Zurich Launches LifeVault: One of the World's Biggest Insurers Enters the Family Vault

Zurich UK launched Zurich LifeVault on 8 September 2026, a secure digital estate and legacy planning service built with the US technology company Empathy. It is offered at no extra cost to Zurich's corporate risk customers' employees and personal protection policyholders, and it arrives alongside research showing only 48% of UK adults hold a valid will even though 79% worry about how their loved ones would cope.

What did Zurich actually launch?

Zurich LifeVault is a secure digital service for organising the practical side of a life. Policyholders can create legally valid planning documents such as a will, a Lasting Power of Attorney, healthcare wishes and funeral preferences, keep a clear and current record of their financial assets, and securely grant access to family members or executors, as an individual or as a couple. Documents are stored in an encrypted vault, and a Learning Centre of articles and videos guides users through legacy planning at their own pace.

Two details matter. First, the distribution: LifeVault reaches people through their employer or their life insurance, not through a solicitor's waiting room. Second, the honesty: Zurich states plainly that the documents it helps create are not reviewed by a solicitor, and that legal validity depends on correct completion and execution. This is an organising and planning tool, not legal advice.

Why does the timing matter?

The launch lands on a stubborn national gap. Zurich's own research, published around the launch, found that only 48% of UK adults have a valid will, while 79% admit to worrying about how their loved ones would cope after they die. It also found that one in five people experience strained family relationships after a death, one in ten so severely that they never spoke to that relative again, and that 39% find it difficult to talk to loved ones about their final wishes at all.

Zurich is not the first major institution to notice. Aviva partnered with the digital estate planner Octopus Legacy in 2024 to offer discounted will writing to customers. What is new in 2026 is the packaging: estate organisation is becoming a standard employee benefit and policyholder perk, bundled in beside life insurance the way mental health apps were bundled in a few years ago. Insurers have decided that helping a family cope after a death starts long before the claim is filed.

What does this mean for the family vault category?

For families, the signal is straightforward: the world is converging on the idea that one organised, shareable record of everything is now basic financial hygiene, and large institutions are willing to pay for it. When the world's largest insurers build a "vault" into their products, the concept stops being a niche app idea and becomes an expectation.

The bar also rises with every launch. An insurer-backed vault organises documents well, but it is tied to a policy, an employer, and a single market, and it ends at the boundaries of what that institution is willing to hold. A family's real life is broader: assets and debts in several countries, money owed to and by them, letters and instructions with real feeling in them, and for some families religious obligations like zakat that no insurer's product will ever track. WiseEnding's Family Vault is built to be that complete, personal layer: yours, private, and not attached to anyone's policy. It is the difference between a perk and a practice.

The takeaway

Zurich LifeVault is a welcome step, and its research confirms what we see: families are not failing to plan because they do not care, but because the work is scattered and uncomfortable. The answer is the same whether it comes from an insurer or from a Life OS: one clear record, kept current, shared with the right people. If your family does not have that yet, our guide to what documents your family should be able to find is a good place to start.

Frequently asked questions

What is Zurich LifeVault? Zurich LifeVault is a secure digital estate and legacy planning service launched by Zurich UK on 8 September 2026, built in partnership with the technology company Empathy. It lets policyholders create planning documents, organise financial records, and share access with family members or executors.

Is Zurich LifeVault free? It is included at no extra cost for Zurich personal protection policyholders and for employees of Zurich's corporate risk customers. It is not sold as a standalone product, and Zurich notes the service can be amended or withdrawn at any time.

What percentage of UK adults have a will in 2026? Research published by Zurich around the LifeVault launch found only 48% of UK adults hold a valid will, even though 79% worry about how loved ones would cope after they die. A separate Will Aid poll in September 2026 found 67% of UK adults either have no will or hold an out-of-date one.

Are documents made in Zurich LifeVault legally valid? They can be, but Zurich is explicit that documents created through the service are not reviewed by a solicitor and that legal validity depends on correct completion and execution. For anything complex, professional legal advice is still recommended.

What is a family vault? A family vault is one private, organised place for everything a family would need: assets, debts, documents, trusted people and clear instructions. It differs from an insurer perk in that it belongs to you, covers your whole life across countries and providers, and stays current as your life changes. WiseEnding's Family Vault is built on exactly that principle.