INCOME PROTECTION
Pays you a monthly income if you’re too ill to work.
Why is it a good idea?
If you’re too ill to work, the bills don't stop
An illness doesn’t need to be life-threatening to stop you from working. And these days you often don’t need to be unable to work for very long before debts build up, and you start to struggle financially.
That’s the beauty of Income Protection. It pays you an agreed monthly income if you find yourself unable to do your job due to illness or injury, and help you to keep paying your bills until you’re well enough to return to work.
How does it work?
If you’re too ill to do your job, we pay you a monthly income
Unlike critical illness cover, where you’re only covered for a defined list of critical illnesses, Income Protection covers any illness or injury that prevents you doing your own specified job.
The policy will pay you an agreed monthly income until you’re well enough to return to work or you reach the end of your chosen payment period. What’s more, once you recover, the policy stays in place for the length of your policy term, so if in the future another illness or injury prevents you from working, you can make another claim.
What products are available?
We have one Income Protection cover but there's a choice of 2 payment periods
2 year term
With a 2 year payment period, we’ll pay your cover amount for up to 2 years, or until you return to work, whichever is sooner. It’s a more affordable option.
Full-term
With a full-term payment period, we’ll pay your cover amount for the full term of your policy, or until you return to work, whichever is sooner. It’s a more comprehensive option.
To find out more talk to your Financial Adviser before deciding which payment period is right for your needs and budget.
Income Protection key features
Here's a few examples of features that make our Income Protection stand out
Own job definition
Most income protection policies pay out if you’re too ill to carry out your occupation. However, job roles can differ greatly within the same occupation, so claims can be hard to prove and are often open to challenge. At Guardian, we pay out if you’re too ill to do your actual job.
Premium Waiver
We’ll waive your premiums after 28 days as standard if you’re unable to work even if you haven’t lost any income yet, regardless of your chosen Income Protection deferred period.
What decisions do you need to make?
You decide how much income you receive and when your payments start
Cover amount
When you take out Income Protection, the first thing you need to decide is how much cover you need. The maximum amount of cover you can choose depends on your annual earnings.
The maximum cover you can take out is:
- 65% of your annual earnings up to £60,000.
- 50% of annual earnings over £60,000 and up to £100,000.
- 45% of any annual earnings over £100,000.
All payments are tax free.
Deferred period
You then need to choose a deferred period. This is the length of time you’re prepared to wait before being off sick due to illness or injury and your first monthly payment.
The shorter your deferred period, the more expensive the premium will be. So it’s important to check your employment contract for sick pay entitlement before selecting your deferred period.
You can choose from the following deferred periods: 4 weeks, 8 weeks, 13 weeks, 26 weeks or 52 weeks.
Policy term
You also need to decide how long you want the policy to be in place. Most people choose the age they’re planning to retire. The maximum age you can take cover out until is 70 – or lower for some jobs.
What type of cover do you need?
There’s a choice of 2:
Level Cover
With Level Cover, you choose the monthly amount of cover you want and the length of time you want to be covered. The monthly cover amount and monthly premium are fixed for the term of the policy.
Increasing Cover
They say what goes up must come down. But what about the cost of living? That generally only ever goes in one direction. So, to keep up with rising prices, the amount of monthly cover you get with Increasing Cover rises in line with inflation. This also means your premiums will rise each year.
Policy terms and conditions
For more details, view our policy terms and conditions and key facts.
To find out exactly what suits your needs best, speak to a Financial Adviser.
