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What is income protection?
An illness or an injury that stops you from working could affect your finances, especially if you’re self-employed. Income protection can help take that worry away. Get tax-free monthly payments and other benefits if you can’t work because of a health condition.
How income protection works
- Choose your cover amount and how long you want it for.
- If your claim is accepted, we’ll pay you a monthly tax-free payment.
- Make a claim by telephone or online.
- Cancel at any time. There’s no charge to cancel.
You can’t make a claim if you’re off work for another reason, like unemployment or redundancy.
How much cover can I get?
The maximum cover you can get depends on what you earn.
£70,000 or less a year: you can get up to 60% of your earnings as a tax-free, monthly payment.
More than £70,000 a year: you can get up to 60% of the first £70,000, and up to 45% of the remaining amount.
So, for example, if you earn £50,000 a year, you could get a maximum of £30,000, as a monthly payment of up to £2,500.
If you earn a bit more, for example £80k a year, you could get a maximum of:
- £42K (60% of the first £70,000 of your earnings)
- £4.5K (45% of the remaining £10,000 of your earnings).
This could give you a monthly payment of up to £3,875.00.
Included free
Types of cover
There are two types of cover, level and increasing. Choose the type of cover that works for you.
Level cover
The amount of cover you choose, and the amount you pay each month stays the same for the length of the policy.
This can give you a sense of security that the amount you pay will never change.
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Meet Andy. He’s a self-employed plumber, 30 years old and a non-smoker.
Andy works for himself, so if he doesn’t work, he has no income.
Andy spoke to an adviser and opted for level cover with payments of £47.08 a month. This means if he can’t work because he’s ill or injured, after his waiting period he’ll get £2,000 a month.
This is a fictional example based on the experiences of real customers.
Increasing cover
The aim of this policy is to help match increases in the cost of living. Your monthly payment amount will increase over time, and so will your cover amount. The amount you pay increases by a slightly higher rate than your cover amount.
We’ll tell you each year how much your cover and your monthly payments will increase by.
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Meet Cath. She’s 40 and a non-smoker. She used to work as a solicitor's clerk. But two years ago Cath was in an accident, and now can’t work any more.
Three years before the accident, Cath spoke to an adviser and decided to take out increasing cover with payments starting at £21.41 a month. If she makes a claim, this could pay out until her planned retirement age.
After the accident Cath made a successful claim, and now gets £1,000 a month. This income will rise every year.
This is a fictional example based on the experiences of real customers.
Get a quote
Speak to one of our insurance experts about Income Protection and get a quote. It’s free, and you don’t have to agree to anything on the call.
Scottish Widows protection products have no cash-in value at any time. So, if the policy ends without a claim, you won't get any money back. If you don't make payments on time, your cover will stop, your policy will end, and you'll get nothing back.
Frequently asked questions
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You’ll need to decide this for yourself. But if you’re a contractor, freelancer or sole trader, you’ll know how tricky it can be to take time away from work. Unlike those who aren’t self-employed, you’re less likely to get holiday or sick pay.
So if something serious happened, having income protection in place could mean there’s one less thing to worry about.
If you’re not sure, talk to one of our insurance experts. They’ll help you understand what your options are, so you have all the information you need to make a decision. There’s no charge for the call and you won’t have to agree to take out a policy.
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No. Income protection only covers you if you can’t work due to illness or injury. If your earnings stop for any other reason, you won’t be covered.
Income protection doesn’t cover other reasons for being out of work, such as:
- being made redundant
- being sacked
- not being able to find a job
- resigning from your job.
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Yes. Income protection covers you if you are unable to work due to sickness or accident. This includes Covid-19 or long Covid.
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This depends. Although these two types of cover are similar, there are key differences which you’ll need to think about.
Critical illness
- Critical illness cover usually pays a one-off lump sum if you’re diagnosed with a serious illness or injury listed in your policy. It covers a range of conditions but if something happens that’s not covered in your policy, we won’t be able to accept your claim.
Income protection
- Income protection usually pays an ongoing monthly payment to replace lost income. Your policy won’t specify what types of health conditions are covered, only that you can’t work because of illness or injury. There will be a waiting period before you can get your first payment.
- If you’re not sure, talk to one of our insurance experts. They’ll help you understand what your options are, so you have all the information you need to make a decision. There’s no charge for the call and you won’t have to agree to take out a policy.
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Income protection covers you for a percentage of your lost income in the event that you’re not able to work due to an illness or injury. There’s no set list of specific conditions.
Whether or not we can accept a claim will be about how the illness or injury has affected your ability to work. -
You can still apply for income protection if you have a pre-existing medical condition.
It’s important to make sure you tell us about any pre-existing conditions. If you don’t, and you later make a claim about that condition, it could invalidate your cover.
When you call our insurance experts, we may ask for:
- details of your medical history
- information of any medication or treatment you may have received
- any related family history.
We may also ask general health questions such as:
- your height
- your weight
- if you smoke, vape or use nicotine products
- if you drink alcohol.
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