Aviva income protection insurance review 2026
A look at Aviva’s Living Costs Protection: who can apply, what it pays and for how long, costs, terms, extras and how it differs from Income Protection+.
- Monthly benefit
- £500–£1,500
- Living Costs Protection
- Entry age
- 18–59
- Working 16+ hours a week
- Paid for
- Up to 12 months
- For each successful claim
- Deferred period
- 4–26 weeks
- 4, 8, 13 or 26 weeks
Key facts are for Living Costs Protection, the income protection you can apply for directly with Aviva.
In a nutshell
Aviva’s direct income protection is called Living Costs Protection. You can apply for it directly by phone, and it pays a fixed £500 to £1,500 a month for up to 12 months per successful claim if illness or injury stops you working. Through financial advisers, Aviva also sells Income Protection+, which pays a benefit based on your earnings, with a maximum of £20,000 a month, and with its full cover to term option can pay for as long as you can’t work.
- To apply for Living Costs Protection you need to be 18 to 59, live in the UK, have been working for the past 12 months and work at least 16 hours a week, employed or self-employed.
- Aviva doesn’t ask what you earn, and it doesn’t reduce your payments if you also get sick pay or other income.
- You choose a deferred period of 4, 8, 13 or 26 weeks before payments start. The longer it is, the cheaper your premium.
- Premiums are fixed for the length of the policy unless you change it or add global treatment. During a successful claim, Aviva pays them for you from 13 weeks or the end of your deferred period, whichever is sooner, until the claim ends.
- It doesn’t cover redundancy or unemployment, and it has no cash-in value.
- Aviva says it accepted 90% of individual income protection claims in 2025. The figure covers all its individual income protection policies, not only Living Costs Protection.
Who can apply for Aviva income protection?
These are the rules for Living Costs Protection, which you can apply for directly with Aviva by phone or through a financial adviser.
- Age to apply
- 18 to 59
- Work
- At least 16 hours a week, employed or self-employed
- Work history
- Working for the past 12 months
- Doctor
- Registered with a doctor for the last two years
- Residence
- Living in the UK as your main home, with the right to live and work here
- Monthly benefit
- £500 to £1,500
- Paid for
- Up to 12 months for each successful claim
- Deferred period
- 4, 8, 13 or 26 weeks
- Policy term
- 5 to 52 years, ending before your 71st birthday
- Who it covers
- You only: single policies
- Policies per person
- One, plus any extra cover from the life change benefit
- How to apply
- By phone on 0800 433 4513, or through a financial adviser
You can’t apply if you’re already off work because of illness or injury.
When you apply, you answer questions about your health and lifestyle, your job and your personal circumstances. Aviva might exclude a medical condition you have or an activity you do from your policy. If it does, it tells you before it gives you a start date.
The policy summary also lists the Channel Islands, the Isle of Man and Gibraltar: when you apply, you need to be in one of these or the UK, with a legal right to live there.
Income Protection+, sold through advisers, has the same age range of 18 to 59. You need to be employed or self-employed, and to have been working for at least the last 12 months with proof of your earnings. The policy lasts 5 to 52 years, can’t end before you’re 50 and can’t continue past your 71st birthday.
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- Ages 18–59
- Paid monthly
- 60 second form
- Free quotes, no obligation
What does Aviva income protection cover?
Income protection pays you a monthly income if illness or injury stops you working. Payments start after a waiting time you choose, called the deferred period, and continue while you can’t work, up to the limits of the policy.
Living Costs Protection pays a fixed monthly amount, which you choose when you apply, from £500 to £1,500. There’s no financial assessment: Aviva doesn’t look at what you earn or at other income you keep receiving while you’re ill or injured.
To claim, an illness or injury must stop you doing the duties of each job you’ve had in the 12 months before it, and you mustn’t be doing any other work. You also need to have been working at least 16 hours a week immediately before.
Payments start after your deferred period and are paid monthly in arrears, for up to 12 months per claim. When a claim ends, the policy carries on and your premiums restart.
There’s no limit on the number of claims. Once you’ve had 12 monthly payments, you need to be back at work for at least 16 hours a week for six months in a row before you can claim again. If you haven’t used all 12 months and the same illness or injury stops you working again within 12 months of going back to work, you don’t have to wait through another deferred period, and the remaining months can be used.
Living Costs Protection doesn’t pay:
- if you’re made redundant, become unemployed or stop working
- if you were working less than 16 hours a week immediately before you became ill or injured
- for a medical condition or activity that Aviva has excluded from your policy
- for more than three months if you’ve moved, permanently or temporarily, to a country that isn’t on Aviva’s list
If you become ill or injured in the first year of maternity, parental or adoption leave, Aviva treats you as if you’re still at work. If you take extended leave and then become unable to work, you can’t claim the monthly benefit.
In the UK, payments are free of income tax and capital gains tax. They may affect a claim on another income protection policy and your eligibility for means-tested state benefits.
Income Protection+ works differently. It pays an income if illness or injury stops you working or reduces what you can earn, up to 65% of the first £60,000 of your gross earnings plus 45% of earnings above that, with a maximum benefit of £20,000 a month. Sick pay, other insurance payments and business income you keep receiving are taken into account.
With Income Protection+ you choose full cover to term, which can pay for as long as you can’t work, or a limited payment term of up to 24 months per claim. You can choose a deferred period of 4, 8, 13, 26, 52 or 104 weeks, or a dual deferred period. Aviva says the 52-week option might suit doctors, surgeons, nurses and midwives employed directly by the NHS.
If you stop working after taking out Income Protection+, you keep your cover, but a claim only gets restricted benefit, paid for up to 12 months during the policy term. You can still claim the main benefit if you become unable to work within three months of being made redundant.
Aviva income protection benefits & extras
Waiver of premium comes with Living Costs Protection and Income Protection+ at no extra cost. Fracture cover and global treatment are extras you pay to add to either policy, and you can only add them if you don’t already have them on another Aviva policy.
| Benefit | What it does | Available with |
|---|---|---|
| Waiver of premium | During a successful claim, Aviva pays your premiums from 13 weeks after you stop working or the end of your deferred period, whichever is sooner. You start paying again when the claim ends. | Available with: Both policies |
| Back to work benefit | If you go back to work earning less because of your illness or injury, having changed job or cut your duties or hours, Living Costs Protection pays one month’s benefit, as long as you’ve had fewer than 12 monthly payments. Income Protection+ pays a reduced monthly amount instead. | Available with: Both policies, paid differently |
| Life change benefit | If your rent or mortgage payments go up, or you move from renting to a mortgage, you can add cover without health questions from six months after the start date. Each increase is a new policy of at least £100 a month and up to twice your original benefit, with a £1,500 a month limit in total, and you must be under 55. It’s only included if Aviva accepted you on standard terms. Income Protection+ has its own version, with increases of up to 50% of the original benefit or £9,000 a year, whichever is lower. | Available with: Both policies, with different limits |
| Protection promise | While Aviva needs more information to decide on your application, you’re covered free of charge for accidental injury, but not illness. On Living Costs Protection, this free cover lasts 90 days at most. | Available with: Both policies |
| Hospital benefit | £100 a night, for up to 90 nights over the policy term, if you’re in hospital for more than six nights in a row during your deferred period. | Available with: Income Protection+ |
| Trauma benefit | One payment of six times your monthly benefit or £40,000, whichever is lower, if you suffer one of six traumatic events listed in the policy conditions. | Available with: Income Protection+ |
| Benefit guarantee | A monthly benefit of up to £1,500 is paid in full even if your salary goes down after you take out the policy. It doesn’t apply if you were working less than 16 hours a week immediately before you became unable to work. | Available with: Income Protection+ |
| Aviva DigiCare+ | A health and wellbeing app with services such as private GP appointments and up to eight mental health consultations a year. Aviva lists it for new customers who take out Living Costs Protection or Income Protection+ through an adviser, and Income Protection+ customers can also use a physiotherapy service. It isn’t part of the insurance contract, and Aviva can change or withdraw it at any time. | Available with: Either policy, taken out through an adviser |
You can pay to add fracture cover and global treatment to either policy, and increasing cover to Income Protection+. The details of fracture cover and global treatment below are taken from the Living Costs Protection policy summary and Aviva’s adviser website.
| Optional extra | What it does |
|---|---|
| Fracture cover | A cash lump sum of up to £6,000 for one of 18 specified fractures, with the amount depending on the fracture. It pays no more than one claim in any 12-month policy year, and nothing for a fracture in the first seven days after the policy starts. |
| Global treatment | Treatment abroad if you or your child is diagnosed with a serious illness or needs a medical procedure, with a concierge service that recommends doctors and treatment centres. It pays up to £1 million per person in each 12 months and £2 million in total for each person, and renews every three years, when its premium can change. |
| Increasing cover | On Income Protection+, your benefit can rise every year by a fixed 3% or 5%, with premiums rising by 4.5% or 7.5%, or in line with the Retail Prices Index, up to 10% a year. Adding it increases the starting cost of the policy. |
How much does Aviva income protection cost?
We didn’t find published price examples for Living Costs Protection. The Income Protection+ policy summary includes a sample premium, but only to show how increasing cover works, so we don’t show it as a price. The way to find out what you’d pay is to get a quote.
- The monthly benefit you choose
- Your deferred period
- Your age
- Your job
- Your health and lifestyle
- Whether you smoke
Aviva says your Living Costs Protection premium depends on the amount of cover you choose and your age, job, health, lifestyle and smoking habits. The longer your deferred period, the cheaper your premium, but the longer you wait before payments start.
Living Costs Protection premiums are guaranteed. They stay the same every month for the whole term unless you change your policy or have added global treatment, which renews every three years and can change in price then. You pay monthly by Direct Debit.
Income Protection+ premiums can be guaranteed or reviewable. Reviewable premiums are looked at every five years, based on things like medical advances, changes in the law and in the insurance industry, and Aviva’s claims experience.
Our income protection calculator can help you work out how much monthly income you might need before you get quotes.
Key policy terms
The main terms of Living Costs Protection, the income protection you can apply for directly with Aviva.
| Term | Living Costs Protection |
|---|---|
| Deferred period | 4, 8, 13 or 26 weeks; benefit is then paid monthly in arrears |
| Payments per claim | Up to 12 months |
| Claiming again | No limit on claims; after 12 monthly payments you need six months in a row back at work, at least 16 hours a week |
| Telling Aviva about a claim | Before you’ve been unable to work for eight weeks, or before your deferred period ends if that’s sooner |
| Premiums | Guaranteed not to rise unless you change the policy or have global treatment; paid monthly by Direct Debit |
| Missed premiums | 60 days to pay; after that the policy is cancelled, you can’t claim and you get nothing back |
| Waiver of premium | Included at no extra cost: during a successful claim, Aviva pays your premiums from 13 weeks or the end of your deferred period, whichever is sooner, until the claim ends |
| Cooling-off period | 30 days, with a refund of premiums paid |
| Cancelling later | Allowed, but premiums aren’t refunded |
| Cash-in value | None |
| Redundancy and unemployment | Not covered |
| Living abroad | Benefit paid for up to three months if you’ve moved to a country not on Aviva’s list |
| Changing your cover | Lower your benefit, to no less than £500, after six months without health questions; other changes to your cover need a new policy and more health questions |
| Tax | Payments free of UK income tax and capital gains tax |
| Compensation scheme | Covered by the FSCS, which may pay up to 100% of a successful claim if Aviva became insolvent |
Making a claim on Aviva income protection
You can start an income protection claim online or by phone. With Living Costs Protection, tell Aviva as soon as you can, and before you’ve been unable to work for eight weeks, or before your deferred period ends if that’s sooner. If you tell it later, your payments may be delayed or Aviva may not be able to pay the claim at all.
- Individual income protection claims Aviva accepted in 2025, across all its policies
- 90%
- Individual income protection claims Aviva paid in 2025
- 4,154
- Individual income protection benefits Aviva paid in 2025
- £63.5m
These figures cover all of Aviva’s individual income protection claims, new and existing, including Aviva Protection UK Limited, not Living Costs Protection alone. Aviva’s published figures for earlier years were 90.1% in 2024, 92.5% in 2023 and 94.3% in 2022, and 93.9% in 2021 measured on the industry’s all-claims basis.
Of the individual income protection claims Aviva declined in 2025, around three-fifths were because of misrepresentation of relevant information in the application. Musculoskeletal conditions were the most common reason for claiming, followed by mental health conditions and cancer.
For a Living Costs Protection claim, Aviva may ask for a signed claim form, proof that you’re ill or injured, and your written consent to see your medical records and get information from third parties. Apart from any medical evidence it asks for, you pay for the information it needs, and if it needs you to have medical examinations or tests, it pays for them. For Income Protection+, you also prove your earnings: an employee, for example, shows payslips for the last 12 months or their last P60 and P11D.
Under the Living Costs Protection policy conditions, you must take the steps needed to help your recovery, including working with disability counsellors or advisers Aviva appoints. Aviva may also offer early intervention and rehabilitation support, which isn’t part of the contract and can be changed or withdrawn: in 2025, 84% of income protection customers who received early intervention support returned to or stayed in work.
When it assesses a Living Costs Protection claim, Aviva relies on the information it’s given. If any of it isn’t true or complete, it may not pay the claim.
- Claims phone
- 0800 158 3105
- Claims from abroad
- +44 2381 247091 (option 3)
- Policy questions
- 0800 285 1098
- protection@aviva.com
Aviva income protection ratings
Defaqto rates each product from 1 to 5 stars. In its income protection category, it rates Income Protection+ 5 stars and Living Costs Protection 3 stars.
Defaqto ratings
| Policy | Range | Defaqto rating |
|---|---|---|
| Income protection | Income Protection+ | 5 out of 5 stars |
| Income protection | Living Costs Protection | 3 out of 5 stars |
Ratings checked on 24 September 2026 and may have changed since. Defaqto ratings: defaqto.com (opens in a new tab)
Company-wide review scores, such as Trustpilot’s, cover all Aviva products rather than its income protection. They’re in our Aviva life insurance review.
Is Aviva income protection good?
Living Costs Protection is designed to help with essential outgoings for up to a year at a time, not to replace your full income. You pick a fixed amount from £500 to £1,500 a month, Aviva doesn’t check your earnings, and sick pay or other income doesn’t reduce it. Aviva says it can cover as much as 90% of your take-home pay, capped at £1,500, and that a different income protection policy might be a better fit if it doesn’t cover your monthly outgoings.
The main limits are the 12-month cap on each claim and the £1,500 maximum. If an illness kept you off work for longer, payments would stop after 12 months, and you’d need six months in a row back at work, at least 16 hours a week, before you could claim again.
Income Protection+, bought through a financial adviser, can pay for as long as you can’t work if you choose full cover to term, is based on your earnings and adds benefits such as hospital and trauma benefit. Defaqto rates it 5 stars, against 3 stars for Living Costs Protection.
Pros
- No earnings check, and other income doesn’t reduce your payments
- Open to self-employed people who work 16 hours or more a week
- Guaranteed premiums, with waiver of premium included
- No limit on the number of claims
- If you were accepted on standard terms, you can add cover without health questions when your rent or mortgage goes up
- Aviva accepted 90% of individual income protection claims in 2025, across all its policies
Cons
- Pays for a maximum of 12 months per claim
- Monthly benefit capped at £1,500
- No cover if you’re made redundant, unemployed or working under 16 hours a week
- No cash-in value
- Defaqto rates it 3 stars, against 5 stars for Income Protection+
Aviva income protection policy documents
Aviva’s income protection page links to the Living Costs Protection policy summary and policy conditions. The summary is an overview rather than the full details, which are in the policy conditions.
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Living Costs Protection policy summary (opens in a new tab)
How the policy works: eligibility, deferred periods, benefits, premiums, changes, cancelling and contacts.
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Living Costs Protection policy conditions (opens in a new tab)
The full terms, including the definition of incapacity, making a claim, premiums and cancelling.
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Income Protection+ policy summary (opens in a new tab)
The adviser-sold policy: earnings-based benefit, cover types, deferred periods and included benefits.
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Income protection insurance (opens in a new tab)
Aviva’s Living Costs Protection page, with who can apply, the benefits and FAQs.
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About our services and costs (opens in a new tab)
How Aviva UK Digital Limited sells Aviva’s life, critical illness and income protection products: without advice, and paid by commission.
Documents are published by Aviva and open on Aviva’s website. Aviva may update them — the version you receive with your policy is the one that applies.
How Aviva income protection compares
Income protection policies differ in how long they pay, how much they pay and how they decide you can’t work, so it’s worth comparing more than the monthly premium.
When you compare policies, check how long payments last for each claim, whether the amount depends on your earnings, which deferred periods you can choose, whether premiums are guaranteed or reviewable, and whether a claim is judged against your own job.
With Living Costs Protection, payments last up to 12 months per claim, you choose a fixed amount from £500 to £1,500 a month with no earnings check, the deferred period is 4, 8, 13 or 26 weeks, premiums are guaranteed, and a claim is judged on whether you can do the duties of the jobs you’ve had in the past 12 months.
Income Protection+ can pay for as long as you can’t work (full cover to term) or for up to 24 months per claim (limited payment term), is based on your earnings with a maximum benefit of £20,000 a month, has deferred periods of 4, 8, 13, 26, 52 or 104 weeks, and offers guaranteed or reviewable premiums.
A policy that pays for a limited time leaves a gap if you’re off work for longer, so it helps to know what sick pay, savings or other cover you could rely on after that.
Our income protection calculator can help you estimate the monthly income you might need and how long your savings and sick pay would last.
Our guide to income protection explains how this type of cover works and lists the insurers in our reviews that offer it, alphabetically.
Other insurers’ income protection guides
Read our full Aviva life insurance review, or see all our insurer reviews.
Aviva income protection FAQs
It’s Aviva’s direct income protection. It pays a fixed monthly amount of £500 to £1,500 for up to 12 months per successful claim if illness or injury stops you working, after a deferred period of 4, 8, 13 or 26 weeks.
Living Costs Protection pays a fixed amount of £500 to £1,500 a month for up to 12 months per claim, with no earnings check, and you can apply for it directly with Aviva. Income Protection+ is sold through financial advisers. Its benefit is based on your earnings, up to 65% of the first £60,000 of your gross earnings and 45% above that, with a maximum of £20,000 a month. Depending on the cover you choose, it pays for as long as you can’t work or for up to 24 months per claim. It also includes hospital benefit, trauma benefit and a benefit guarantee.
Yes. Aviva sells Income Protection+ through financial advisers, and Defaqto rates it 5 stars. Advisers can also arrange Living Costs Protection, which is the policy you can apply for directly with Aviva by phone.
Yes. You can take out Living Costs Protection as long as you work 16 hours or more a week, and Aviva doesn’t ask what you earn. Income Protection+ is also open to self-employed people, with proof of their earnings for the last 12 months.
No. Living Costs Protection doesn’t cover redundancy or unemployment, and you can’t claim if you stop working or are made redundant. You need to have been working at least 16 hours a week immediately before you became ill or injured. With Income Protection+, you can still claim the main benefit if you become unable to work within three months of being made redundant.
Aviva suggests working out what your most important monthly bills and expenses cost and aiming to cover those. With Living Costs Protection you can choose from £500 to £1,500 a month.
Our income protection calculator can help you estimate the monthly income you might need. It’s our own tool, not an Aviva calculator.
Yes. There’s no limit on the number of Living Costs Protection claims. Each claim pays for up to 12 months, and once you’ve had 12 monthly payments you need to be back at work for at least 16 hours a week for six months in a row before you can claim again.
With Living Costs Protection, if you become ill or injured in the first year of your leave, Aviva treats you as if you’re still at work, so you can claim. If you take extended leave and then become unable to work, you can’t claim the monthly benefit.
No. Living Costs Protection and Income Protection+ are single policies only, and Aviva allows one Living Costs Protection policy per person, apart from extra cover added with the life change benefit.
Yes. If you cancel Living Costs Protection within 30 days of the later of being told your start date and receiving your policy documents, Aviva refunds your premiums. You can cancel after that, but you won’t get a refund, and the policy has no cash-in value. Income Protection+ also has a 30-day refund period and no cash-in value.
In the UK, Living Costs Protection payments are free from income tax and capital gains tax, and you shouldn’t claim tax relief on the premiums. The payments may affect your eligibility for means-tested state benefits.
When you apply for cover you will be asked questions about your health and lifestyle, and based on this and the amount of cover requested, the insurer will decide if a medical is required or not.
For Living Costs Protection, you answer questions about your health and lifestyle, your job and your personal circumstances. Aviva might exclude a medical condition or an activity from your policy, and tells you before it gives you a start date.
For a Living Costs Protection quote, call 0800 433 4513 (Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm). To make a claim, call 0800 158 3105. For questions about your policy, call 0800 285 1098.
Sources
The facts on this page come from these sources.
- Aviva — Income protection insurance (Living Costs Protection) product page (opens in a new tab), aviva.co.uk, accessed 24 September 2026.
- Aviva — Your technical guide to protection at Aviva (AL99016) (opens in a new tab), static.aviva.io, accessed 24 September 2026.
- Aviva — Aviva DigiCare+ page (opens in a new tab), aviva.co.uk, accessed 24 September 2026.
- Aviva — Personal protection products for advisers (opens in a new tab), connect.avivab2b.co.uk, accessed 24 September 2026.
- Aviva — Income Protection+ policy summary (AL52001) (opens in a new tab), static.aviva.io, accessed 26 September 2026.
- Aviva — Living Costs Protection policy summary (AL19001) (opens in a new tab), static.aviva.io, accessed 26 September 2026.
- Aviva — Living Costs Protection policy conditions (AL19002) (opens in a new tab), static.aviva.io, accessed 26 September 2026.
- Aviva plc — Aviva paid nearly £2 billion in protection claims in 2025 (claims statistics 2025) (opens in a new tab), aviva.com, accessed 24 September 2026.
- Aviva — Start your life insurance claim online (Aviva) (opens in a new tab), aviva.co.uk, accessed 24 September 2026.
- Aviva plc — Aviva paid out £1.89bn to support protection customers in 2024 (claims statistics 2024) (opens in a new tab), aviva.com, accessed 24 September 2026.
- Aviva plc — £1.18bn paid out on more than 50,600 Aviva individual protection claims in 2023 (claims statistics 2023) (opens in a new tab), aviva.com, accessed 24 September 2026.
- Aviva plc — Aviva pays more than £1bn in individual protection claims for the third consecutive year (claims statistics 2022) (opens in a new tab), aviva.com, accessed 24 September 2026.
- Aviva plc — £1.1bn in individual protection claims helped more than 53,700 customers and families in 2021 (claims statistics 2021) (opens in a new tab), aviva.com, accessed 24 September 2026.
- Aviva — The 2026 Book of Claims and Wellbeing Insights - Individual Protection (2025 claims data, PT151147) (opens in a new tab), static.aviva.io, accessed 24 September 2026.
- Defaqto — Defaqto Star Ratings (Life & Protection) for Aviva (opens in a new tab), defaqto.com, accessed 24 September 2026.
- Trustpilot — Trustpilot - Aviva (www.aviva.co.uk) company reviews, all products (opens in a new tab), uk.trustpilot.com, accessed 24 September 2026.
Related pages
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Income protection
A monthly payment if you can’t work due to accident or illness.
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Best life insurance
What to compare when you choose a policy.
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Term life insurance
Cover for a set number of years, with level or decreasing cover.
