Compare Affordable Income Protection Insurance In 2026

Are you fearful of the financial impact of being unable to work? Without a monthly salary, can you pay your bills and maintain a lifestyle for yourself or your loved ones if you have a family?

Learn how affordable income protection insurance provides replacement earnings and instant peace of mind. And if you’re not sure which income protection cover to choose, this guide has you covered.

Below, we’ll compare income protection insurance providers offering the best salary protection in the UK, based on our research and expertise.

Income Protection Quotes From The UK’s Top Companies.

What Is Income Protection Insurance?

Income protection insurance pays a replacement salary if you can’t work. In return for cover, a policyholder pays the insurer a monthly premium for the duration of the fixed-term income protection policy.

You can set up a policy on a short-term or long-term basis to match your circumstances.

Essentially, when you buy income protection cover, you have to pick how much you wish to be covered for, as well as how long you want to be insured for and how fast you want the insurer to pay out if you can’t work (referred to as the policy’s waiting period or deferred period).

What Are the Types of Income Protection Insurance?

There are five main types of income protection cover. Depending on your situation, you can opt for:

Accident and sickness cover, also known as critical illness cover, provides an alternative income if you can’t work due to serious sickness or injury. Such cover typically pays out for one or two years.

Unemployment cover: This type of salary protection insurance provides a replacement income if you lose your job. 

Accident, Sickness and Unemployment cover (ASU): ASU income insurance combines critical illness and unemployment coverage.

Full income protection insurance: This type of income cover provides regular monthly payments based on a set percentage of your gross monthly income, typically 50-60%. 

Partial income protection: This refers to a policy where an insurance provider pays you a partial income if you work fewer hours because of injury or illness.

The 13 Top UK Providers Of Income Protection Insurance

For a quick overview, we provide a snapshot of some of the UK’s best income protection providers.

AEGON UK

Starting as Scottish Equitable and becoming part of Aegon in 1998, Aegon UK has over 3 million customers and employs around 2,000 people in the UK.

In addition to a full range of insurance products, they also offer retirement and savings plans.

• With Aegon, the sum assured caps at £250,000 per annum and is tiered. The first £20,000 of pre-claim earnings is covered at 65%; £20,000 to £100,000 at 55%; and anything above £100,000 has a maximum benefit of 45% of the salary.
• Aegon has a minimum deferred period of 4 weeks and a maximum of 52 weeks.
• There are two policy payout length options. A short-term policy of up to 2 years’ salary and full-term income protection cover until you can return to work, with no payout time limit.

AIG Life

AIG Life provides life insurance and associated products in the UK. It is part of the American International Group (AIG), a leading international product provider operating in over 80 countries worldwide.

• AIG will consider a sum assured of up to £250,000. The amount of the benefit, like other leading providers, is banded at 60% up to the first £30,000 of a regular salary, 55% from £30,000 to £100,000 and 45% cover on income exceeding £100,000
• The minimum deferred period is 1 month (4 weeks), and the maximum is 52 weeks.
• There are two policy lengths: a short-term policy with a limited payment term of up to 2 years, and a full payment term policy that covers you until you can return to work.

Aviva

Aviva is the UK’s largest insurer, with over 15 million customers. Aviva today is the result of a merger between Norwich Union and CGU.

It is a composite insurer, meaning its product offering spans a range of insurance policies, from life insurance to health insurance.

• The highest sum assured amount for income protection with Aviva is £240,000. It breaks down as 65% of the first £60,000 and 45% of your earnings above £60,000.
• With Aviva, the minimum deferred period is four consecutive weeks, and the maximum is 104 weeks.
• Policy payout lengths are up to 2 years for short-term cover or full-term cover, paying out for the whole time that you cannot work.

British Friendly – BFS

British Friendly is an income protection specialist offering a range of affordable products and features. Their three main offerings are Long-Term Protect, Short-Term Protect and Breathing Space.

In 2025, they paid out 94% of all claims. As for their income protection insurance cover, its main features are:

• BFS will pay up to 70% of pre-claim income up to a benefit cap of £45,500
• Once you make a claim, you choose how quickly you want to receive a replacement salary—options range from day one to one year.
• Under their short-term income protection scheme, they can choose from 1-, 2-, or 5-year claim periods, or full-term cover under the long-term protection plan.

Cirencester Friendly

A specialist provider of income protection products in the UK, Cirencester Friendly has previously won a string of prestigious awards, including Moneyfacts’ ‘best income protection provider.’

Its flagship product, Income Protection Assured, includes a feature that builds a capital sum into the contract.

• A payable benefit of up to £40,950 is available, which is 60% of a gross pre-claim salary of £68,250.
• Benefits can range from 1 week to 52 weeks once a claim occurs.
• Income protection coverage is available for people up to 70 years old under the Cirencester Friendly’s Income Assured Enhanced plan.

LV

LV offers high-quality holding policies, including income protection and life insurance products. Founded over 175 years ago, they employ 1,700 staff in the UK to service over a million customers.

• LV has an annual benefit limit of £250,000. They don’t have tiers and offer up to a 60% payout of your pre-claim gross yearly income if you’re unable to work.
• The minimum payout period is 4 weeks after a claim, and the maximum is 52 weeks.
• LV offers two policy options. Short-term cover, which will pay you for a maximum of 12 or 24 months, and a standard full-term option.

Nationwide

Nationwide is the world’s largest building society. It offers insurance products to its existing customers, also called members.

Its life insurance offering also includes mortgage life insurance and income protection cover.

• Nationwide will pay up to a maximum benefit of £200,000. They offer a simple tier: 60% of pre-claim salary up to £60,000, and 50% above that.
• Four deferred periods are available with Nationwide. These are 4, 13, 26 and 52 weeks.
• You can make a further claim for the same or related disability within 12 months of returning to work.

Royal London

Today, Royal London has 8.8 million live policies and 4,000 employees. As a mutual insurer with no shareholders to pay, Royal London prides itself on providing its policyholders with better value and high levels of customer service.

• Royal London will cover up to £250,000 per annum. It pays up to 65% of your first £15,000 and 55% of the rest of your pre-disability earnings.
• The period before payout begins ranges from 4 weeks to 52 weeks.
• Short-term payment cover is longer than other providers, with up to 5 years’ salary cover available.

Shepherds Friendly

Shepherds Friendly is one of the world’s oldest mutual societies, founded almost 200 years ago. Income protection insurance is one of its core offerings and a product the mutual builds on.

• Shepherds Friendly’s upper sum assured limit is £49,000, and the benefit is up to 70% of your pre-incapacity income.
• Once a claim is filed, the payout waiting period can range from 8 to 52 weeks, depending on your policy definitions.
• Shepherds Friendly offers a two-year limited payment option to complement their standard full-term coverage.

The Exeter

The Exeter is a UK mutual with no shareholders; members become members when purchasing a policy.

With no shareholders to please, The Exeter uses its profits to provide excellent customer service, including keeping premiums low and paying claims quickly.

• Long and short claim periods are available. The short period is 2 or 5 years, and the long claim period is a full-term cover.
• Two income protection insurance products are available: Income One Plus for office workers and Pure Protection Plus for manual workers.
• The sum assured is up to £120,000 a year, split 60% up to £100,000 and 40% for anything above.

Vitality

Vitality has over 1 million customers in the UK market. It was created in 2004 when Discovery and Prudential launched PruHealth. It rebranded in 2014 and is now known as VitalityHealth.

• Vitality caps the sum assured at £200,000 per annum. It covers 60% of salary up to £5,000 per month, and 50% above that.
• The minimum payout time once a claim has been approved is 1 month, up to 1 year.
• The policy length of payout is up to 24 months under short-term cover or coverage until you return to work under the full-term option.

Wesleyan

Founded in Birmingham in 1841, Wesleyan specialises in providing tailored products to the professions, including dentists, doctors, lawyers, teachers, surveyors, and accountants.

• Wesleyan tiers its benefit amount with 60% up to £40,000 of your pre-claim income, 55% between £40,000 and £110,000, and 50% above £110,000.
• Wesleyan offers a short-deferred period with an immediate payment (zero weeks) available, running up to 52 weeks.
• It offers one of the longest guaranteed payment periods in a short-term policy, with a payout length of 5 years.

Zurich

A leading multi-line insurer, Zurich employs 55,000 workers across 215 countries and offers life insurance products and services to individuals and businesses.

• Zurich’s sum assured cap is £240,000 and is calculated as the lower of £20,000 per month in payable benefit or 80% of your pre-disability earnings.
• Your income protection benefit can start from 4 weeks with Zurich, with a deferred period of up to 104 weeks.
• Zurich offers both a limited benefit and a full-term benefit period. The limited benefit pays out for up to 24 months once you stop working.

What Are the Benefits of Income Protection Insurance?

Purchasing one of the best income protection insurance policies offers numerous benefits.

The most significant advantages of salary protection insurance include:

• If you are out of work due to illness or injury, income protection insurance will help you maintain your lifestyle with a replacement wage until you can return to work.
• Income protection is flexible insurance. Elements can be adjusted to match your life changes.
• The payout in an income protection plan is entirely free of all UK tax.
• If you cannot return to work, you can tailor your income protection cover so salary payments can continue right up to retirement.
• Under a scheme, the payable amount can be up to 70% of your regular wage.

Reasons to Consider an Income Protection Insurance Policy

Income protection insurance is essential to many. Everyone has different personal and professional circumstances (for example, high-net-worth clients).

If you cannot work, can you support yourself and your family if you have dependents?

Considerations to account for if this type of insurance is relevant to your situation include:

Savings

Do you have savings that can replace lost earnings from a salary? An accident, injury or illness may keep you off work for over a year. Do you have the means to maintain yourself or your household?

Breadwinner or supporting partner

Does your household rely on a single wage, or do you have a partner who can provide enough financial stability to meet essential outgoings and living costs?

Financial obligations

Would critical financial outgoings be affected if you were unable to work?

Financial commitments may include mortgages, car and personal loans, other debt, school and university tuition fees, and general monthly household expenses.

Why Use an Independent Insurance Broker When Purchasing Income Protection Cover?

You can buy an income protection policy directly from an insurance company or through a broker like Insurance Hero.

There are strong reasons to use the latter rather than approach an insurer yourself:

• Independent brokers have more negotiating power. They also get quotes directly from insurers. Because of existing relationships and high volume, they are more likely to get a lower premium quote than if you go direct.
• Brokers have no ties to a single insurer and can get protection quotes across the insurance market, so they can compare income protection providers. This results in focusing on getting you a plan that is tailored to your situation at a competitive premium.
• An excellent independent broker should provide you with professional service and advice. They should be experts in income protection cover, understand the intricacies of this type of insurance, and help you make an informed decision.
• Beyond setting up insurance, a proficient, experienced broker will also support you through the claims process if you apply for sickness cover, making the path from submitting a claim to receiving a payout as seamless as possible. 

Insurance Hero is an independent broker. Our expert team of brokers will help provide income protection tailored to your situation. Contact our professional team today on 0203 129 88 66 for all your needs.

How Much Is Income Protection Insurance?

You can get cheap income protection insurance from just £10 per month to over £100 per month at the top of the price scale. Calculating the cost is complex; underwriters use numerous factors to produce a quote.

Such considerations will include:

• The deferred period before a payout
• The level of cover required as a percentage of your current job earnings
• Are there pre-existing health conditions
• The required length of coverage
• What is the applicant’s age at application?
• If the customer is a current or former smoker

What Is Covered Under Salary Protection Insurance?

Income protection pays out if you cannot work due to total or partial disability. Every policy has its own definition of partial or full disability before a lump sum is paid.

These definitions can vary widely, and many standard and additional features are covered in the next section.

You must understand all options entirely within a policy and whether they are relevant to you. Don’t rush into an income protection policy that may not suit your specific situation.

Understanding the Main Features of Income Insurance

This section covers all standard and additional features of income insurance protection.

What is the difference between short-term and long-term income protection insurance?

Short-term income protection insurance: This cover caps the duration of the replacement salary.

The standard coverage term is one or two years, though some insurers offer up to five years. Short-term cover is a cheaper alternative.

Long-term income protection insurance: The most expensive type of cover, this provides replacement cover until you can return to work.

If you can never work again because of the severity of a disability, the payout could last until retirement.

ASU’s: Income protection should not be confused with an ASU. Accident, sickness and unemployment policies are cheaper options.

Other variations of these low-price alternatives are unemployment protection or accident and sickness cover only (AS).

Like short-term income protection policies, they provide coverage for under five years. The main difference with ASU’s is their lack of full medical underwriting.

At Insurance Hero, we recommend taking out long-term cover, following guidance from other industry professionals.

It costs more than other alternatives but provides ultimate financial peace of mind should you never return to work.

Fixed and Variable Benefits

Do you want your premiums to be the same, increase or decrease? You can amend your plan to reflect changes in your professional and personal life.

Flexible Cover

With income protection insurance, you can decide when your replacement salary should begin after a payout and how long it should continue to pay.

Sum Assured

How much of your regular wage would you like covered if you cannot work? The higher the cover level, the higher the monthly price. Depending on the insurance provider, up to 70% of a wage can be covered.

Deferred Period

The deferred period is the time between submitting a claim and receiving the payment. It can be from next week to one year.

Carefully consider this vital element of income protection. For example, how long will your employer cover your wages if you cannot remain employed, or how long will your savings cover you before any payouts start?

Length of Pay-out

How long do you want replacement earnings to last? A short-term payout of up to 5 years costs less than one that covers you until retirement.

Cease Age

In insurance jargon, this is the age at which your policy matures. Sensible guidance is to match this up with the retirement age.

Alternatively, it may be set up to cover a specific commitment, such as a mortgage, which may have an independent maturity date.

What Are the Different Income Protection Insurance Premiums Options?

Premium is the cost of cover. It’s a monthly cost payable throughout the fixed-term plan.

An underwriter calculates it using a sophisticated algorithm to provide you with a protection quote. There are three options that you should know:

Reviewable

The underwriter can review the level of cover at any time and increase the monthly premium.

Upward revisions occur when events lead to a surge in claims. In return, premiums are low-cost at the start of the policy.

However, as more upward revisions occur, the reviewable alternative over the policy duration is quite expensive.

Age-banded

A premium that adjusts over time to reflect the policyholder’s changing age throughout the fixed-term policy.

Age-banded premiums reflect the increased chance of an older person making a claim. They are cheaper at the start but rise steadily over time.

Guaranteed

An option that does not permit the underwriter to change the monthly price of insurance. It is guaranteed unless the policyholder decides to amend elements within the plan.

Guaranteed premiums can be a good-value solution, particularly if a policy began when a person was young and had no pre-existing medical issues.

What Is Indexation, and What Are Your Options?

Indexation is an essential element of income protection. It lets you link your policy to the Retail Price Index (RPI) or other inflation benchmarks set by the UK government.

• Level: The level of premium and resulting payout stay the same for the duration of the policy
• Increasing: Also known as index-linked income protection, monthly price levels will rise in line with the official rate of inflation.
• Decreasing: If you expect outgoings to fall, such as mortgage repayments, declining coverage can reduce costs steadily until maturity.

Further Features and Options

Freezing or pausing

Income protection does not provide cover if you are not working. If you are not working for a period, it makes sense to notify your insurance providers and pause your scheme.

Childcare benefits

A further payment, if you cannot work, childcare benefit pays out a fixed amount for each child in your household. It is intended to pay for childcare such as childminders, live-in au pairs, or other services.

Specified trauma or injury

As an inclusion at the start of a scheme, illness or specific ailments can be specified in the definitions. If you cannot do your job and apply for an award, the additional payment is added to the regular monthly payment.

Death benefit

An additional feature that pays designated beneficiaries a lump sum if you die while receiving your financial award. The death benefit may not pay out if your condition proves to be fatal.

Involuntary dismissal

Some insurers offer optional cover for involuntary dismissal, also known as redundancy cover.

What Is the Difference Between Income Protection Insurance for Employees and Self-Employed?

Salary Protection Insurance for Employees

An employee of a business is likely to receive some form of salary protection from their employer. They may continue to be paid their wage for one month to one year after they are unable to return to work.

Income protection for an employee can be set to match an employer’s contract. This means that the deferred period following a claim can be set to start when your regular monthly earnings cease.

Self-employed

As a self-employed person, you are unlikely to have a backup for lost earnings. If you cannot work, the UK government statutory sick pay is the fallback option.

It provides just under £100 a week for up to 28 weeks.

For the self-employed, income protection also depends on the deferred period.

Rather than matching an employer’s terms, the self-employed need to match how long they can maintain their lifestyle without income.

They may need coverage to kick in within a month of applying for insurance.

Is Income Protection Taxable?

A personal income protection plan is applicable to employees and self-employed people. Under this, payable benefits are free of UK taxation. This is because premiums are paid from post-tax income.

Director’s income protection insurance, which is applicable if you use a limited company, is taxed differently.

A plan is set up in the name of the limited company, and the company pays the monthly premium. The business pays it from pre-tax income.

Pre-tax income can allow a higher payable amount of up to 80% of regular earnings, compared to a maximum of 70% through a personal plan.

The Claim Process

You can claim under your income protection cover scheme if you become disabled, as outlined in the four-step process below.

First step: Contact

Contact your broker or insurance provider (if you went directly) and ask them to send you an application form.

Second step: Complete the application form

Once received and completed, the application form should be returned, accompanied by the essential information required by the insurers. This information will include a GP or other specialist medical report.

It confirms the extent of your condition. The required financial information consists of a P60 and, if you are an employee, payslips. For the self-employed, the request will also include business accounts and tax returns.

Third step: Assessment

For insurers, the critical question is whether your condition meets the criteria set out in the scheme definitions.

The insurance company will then need to ensure the monthly income payment is still correctly correlated to the last income received before you could not do your job.

Fourth step: Approval

Once approved, you will receive a call to request bank account details and advice on the payment process. While you are not working, the claim will be reviewed periodically.

Note that premium payments should continue until a payment award is approved.

FAQs Around Best Income Protection Insurance UK

Can I claim for the same illness or injury previously claimed?

Unless you have made a complete recovery between claims, you cannot claim again for the same disability or partial disability.

Once my claim has been approved and the deferred period has expired, when do I get paid?

Insurance providers typically make payments one month in arrears once the waiting period has expired. A claimant must be disabled continuously during the deferred period.

Will it pay out if I lose my job?

Payment protection insurance covers accidents and illnesses stopping you from working. It does not pay out if you lose your job.

However, you can select an additional feature called involuntary dismissal, also known as redundancy cover.

What are the differences between critical illness and income protection?

Income protection provides a regular monthly payment of up to 70% of your typical earnings if you cannot do any paid employment.

Critical illness provides a one-off amount if you survive ten days after diagnosis of a qualifying disease.

In addition to my income protection payout, can I receive other claim payments?

Yes, this can happen if the total income from all sources does not exceed 75% of your regular wages.

What is the difference between life cover and income protection?

Life insurance only pays out if the policyholder dies. Income protection assumes you will eventually return to work.

The payment methods of these insurance products also differ. Life insurance pays out a one-off payment to designated beneficiaries. Income protection provides a monthly payment that corresponds to up to 70% of your regular income.

Will income protection insurance affect my sick pay?

If you are an employee and your company provides sick pay as part of employee contracts, it must expire before income protection cover can pay out.

Are there other types of income protection insurance?

Mortgage payment protection is a viable alternative if you want cover only for outstanding mortgage repayments.

Redundancy protection is coverage against involuntary dismissal. Like mortgage payment protection, it is very concentrated insurance.

As mentioned in this guide, Accident, sickness, and unemployment (ASU) is a cheaper version of income insurance. It only offers short-term coverage and does not include full medical underwriting.

Can you make changes to a policy once it has started?

Yes, this is possible. People’s lives continuously change, both professionally and personally. They get better jobs, start a family or buy a house, to name a few.

Income protection needs to be flexible to allow change. An increase or decrease in monthly levels can be requested to match your new stage of life.

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