reorganise Legal & General around three core divisions - Institutional Retirement, a newly combined Asset Management business, and UK Retail - aiming for a simpler, better-connected group and enhanced shareholder returns.
Read more
6 December 2024
Legal & General announced the sale of its US protection business (and a stake in its US pension risk transfer business) to Japan's Meiji Yasuda for a valuation of around $2.3bn, alongside a long-term strategic partnership - part of a portfolio simplification that also included selling housebuilder Cala, and funding share buybacks.
Read more

Know your rights

FCA rules - DISP (complaint handling) and the Consumer Duty
Legal & General must handle your complaint fairly and promptly, issue a final response, and tell you about your right to the relevant ombudsman; the Consumer Duty requires firms to deliver good outcomes and support. These rules underpin the eight-week timeframe and the escalation routes. This is general information, not legal advice.
Consumer Insurance (Disclosure and Representations) Act 2012
For life and protection cover, this sets your duty to take reasonable care not to misrepresent facts when applying or renewing, and limits when L&G can avoid a policy or reduce a claim. If a protection claim is declined citing non-disclosure, this Act governs whether that is fair. This is general information, not legal advice.
Pensions Act 1995 and Pension Schemes Act 1993 (internal dispute resolution)
For occupational and workplace pension schemes, complaints about administration or management are normally raised through the scheme's internal dispute resolution procedure and can then go to The Pensions Ombudsman, rather than the Financial Ombudsman Service. This is general information, not legal advice.

Frequently asked questions

Which ombudsman handles a Legal & General complaint?

It depends on the product. Insurance and protection disputes (life cover, critical illness, income protection) go to the Financial Ombudsman Service. Complaints about the administration or management of an occupational or workplace pension scheme normally go to The Pensions Ombudsman instead. L&G's final response letter should tell you which applies, and it warns that Financial Ombudsman Service referral rights may not be offered for all pension complaints.

What is Legal & General's complaints phone number?

There isn't a single one - it varies by product. Life cover is 0370 010 4080, annuities and retirement income 0345 7660 813, workplace pensions 0345 070 8686, personal pensions and investments 0345 678 0020, and later-life mortgages 03330 048444. Use the one that matches your plan.

Which Legal & General company is my policy with?

Most life, protection, pension, annuity and retirement products are provided by Legal and General Assurance Society Limited (company no. 00166055, FRN 117659), authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the FCA and PRA. Some products use other entities, such as Legal & General (Portfolio Management Services) Limited for investments or Legal & General Home Finance Limited for later-life mortgages - check your policy documents.

How quickly does Legal & General deal with complaints?

L&G says it can usually resolve most issues straightaway and will contact you if it will take longer. Under FCA rules it has up to eight weeks to issue a final response. In July-December 2025 it closed over 97% of insurance and pensions complaints within eight weeks, though pension complaints far less often within three days (14.88%).

Are Legal & General pension complaints upheld often?

L&G's own published data shows a high uphold rate for its decumulation and pensions category - 75.31% of those complaints were upheld in July-December 2025, compared with 39.25% of insurance and pure-protection complaints. A high uphold rate does not guarantee any particular outcome for your case.

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