Up to 70% of your salary if illness stops you working.
Statutory sick pay is £118.75 a week. Income protection tops that up with a monthly, tax-free benefit until you're well enough to return to work.
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Straight answers to the questions UK households ask most about income protection — what it costs, what it covers and how claims work.
Not sure if income protection is worth it?
Weigh the monthly cost against your employer sick pay, savings and Statutory Sick Pay.
Read: is income protection worth it? →Income protection pays a regular monthly benefit if illness or injury stops you working. Payments start once your chosen deferred period ends and continue until you recover, retire or the policy term finishes, so it is designed for long-term absence rather than a few weeks off.
UK insurers typically allow 50% to 70% of gross earnings, and benefits on personal policies are normally paid free of income tax. The cap exists so there is always a financial incentive to return to work.
The deferred period is the wait between being unable to work and your first payment — commonly 4, 8, 13, 26 or 52 weeks. Matching it to how long your employer pays sick pay keeps the premium down; the self-employed usually pick 4 or 8 weeks because statutory sick pay does not apply to them.
Yes, and it is often the single most valuable cover for self-employed people, contractors and company directors because there is no employer sick pay behind you. Insurers assess income from accounts or dividend and salary records, so keep recent figures to hand.
Own occupation means the insurer pays if you cannot do your own job, which is the strongest and most claim-friendly definition. Weaker suited-occupation or activities-of-daily-work definitions can refuse a claim if you could theoretically do another role, so the definition matters more than a small price difference.
Cover commonly starts from around £12 a month for a younger office-based worker with a longer deferred period. Manual occupations, shorter deferred periods and full-term benefit payment all push the premium up.
Yes — stress, depression and musculoskeletal conditions are among the most common reasons UK income protection claims are paid. Most insurers also fund rehabilitation and phased return-to-work support alongside the monthly benefit.