Income protection calculator
Estimate the monthly income you might need if illness or injury stopped you working. Results are shown on screen.
About this calculator
This calculator compares your essential monthly outgoings with the money you’d still have coming in if illness or injury stopped you working. What’s left is the monthly shortfall that income protection could cover. It also shows how long sick pay and savings could carry you, which is a guide to the deferred period.
Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) is worked out as £123.25 a week or 80% of your normal weekly earnings, whichever is lower, paid for up to 28 weeks. The calculator takes your weekly earnings as your yearly income divided by 52, and turns weekly amounts into monthly ones by multiplying by 52 and dividing by 12. At the full rate that’s about £534 a month.
Employer sick pay is taken to be your full pay, including SSP, for the months you enter. After that you’d have SSP alone until week 28. If you choose self-employed, there’s no SSP or employer sick pay. Savings are used once employer sick pay ends: first to top up SSP, then to cover the whole shortfall.
All figures are before tax. SSP has tax and National Insurance taken off, so the amount you receive can be lower. The amount of cover you choose is up to you.
What each insurer would cover on your income
Insurers limit income protection to a share of your income before tax, and each sets its own rule. Payments from a personal policy are usually free of income tax: Scottish Widows, for example, says that under current tax rules there’s no income tax or capital gains tax to pay on any amount paid out. So a benefit at the limit can come close to your take-home pay.
The table shows the most each insurer’s published rule would pay a month for an income of £35,000 a year before tax. It isn’t what you’d be offered: that depends on your job, your health and the proof of earnings the insurer asks for.
| Insurer and policy | Most a month | Published limit |
|---|---|---|
| Aviva Income Protection+ | £1,896 | 65% of the first £60,000 of gross earnings and 45% above that, up to £20,000 a month |
| Guardian Income Protection | £1,896 | 65% of earnings up to £60,000, 50% from £60,000 to £100,000 and 45% above £100,000; cover from £2,500 to £250,000 a year |
| Legal & General Income Protection Benefit | £1,750 | 60% of gross annual income up to £60,000 and 50% above that, up to £20,000 a month |
| LV= Income Protection | £1,750 | Up to 60% of pre-tax income The LV= pages we checked don’t give a cash maximum. |
| National Friendly Income Protection | £2,042 | Up to 70% of earnings when the policy starts, with a benefit of £500 to £6,000 a month Limited to £2,000 a month if you choose a 5-year benefit period. |
| Royal London Income Protection | £1,896 | 65% of the first £60,000 of pre-tax earnings and 50% of the rest, up to £250,000 a year |
| Scottish Widows Scottish Widows Protect Income Protection (level cover) | £1,750 | 60% of earnings up to £70,000 a year and 45% above that, up to £20,000 a month Increasing cover goes up to £12,000 a month. |
| Shepherds Friendly Income Protection (age-costed reviewable premiums, May 2026 key features) | £2,042 | 70% of annual income or £49,000 a year, whichever is lower With level guaranteed premiums the most is £36,000 a year. The direct Income Protection page gives £33,600 a year. |
| The Exeter Income First | £1,896 | 65% of the first £60,000 of taxable income and 45% above that, with a benefit of £500 to £10,000 a month |
| Vitality Income Protection Cover | £1,750 | Up to 60% of gross salary, with a benefit of £250 to £16,666.67 a month Vitality says the share depends on how much you earn; 60% is the most it states. |
| Zurich Income Protection | £1,896 | 65% of the first £60,000 of gross income and 45% above that, up to £20,000 a month |
Bank of Scotland, Halifax and Lloyds Bank sell Scottish Widows income protection and give the same limits of 60% of the first £70,000 of earnings and 45% above that.
Short-term income protection
Short-term policies pay for a limited time, such as 6 or 12 months, and some can also cover you if you lose your job. Their monthly limits are lower.
| Insurer and policy | Most a month | Published limit |
|---|---|---|
| Assurity Assurity Income Protection (accident, sickness and unemployment) | £1,896 | 65% of gross monthly income or £2,000 a month, whichever is lower Pays for 6 or 12 months. |
| Best Insurance Best Income Insurance | £1,896 | 65% of gross monthly income or £3,000 a month, whichever is lower Short-term cover. |
| National Assurance Accident Sickness and Unemployment Cover | £1,896 | 65% of your normal income or £2,000 a month, whichever is lower Pays at most 12 monthly payments. |
The limits are from each insurer’s own pages and documents, checked on the dates in the Sources list. Insurers can change them, and the policy documents when you apply are what count.
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How much income protection do I need?
Start with what you’d need each month rather than what you earn. Add up the costs that wouldn’t stop if you couldn’t work:
- Your mortgage or rent
- Household bills, council tax and insurance
- Food, travel and childcare
- Loan, car finance and credit card repayments
Then take off any income that would carry on, such as rent from a property or a partner’s earnings you share. The difference is the monthly benefit to aim for, and it’s the figure the calculator shows.
Next, check the limit. If your shortfall is more than an insurer would cover on your income, you can only insure up to that limit. If it’s less, you don’t have to insure the full amount, and a smaller benefit costs less.
Finally, think about how long you’d need the money. Long-term policies can pay until you’re back at work, you retire or the policy ends, while short-term cover stops after a set time. If you’d also want a lump sum to clear a mortgage or pay for changes at home, see the critical illness calculator.
How much is income protection insurance?
There’s no single price: it depends on you and on the cover you choose. Halifax, for example, says the cost depends on your age when the policy starts, whether you smoke, vape or use nicotine, your job, the amount of cover, the waiting period, the type and length of cover, and your answers to the application questions.
Bank of Scotland gives a fictional example: a non-smoking 30-year-old self-employed plumber whose level cover would pay up to £2,000 a month after his chosen waiting period. It costs £47.08 a month.
Some insurers set a minimum premium. It’s £5 a month for LV= Income Protection and for Shepherds Friendly, and Scottish Widows bases its smallest benefit on a minimum premium of £8.
The choices that usually bring the price down are:
- A longer deferred period, so payments start later
- A shorter payment period, such as one or two years for each claim
- A smaller monthly benefit
- Level cover, rather than cover that rises each year
How the premium is set matters too. Shepherds Friendly, for example, offers level guaranteed premiums, which are fixed at the start, and age-costed reviewable premiums, which rise with age and can be reviewed. The quickest way to see a real price for your age, job and health is to compare quotes.
Choosing a deferred period
The deferred period, which some insurers call the waiting period, is how long you have to be off work before the policy starts to pay. Guardian, Legal & General, Royal London and Scottish Widows all offer 4, 8, 13, 26 or 52 weeks. Some go shorter or longer: The Exeter offers day 1, Vitality 7 days for the self-employed and Zurich up to 104 weeks.
A common rule of thumb is to match the deferred period to when your other money runs out: the longest of the standard periods of 4, 8, 13, 26 or 52 weeks that ends before your sick pay and the savings you’re willing to use run out. A longer deferred period usually means a lower premium. For example:
- Your employer pays 6 months’ full sick pay and you have little in savings: 26 weeks.
- You’d get Statutory Sick Pay only and have about a month’s shortfall saved: 4 weeks.
- You’re self-employed with 3 months’ shortfall saved: 13 weeks.
On the figures you’ve entered, your sick pay and savings would last about 20 weeks. The longest standard period that ends within that time is 13 weeks.
Payments don’t arrive on the day the deferred period ends. Legal & General pays monthly in arrears, and Scottish Widows says benefit normally starts one month after the end of the deferred period. It’s worth keeping enough to cover that first month.
Statutory Sick Pay and income protection
If you’re an employee, Statutory Sick Pay is the least you’d get from your employer. It’s £123.25 a week or 80% of your normal weekly earnings, whichever is lower, paid for up to 28 weeks by your employer in the same way as your wages. At the full rate, 28 weeks comes to £3,451 before tax and National Insurance.
To qualify, you must be classed as an employee, have done some work for your employer and have been ill for at least one full working day. You must usually tell your employer before the deadline they set, or within 7 days if they haven’t set one.
You can get more if your employer has its own sick pay scheme, so check your employment contract. If you can’t get SSP, or once it ends, you may be able to apply for Universal Credit or Employment and Support Allowance.
For many people SSP covers only part of their outgoings, so the calculator shows the shortfall while you’re on it as well as after it ends.
Short-term and long-term income protection
Long-term income protection can keep paying until you go back to work, retire or the policy ends. Many policies also let you limit how long each claim pays, which usually costs less: Zurich to 2 years per claim, Shepherds Friendly to one or two years and National Friendly to 1, 2 or 5 years.
Short-term income protection pays for a set time. Assurity’s policy pays for 6 or 12 months and can cover accident and sickness, unemployment or both. National Assurance’s cover makes at most 12 monthly payments, and Aviva’s direct Living Costs Protection pays £500 to £1,500 a month for up to 12 months per claim.
Long-term policies usually pay only if illness or injury stops you working. Scottish Widows’ policy doesn’t pay if you’re off work for another reason, such as unemployment or redundancy, and Vitality’s doesn’t cover redundancy.
Income protection if you’re self-employed
If you work for yourself, there’s no Statutory Sick Pay, as it’s only for people classed as employees, and no employer sick pay. Choose “Self-employed” in the calculator and both are set to zero, so your savings are all that stands between your first day off and the first payment.
Insurers look at your profits rather than a salary. Shepherds Friendly uses the average of your last three years’ net profit, and Royal London lets self-employed customers include certain regular fixed overheads, such as business rent.
Some policies have options only for the self-employed, such as Vitality’s 7-day deferred period. Others aren’t open to you at all: Assurity’s short-term cover isn’t available to the self-employed.
Questions and answers
It depends on your age, health, smoking, job, the amount of cover, the deferred period and how long the policy would pay for. As an example, Bank of Scotland gives £47.08 a month for a fictional non-smoking 30-year-old self-employed plumber with level cover of up to £2,000 a month.
Each insurer sets its own limit on your income before tax, and the table above works it out for your income. Guardian, for example, allows up to 65% of earnings up to £60,000, 50% from £60,000 to £100,000 and 45% above £100,000.
One that starts paying around when your sick pay, and the savings you’re happy to use, run out. A longer deferred period usually costs less, but you need to be able to manage until the payments start. The section on choosing a deferred period shows how the rule of thumb works out on the figures you enter.
Yes, if you qualify. SSP comes from your employer and depends on the government’s conditions, such as being classed as an employee and being ill for at least one full working day. The calculator counts it as income for up to 28 weeks.
Yes. Many policies are open to self-employed people, although some short-term cover isn’t, so check before you apply. Insurers base the limit on your profits: Shepherds Friendly, for example, uses the average of your last three years’ net profit.
Short-term cover pays for a limited time, often up to 12 months, and may also cover you if you lose your job. Long-term cover can pay until you go back to work, retire or the policy ends, but usually covers only illness and injury.
Payments from a personal policy are usually free of income tax under current rules. Scottish Widows, for example, says no income tax or capital gains tax is payable on its payouts. Cover paid for by an employer can be taxed differently.
Sources
The facts on this page come from these sources.
- GOV.UK: Statutory Sick Pay (SSP): what you'll get (opens in a new tab); Statutory Sick Pay (SSP): eligibility (opens in a new tab); Statutory Sick Pay (SSP): overview (opens in a new tab) · gov.uk, accessed 26 September 2026.
- Insurer documents: Assurity, Aviva, Bank of Scotland, Best Insurance, Guardian, Halifax, Legal & General, Lloyds Bank, LV=, National Assurance, National Friendly, Royal London, Scottish Widows, Shepherds Friendly, The Exeter, Vitality, Zurich. Each insurer’s policy documents, claims figures and announcements are listed in our review of that insurer.
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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Critical illness cover
A lump sum on diagnosis of a serious illness your policy covers.
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Family life insurance
Cover that helps your family with everyday costs.
