Income Protection
Income protection pays you a regular income if you can't work because of illness or injury — think of it as sick pay you arrange yourself. It's built for the gap that opens up the moment your employer's sick pay runs out, or if you're self-employed and there's no sick pay to begin with.
Get a no-obligation quoteWhat it actually is
Sick pay that doesn't run out after a few weeks
You choose a deferred period — the length of time you wait before payments start, typically anywhere from four weeks to a year — and payments begin once that period passes and you're still unable to work. Some policies pay out for a fixed period per claim, such as one or two years (short-term); others keep paying until you recover, retire, or the policy ends (long-term). The right deferred period usually matches how long your existing sick pay or savings would cover you before the gap starts.
Who needs it
This is probably for you if…
- You're self-employed and there's no employer sick pay to fall back on
- Your employer's sick pay is limited to a few weeks, or drops to statutory sick pay after that
- You rely on your income to cover the mortgage, rent, or household bills
- You do physical or specialist work that would be hard to return to after a serious illness or injury
- You don't have enough savings to cover several months without income
Sound like you?
If any of that struck a chord, the next step is a short conversation. I'll tell you honestly whether income protection is what you need, and what it'd cost to arrange.
What it costs
What affects the cost
The main factors are your age, health, occupation, how much monthly income you're insuring, your chosen deferred period, and whether the policy is own-occupation or any-occupation cover — own-occupation pays out if you can't do your specific job, any-occupation only pays if you can't do any job you're reasonably suited to, so the stricter, more useful own-occupation definition is generally more expensive to insure. Manual or higher-risk occupations are usually quoted differently to desk-based roles. I'll talk you through where the trade-offs are rather than just quoting the cheapest option.
See what drives the price of income protection→I compare cover from leading UK insurers.
- Vitality
- Scottish Widows
- Zurich
- Legal & General
- Aviva
- Guardian
- MetLife
- The Exeter
- LV=
- Royal London
Questions people ask
Straight answers, no jargon.
What is a deferred period?
It's the waiting period between when you stop being able to work and when your income protection starts paying out, similar to an excess on a car insurance policy but measured in weeks rather than pounds. A shorter deferred period means cover kicks in sooner but usually costs more; a longer one is cheaper but means you need savings or existing sick pay to bridge the gap first.
What's the difference between own-occupation and any-occupation cover?
Own-occupation cover pays out if you can't do your own specific job — a surgeon who can no longer operate could claim even if they could technically manage a desk job. Any-occupation cover only pays if you can't do any job you're reasonably suited to, which is a much higher bar to meet and means fewer claims get paid. Own-occupation is the stronger definition, and the one I'd usually steer you towards if the budget allows.
Should I get short-term or long-term income protection?
Short-term policies pay out for a set period per claim, often one or two years, and tend to cost less. Long-term policies keep paying until you're able to return to work, retire, or the policy ends, which gives you more protection if you're off for a serious length of time but usually costs more. It comes down to how much risk you're comfortable carrying yourself versus insuring away.
I get statutory sick pay from my employer — do I still need this?
Statutory sick pay is set by the government and it's genuinely modest — since April 2026 it's the lower of the weekly rate or 80% of your normal earnings, payable from the first day you're off, and it stops entirely after 28 weeks. For most people that's nowhere near their actual outgoings. If your employer doesn't top it up with a more generous sick pay scheme, income protection is there to cover the difference between what you'd get and what you need to live on.
Can self-employed people get income protection?
Yes — in fact it's often the group who need it most, since there's no employer sick pay safety net at all. Insurers will usually base your cover on your average income over a set period, so I'll need a reasonably accurate picture of your earnings to get you an appropriate amount of cover.
How do you get paid, and do you only work with one insurer?
My advice costs you nothing. My commission is funded by the insurer if you decide to go ahead with a policy, and it doesn't change what you pay. I compare cover from leading UK insurers.
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