It replaces income, not a lump sum
Typically between half and two thirds of your gross earnings, paid monthly and usually tax free. Enough to keep the mortgage and the household running, not enough to remove the reason to go back.
Income protection
The bills do not stop because your income did.
A monthly income if illness or injury stops you working, starting after a waiting period you choose. The most used of the four covers, and the one most often left out.
No client fee · No obligation
What it does
In plain termsYou choose when it starts
The deferred period — four, thirteen, twenty-six or fifty-two weeks. Set it to begin where your employer’s sick pay ends. Choosing it badly is the single most common reason a good policy disappoints.
Own occupation is the wording to want
It pays if you cannot do your own job. Weaker definitions pay only if you cannot do any job you are suited to, which is a much harder test at claim.
What it will not do
Said before you buy, not afterIt will not pay from day one
The deferred period has to pass first, and the claim has to be accepted. If your sick pay runs six months and your policy waits four weeks, you are paying for cover you cannot use.
It will not replace all of your income
Insurers cap the benefit deliberately, and will take account of other income and some state benefits. Insuring more than the cap means paying for cover that cannot pay out.
It will not cover a job you have left
Cover is priced on your occupation. If you change to something riskier, or stop working altogether, tell us — the policy may need to change with you.
Insuring more than the cap means paying for cover that cannot pay out.
Straight answers
Asked every weekShort-term or full-term?
Short-term pays for one or two years per claim and costs less. Full-term pays until you return to work, retire, or the policy ends. Full-term is the real cover; short-term is better than nothing and sometimes all the budget allows.
I am self-employed. Can I have it?
Yes, and you need it more than most — there is no sick pay behind you. Insurers will look at your drawings or your share of profit rather than turnover, so how your accounts read matters.
Does it cover mental health and back problems?
Usually yes, and between them they account for a large share of claims. Some cheaper policies restrict them, which is exactly the sort of thing worth knowing beforehand.
What about redundancy?
Income protection covers illness and injury, not redundancy. Some separate products cover unemployment, usually for a limited period and with conditions. They are not the same thing and should not be bought as if they were.
What if I go back part time?
Most good policies pay a proportionate benefit while you are earning less than before. It is one of the most useful features and one of the least known.
How much does it cost?
Less than people expect, and the deferred period moves the price more than anything else. We will show you two or three real quotes at different deferred periods rather than a headline figure.
Insurance policies are subject to eligibility, underwriting, terms, conditions and exclusions. Benefits may not be paid in all circumstances. Cover is not guaranteed to be available, and premiums depend on your age, health and the cover chosen. This page is general information about how the cover works. It is not advice and it does not take account of your circumstances — what is right for you is decided after we have asked about them.
How we are paid. We act on your behalf, not the insurer’s. You pay us no fee; we are paid commission by the insurer when the policy starts, and that commission does not vary by which insurer you choose. You can ask us what it is at any point before you decide.
It is the cover people wish they had bought.
Tell us what your employer pays if you are off sick and for how long. The deferred period is set to start where that runs out, and getting it right is most of what makes this affordable.
More in Protection
Where to next
Chosen for this pagePROTECTION
Critical illness cover
A lump sum on a listed condition, where income protection pays monthly instead.
Read this next PROTECTIONPrivate medical insurance
Treatment without the waiting list. Different job, often considered at the same time.
Read this next GUIDEWhat actually happens when you claim
Deferred periods, own-occupation definitions, and how the money actually starts.
Read this nextSwipe across to move between pages