Income Protection Insurance made simple

Your income is your most valuable asset 

For most people, their income pays for everything - their home, their bills and their everyday life. Yet it’s one of the least protected assets people have. Many assume they’ll only ever be off work briefly, or that savings would cover the gap if something went wrong. 

Income protection insurance is designed to protect the one thing that makes everything else possible: your ability to earn. 

Financial support when you can’t work 

If illness or injury leaves you unable to work, income protection can help you keep up with your bills and everyday costs.  

Income protection insurance pays tax‑free monthly income if you’re unable to work because of illness or injury. It’s designed to help cover everyday costs - like rent or mortgage payments, bills, food and childcare - while you recover. 

It’s there to give you breathing space, so you can focus on getting better, not worrying about money.

Income protection is like “personal sick pay” 

Most people are familiar with sick pay from work. 

Some receive Statutory Sick Pay. Some get employer sick pay. Some get nothing at all. 

Income protection insurance is your own personal sick pay. It’s cover you choose and control. It can start when your employer sick pay ends, or sooner if you don’t get any. 

It’s a simple idea: when your pay stops, your cover steps in.

We’ll compare income protection insurance quotes for you 

Income protection insurance is more personal than most insurance products. 

Rather than showing you a one‑size‑fits‑all price, we’ll compare quotes on your behalf from a wide range of leading UK insurers. 

We’ll take a few details, explain the options clearly, and help you choose cover that fits your life and budget. 

Sometimes this can be done quickly. Sometimes it helps to talk things through. Either way, we’ll guide you step by step.

What is income protection insurance? 

Income protection insurance replaces part of your regular monthly income if you’re unable to work because of illness or injury. It pays tax‑free monthly payments until you return to work, the end of your chosen payout period, you retire, or your policy ends. 

You can usually claim more than once if you need to, as long as the policy is still in place.

What does income protection insurance cover? 

Income protection insurance usually covers you if you’re signed off work by a doctor due to illness or injury. This includes the everyday problems that most often stop people working, such as mental health conditions, muscle and joint problems (like back pain or strains), serious illness, and accidents and injuries. 

Unlike critical illness cover, there isn’t a fixed list of conditions. The focus is on whether you’re unable to do your job, not on a specific diagnosis.

Do I need income protection insurance? 

Your income is usually your most valuable asset - but it’s also one of the easiest to overlook. If illness or injury stopped you working, even temporarily, it wouldn’t take long before you’d feel the financial impact. 

Ask yourself: 

• Could you still pay your bills if you couldn’t work for months? 

• How long would sick pay last - if you get any at all? 

• How long would your savings realistically cover your outgoings? 

• What would you cut back on first, and would you really want to? 

In the UK, long‑term sickness is now one of the leading reasons people are unable to work. Millions of working‑age adults are currently out of work because of ongoing health conditions1, and many more experience periods of illness that keep them off work for two months or more, particularly due to mental health or muscle and joint problems. 

At the same time, most people don’t have a strong financial buffer. The Financial Conduct Authority’s research2 shows that 1 in 10 adults has no savings at all and a further in 1 in 5 have less than £1,000 to fall back on. 

Income protection insurance helps bridge that gap. It provides a steady income if your pay stops for longer than expected, without having to rely on savings or family support.

1Office for National Statistics (ONS) 
UK labour market and economic inactivity data shows around 2.8 million people are economically inactive due to long‑term sickness, highlighting the scale of illness‑related absence from work in the UK working population. 
Source: ONS labour market statistics, 2024–2025. 

2 Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) – Financial Lives Survey 2024 
Finds that: 1 in 10 UK adults has no cash savings, 21% have less than £1,000 available in an emergency 

Source: FCA Financial Lives Survey, published May 2025.

How does income protection insurance work? 

There are five main choices to make. We’ll help you through them, but here’s the simple version. 

1. How much income you want to protect 

This is the monthly amount you’d receive if you couldn’t work. It’s usually up to around 60% of your income, because payments are typically tax‑free. 

2. How long you want the cover to last 

Many people choose cover that lasts until retirement. Others choose a shorter term. 

3. How long payments would last if you claimed 

Some policies can pay until retirement. Others pay for a fixed time per claim, such as 1, 2 or 5 years. 

4. When payments should start 

This is called the ‘deferred period’. Many people line this up with their employer sick pay, so payments begin when sick pay ends. 

5. What counts as being unable to work 

The strongest option is often ‘own occupation’. This means you can claim if you can’t do your own job because of illness or injury.

Keeping your cover in line with rising costs (indexation) 

Income protection insurance is often taken out for many years. Over time, the cost of living tends to rise. Indexation (sometimes called index‑linking) helps make sure your cover keeps its buying power in the future. 

If you choose indexation: 

• your monthly cover amount increases each year, usually in line with inflation 

• your premium usually increases as well. 

This means that if you needed to claim many years from now, your policy payouts would still be worth roughly the same in real‑world terms. 

You don’t have to choose indexation, but it’s worth considering if your cover is intended to protect long‑term living costs.

More than just a monthly payment 

Income protection insurance does more than pay an income if you can’t work. 

Many policies also give you practical health and wellbeing support you can use from day one, even if you never make a claim. What’s included varies by insurer but often covers 24‑hour GP or digital GP access, physiotherapy to help you recover faster and mental health support or counselling. 

These services help you deal with problems early, manage your health, and stay at work where possible. Availability and limits vary by insurer and policy.

Extra support if you need to claim 

If you do need to claim, many insurers actively support your recovery, not just your finances. 

Depending on the insurer, the cause of your claim and your circumstances, this support may include: 

• Rehabilitation or occupational health support 

• Access to specialists such as physios or mental health professionals 

• Help planning a safe, phased return to work 

Insurers usually provide this support at no extra cost, tailor it to your situation, and focus on helping you get back to work when you’re ready. 

We’ll explain what each insurer offers and help you compare the support, not just the price.

How much does income protection insurance cost? 

The cost of income protection insurance depends on things like your income, your job and your  health. Plus, how much cover you choose, when claim payouts would start (called a ‘deferred period’) and how long they could last – for a set period a claim, or until the end of the policy (typically, your retirement) 

Because these details matter, income protection insurance isn’t usually priced with an instant online quote. 

We’ll compare income protection insurance quotes for you and explain the differences in plain English, so you can choose with confidence. 

To give a simple example, we’ve looked at quotes from a range of leading insurers based on the following: 

A 30‑year‑old non‑smoker, working in an administrative role, with no health issues. £1,500 monthly benefit, based on a salary of around £45,000. A three‑month deferred period, so payments start after three months and cover in place until age 65 

In this example, income protection can start from around £5 to £6 per month for shorter‑term cover. For policies that pay out for longer, including up to retirement if needed, costs are more typically in the range of £13 to £22 per month. 

Shorter payout periods are usually cheaper, as the policy only pays for a limited time. Cover that pays until retirement costs more but gives you longer‑lasting support if you’re unable to work for an extended period. 

We’ve also shown examples of two types of cover below. 

Level cover stays the same over time. Increasing cover rises each year to help keep pace with inflation. Increasing cover costs more but helps protect the real value of your payout in the future.

* Figures are the average of the three cheapest quotes available at each age, using Iress data and obtained in April 2026. Prices are for illustration only and will vary depending on your personal circumstances and the policy you choose.

Can I get income protection insurance if I’m self‑employed? 

Yes. In fact, income protection insurance can be especially important if you’re self‑employed , as you won’t get sick pay. 

If your income depends on you being able to work, this cover can help keep money coming in if illness or injury stops you from working.