How to choose
Every company here is licensed, so pick on the cover you need. Each rule below lists the companies whose own product page names that cover, largest first; the quoted words are theirs.
- Choose Sun Life, Pru Life UK, FWD, Allianz PNB Life (or 11 more in the table) if you want cover with an investment fund (VUL). Sun Life: “Investment-linked” · Pru Life UK: “Investment-linked” · FWD: “Investments” · Allianz PNB Life: “Savings and Investment”
- Choose Sun Life, Pru Life UK, FWD, Allianz PNB Life (or 16 more in the table) if you want health or critical illness cover. Sun Life: “Health insurance” · Pru Life UK: “Health” · FWD: “Health protection” · Allianz PNB Life: “Health”
- Choose Allianz PNB Life, InLife, BDO Life, Sun Life Grepa (or 4 more in the table) if you are saving for a child’s schooling. Allianz PNB Life: “Education” · InLife: “Education” · BDO Life: “Education” · Sun Life Grepa: “Education”
- Choose Allianz PNB Life, InLife, BDO Life, Sun Life Grepa (or 4 more in the table) if you are saving for retirement. Allianz PNB Life: “Retirement” · InLife: “Retirement” · BDO Life: “Retirement” · Sun Life Grepa: “Retirement & Estate Preservation”
- Choose Sun Life, InLife, BDO Life, BPI AIA (or 13 more in the table) if you are buying for employees or a business. Sun Life: “Group life” · InLife: “Group” · BDO Life: “Group Insurance” · BPI AIA: “Business Owner Solutions”
- Choose InLife or Paramount if you work abroad. InLife: “For Migrant Workers” · Paramount: “OFW”
- Choose Pru Life UK or Etiqa if you want Shariah-compliant cover (takaful). Pru Life UK: “Takaful” · Etiqa: “Takaful”
- Choose FWD or InLife if you want to buy online. FWD: “Online” · InLife: “Online”
Choose a composite (1CISP, AIA Philippines, AXA Philippines, Bethel Life and General Insurance, CLIMBS, Country Bankers Life and General, Etiqa, Manila Bankers, Paramount, Philippine British Life and General Insurance, Premier Life and General) if you want life and non-life cover from one company. For VUL, choose one of the 19 whose agents hold a variable contract licence on the Sep 25, 2026 agent lists.
Next step
VUL or traditional life insurance
A variable life policy (VUL) pays values that move with an investment fund, so its cash value can fall. The company needs separate approval to sell it (Insurance Code sec. 238(a)), illustrations may not project past returns forward (sec. 241), and only an agent with a variable contract licence may sell it (sec. 316). A traditional policy pays the fixed amounts written in it. Insurance Code
Tax on life insurance
- Death benefit: proceeds paid to heirs or beneficiaries when the insured dies are not taxable income. Interest the insurer pays on proceeds it keeps for you is taxable. (NIRC Sec. 32(B)(1), in force since Jan 1, 1998.) income tax calculator
- Estate tax: proceeds on your own life count in your gross estate when they are paid to your estate, or to a beneficiary you can still change. They stay out when the policy names the beneficiary as irrevocable. (NIRC Sec. 85(E), in force since Jan 1, 1998.) estate and estate tax
- Premiums returned to you: the premiums you paid, returned during the term, at maturity or when you surrender a life, endowment or annuity policy, are not taxable income. (NIRC Sec. 32(B)(2), in force since Jan 1, 1998.) income tax calculator
- Business-paid life cover: a business cannot deduct premiums on a life policy covering an officer or employee when the business itself is a beneficiary. (NIRC Sec. 36(A)(4), in force since Jan 1, 1998.) business insurance guide
Example: a ₱1,000,000 death benefit paid to a beneficiary the insured could still change. Income tax on it: ₱0 (Sec. 32(B)(1)). It adds ₱1,000,000 to the gross estate (Sec. 85(E)); once the estate's deductions are used up, that is ₱60,000 more estate tax at 6% (Sec. 84). Paid to an irrevocable beneficiary, it adds ₱0.
Questions
What are the top 10 life insurance companies in the Philippines?
By 2025 premium income, as ranked by the Insurance Commission: 1. Sun Life (₱61.8 billion), 2. Pru Life UK (₱52.8 billion), 3. FWD (₱52.5 billion), 4. Allianz PNB Life (₱37.7 billion), 5. AXA Philippines (₱31.5 billion), 6. InLife (₱24.6 billion), 7. BDO Life (₱22.8 billion), 8. BPI AIA (₱20.1 billion), 9. Sun Life Grepa (₱18.6 billion), 10. Manulife China Bank Life (₱14.4 billion). Figures are unaudited, for the year to Dec 31, 2025.
How many life insurance companies are there in the Philippines?
34 as of Aug 31, 2026: 23 life insurers and 11 composite insurers that write both life and non-life.
Is Pru Life UK legit in the Philippines?
Yes. Pru Life Insurance Corporation of U.K. holds Certificate of Authority no. 2025/17-R, and 34,068 licensed agents sell for it on the agent lists of Sep 25, 2026.
What is the difference between a revocable and an irrevocable beneficiary?
You can change a beneficiary unless the policy says you waived that right (Insurance Code sec. 11). Proceeds paid to a revocable beneficiary count in your gross estate; proceeds paid to an irrevocable one stay out (NIRC Sec. 85(E), in force since Jan 1, 1998).
Can my business deduct life insurance premiums for its officers?
Not when the business is a beneficiary of the policy (NIRC Sec. 36(A)(4), in force since Jan 1, 1998).