What is Income Protection?
We insure our homes, our cars and our possessions but often we forget to protect what pays for it all, our earnings.
Income Protection pays a regular income if you can’t work due to illness or accidental injury. Paid tax free and directly to you, income protection can provide 50-60% of your normal gross income. Your policy will pay out until you return to work or until your cover end date.
Not to be confused with Accident, Sickness & Unemployment cover (ASU). ASU is typically designed to cover your basic bills for a maximum of 12 months. Income Protection can offer far more cover for a much longer term.
The prices we quote are based on good health with no major problems in your medical history. The majority of income protection applications are accepted on normal terms. If you have a medical condition or an issue in your medical history, the price quoted may increase.
Please note: Our income protection service is non-advised. We can provide information and help with your application, but we do not recommend which policy is best for you. It is your responsibility to make sure the cover meets your needs.
Decide how much cover you need, how long you want the policy for and how quickly you want your claim paid.
We return quotes from two leading providers of income protection.
Select a provider to see full details and if you’re happy with the policy apply online.
Working with our selected income protection partners
This is the type of cover we offer. If you claim, your policy can pay your chosen benefit until you’re well enough to return to work or the policy reaches its end. You can cover 50-60% of your gross annual income and increase your cover each year with inflation.
This policy is designed to make payments for a limited time, usually around 1 – 2 years. Premiums are normally cheaper than long-term income protection. We don’t quote for this cover on our website.
ASU is a more restrictive type of Income Protection. It is designed to offer some financial protection if you are too ill to work or are injured and unable to work. Some also include an element of unemployment cover. Cover levels are often limited to just mortgage payments and other monthly outgoings. We don’t quote for this cover on our website.
Most people rely on their earnings to survive. If you were sick or in an accident and couldn’t work, could you cope financially?
Income Protection is designed to provide a regular income if illness or injury stops you from working. Whether it is suitable for you will depend on your own circumstances, existing sick pay and financial commitments.
Once your policy is up and running you will normally pay your premium every month by direct debit. If you stop paying your premium, your policy will lapse and you won’t be covered.
If you are injured or suffer from an illness that stops you from working, you can make a claim with your insurer. Your policy will pay a monthly benefit starting after your chosen deferred period.
You can continue to receive your monthly benefit until you are well enough to return to work. If you aren’t well enough to work your policy will keep paying until it’s end date.
Each insurer varies slightly but it is possible to cover between 50% and 60% of your gross income. Any payments made from your policy are free of income tax.
The deferred period is the length of time you need to be off work before your policy starts to pay out. You would still need to make your claim straight away but the payments would start once your chosen deferred period has passed.
Deferred periods can be as short as 1 day or all the way up to 12 months. The most common deferred periods are 4 weeks, 13 weeks or 26 weeks.
When choosing a deferred period, it’s important to understand how long your employer would continue paying sick pay, as this may affect the option you choose.
Start by getting a quote on our website. You will see a comparison of our two income protection partners in order of price.
Click on the apply button next to either provider to find out more about the policy. You will find the important documents on this next page giving you the full details of the providers income protection policy.
Once you have read your important documents you can go ahead and apply for your policy. The application method depends on the provider but will be clearly explained on our website.
The prices we quote are based on someone in good health with no major problems in their medical history.
Over 80% of all our income protection applications are accepted on standard terms and at the price quoted on our website.
There are only a few ways the premium quoted could increase:
If you think you need advice to decide which type of insurance is right for you then call 0800 464 0646 to speak to an adviser or complete the call-back form.
Moneyworld is working in partnership with Vita, an independent whole of market insurance broker. Vita shares our values, there’s no hard sell, no pushy sales people, just fair and honest advice tailored to your circumstances.
