Is ILP necessarily bad? When does it make sense to get an ILP given that there are so many other alternatives at a much lower cost?

I find it very difficult to find the "pros" of ILP. There are a lot of fees going on in this product. Linking something risky to something which is supposed to give a peace of mind is kind of a juxtaposition.

In the current market, these fees can be lowered if not avoided by separating investment and insurance and switching out the middleman to a vendor who can offer more competitive fees.​​​

ILPs (100% investment) are for more risk adverse people that would like the piece of mind that they are more likely to GE garunteed a profit over time due to the fact that it's attached to a big company.

Some ILPs now offer extra bonuses that help to increase said profit and can even be compounded on. Eg AXA wealth accelerate has up to a maximum of 200% bonus that will be used to increase your pool being invested for more compound interest.

That being said, the companies are obviously looking to make money so there is a charge for the service and you won't get all the capital and dividend gains from the investments.

The above is main pro for going with DIY and, to some extent, robo advisors but there is no sum assured.