Canada Life and spray foam insulation
Our contractors: 15,123 verified reviews across 8 platforms, rated 4.9 on GoogleCanada Life is reported to decline equity release applications on a property with spray foam insulation in the roof, in line with the near-total refusal the BBC found across the equity release market in November 2024. Verified September 2026, and worth confirming with an adviser before you proceed.
Canada Life's reported position
The BBC's November 2024 survey found every equity release lender it surveyed refused to lend on a home with spray foam in the roof, and adviser sources continue to place Canada Life among the providers declining these applications. Canada Life has not published its own spray foam criteria, so this is a reported position, last verified September 2026.
What this means for you
As with the other major equity release providers, Canada Life's customer base skews towards older homeowners, and the properties involved often include bungalows and larger-roofed homes where a bigger area of spray foam was applied. That is precisely the profile the BBC's survey suggests is hit hardest by this issue: people who may be relying on the release for care costs or later-life income, refused over an installation that was, in many cases, sold to them as an improvement.
Reported experience across the equity release market does not treat a specialist inspection report as a route around the refusal, unlike the case-by-case standard mortgage lenders. The BBC's finding was that every provider it checked refused regardless of the foam's condition, and nothing in trade press since suggests Canada Life or the wider market has moved from that position.
This is not Canada Life's published policy. No lender publishes its spray foam criteria, so treat this as a reported starting point, last verified September 2026, and confirm the current position with an equity release adviser before you commit to anything.
What to do next
Given the reported near-total refusal across equity release, the routes below are weighted accordingly.
- Get the loft inspected regardless of Canada Life's position. Around two thirds of the lofts the Property Care Association has inspected had no defect, and knowing which situation you are in matters for the property generally, not only for this application.
- Plan around removal and full documentation as the likely route back into the market, rather than hoping a report alone changes the outcome.
- Ask an adviser about the narrow construction-fitted exception that a small number of equity release providers are reported to allow, and about whether the wider market position has shifted since September 2026.
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Get the loft looked at properly
Whatever your lender's position, the starting point is the same: know what is actually up there. An inspection gives you a written verdict and photographs, and if the foam is sound that is what the report says.
Book the free inspection
Two steps. No deposit, and nothing to pay if the foam is sound.
Canada Life and spray foam, common questions
Does Canada Life treat drawdown and lump sum plans differently for spray foam?
Not reported to differ. The refusal is described as tied to the presence of spray foam in the roof rather than the specific equity release product being applied for.
Is there any circumstance where Canada Life would still lend?
Not reported as of September 2026. The BBC's November 2024 survey found the refusal applied across every equity release lender it checked, and no softening has been reported since.
Would removing the foam definitely get us approved with Canada Life afterwards?
Nobody can honestly promise that. The lending decision is Canada Life's. Documented removal removes the specific reason reported for refusal across this market, which is the strongest position available, not a guarantee.
How is this different from a standard mortgage lender's position?
Standard mortgage lenders are more mixed: the BBC found around a quarter would not lend, while several others are reported to assess spray foam case by case. Equity release is reported far more uniformly negative.
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Every lender, one table
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Every 2026 figure, by foam type and property size, with the extras itemised.
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