Income Protection Insurance
Take out Income Protection Insurance from just £5 per month, and you can protect your income for those rainy days when you’re unable to work due to sickness or injury.
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What is Income Protection Insurance?
Income protection is insurance that offers you and your family flexible and affordable cover against losing your regular income due to illness or injury. Our Income Protection insurance aims to replace up to 70% of your gross regular income in the event you become unable to work due to sickness or if you’re incapacitated.
What does Income Protection cover?
Income protection insurance provides cover against illnesses or injuries that stop you from working. This cover replaces some of your regular income in the form of a tax-free sickness benefit. In the event that you become incapacitated and have to make a claim, then you can then use this to pay towards your ongoing living expenses such as bills, rent and mortgage payments.
About our Income Protection cover
Should you find yourself unable to work due to illness or injury, our Income Protection insurance gives you and your family flexible and affordable cover against your loss of income.
- You decide when to receive your first monthly payment to tie in with your sick pay
- With a 5-star Defaqto rating, you can trust our Income Protection to work for you
- We won’t increase your premiums based on your hobbies or health conditions
Our Income Protection insurance gives you peace of mind that your family’s lifestyle is protected. It provides the income needed to meet the monthly bills without having to dip into your savings or run up debts.
One less thing to worry about when the unexpected happens
An income when you can’t work
Our cover pays up to 70% of your gross income aiming to replace your take home pay.
Cover from just £5 per month
Tailor our affordable, flexible Income Protection insurance around your circumstances.
We’ve paid 96.2% of claims
96.2% of new claims made by Income Protection members were accepted.
How much is Income Protection Insurance?
What you pay depends on the percentage of your monthly income you want to cover, and the period you choose to wait before you begin to receive payments. Our Income Protection cover starts from just £5 a month.
How does Income Protection work?
Shepherds Friendly Income Protection insurance works by replacing your income if you become too ill to work. Some key takeaways are:
- Income Protections aims to replace up to 70% of your gross income if you become injured or too ill to work.
- Your tax-free sickness benefit is paid monthly.
- It covers physical illness, mental illness and injuries, with options to cover both short and long-term.
- Our long-term cover pays a sickness benefit until you can return to work, retire or pass away.
- Our short-term cover pays a sickness benefit until you can return to work, or for a maximum of two years.
- You can claim as many times as you need throughout the term of the policy. Please remember that if you choose the short-term policy, then claims for two incidences of the same condition need to be at least 6 months apart.
Income Protection Enhanced Benefits
For our Enhanced Benefits, we have partnered with Nuffield Health to give you unlimited access to the best health and wellbeing support services. This includes private online GP appointments available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year and at no additional cost. Plus, helpful financial support including bereavement payments and a new child payment.
Nuffield Health Benefits
Nuffield Health Virtual GP
24/7 GP and ANP (Advanced Nurse Practitioner) access wherever you are. With unlimited appointments, you can have as many up to 20-minute video or phone GP and ANP consultations as you need, giving you peace of mind knowing your health is in good hands.
Nuffield Health Gym Discount Membership
Enjoy the benefits of a Nuffield Health Gym membership for 20% less. Become a fitter, healthier and stronger you… and save yourself some money at the same time!
Nuffield Health Emotional Wellbeing
Accredited by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), the Nuffield Health Emotional Wellbeing platform is designed to help you maintain and improve your emotional wellbeing.
Family Support Benefits
Bereavement Payment
In the unfortunate event that you die during the term of your plan, our Bereavement Payment provides your loved ones with a helping hand at what is sure to be a difficult time, by offering a payment of £6,000.
Terms and conditions apply.
New Child Payment
We’ll pay £250 into a Shepherds Friendly Junior ISA upon the birth or adoption of your child – perfect for giving them a head start in life. After all, who knows what the future has in store?
Terms and conditions apply.
Our claims promise to you
It’s our promise that should you ever need to make a claim, a specialist claims handler will be by your side every step of the way.
Our claims specialists have an average of more than 10 years’ experience, so you can rest assured they’ll make the process as smooth and hassle-free for you as possible.
All correspondences with us, and any documents required to handle your claim, will be processed within five working days. We’ll ensure you’re kept up to date with the progress of your claim and offer expert guidance and information when you need it.
Everyone can benefit
We’re a financial mutual that’s built on fairness. Everything we do is for our members, not shareholders, and all profits made are paid to you or re-invested for your benefit.
Our members love that we do things the right way
Nine out of 10 members would recommend us for the way we protect their futures.
Helping our members benefit for almost 200 years
The world’s changed a lot since 1826 but our idea of fairness remains the same.
When you’re member-owned, it matters more
We take the financial future of every member personally, because you’re one of us.
Ready to start protecting your future?
It’s wise to secure yourself and your family against the unknown. Download the documents below to get up to speed with exactly how the Shepherds Friendly Income Protection insurance works.
Find out more about income protection insurance
Frequently asked questions
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Who can apply for income protection insurance?
Anyone aged 16 and over can apply for a plan, with the maximum age being 63. You must pay tax in the UK, hold a UK bank or building society account and have been registered with a UK medical practice for at least three years.
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What does underwriting involve?
After you apply for an Income Protection plan with us, your application is referred to our Underwriting team. The underwriting process helps us to determine if we can cover you and if any specific terms will apply to your plan. Underwriters evaluate the level of risk presented by your application by using statistical analysis, data evaluation and guidelines provided by financial experts.
If we determine that your application presents significant risk, due to one or a combination of factors, we may offer you cover with different terms or with exclusions applied. In rare cases, we may be unable to offer cover altogether. After underwriting, if you require any clarification, please get in touch and one of our Underwriters will be happy to explain the terms of your plan in more detail.
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How long does income protection last?
The minimum term for a plan is five years, with the maximum being limited by your age. Cover will stop when you reach the age of 70.
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How much of my income will the Shepherds Friendly Income Protection insurance cover?
If you’re employed we can cover up to 70% of your regular gross income. If you’re self-employed we can cover up to 70% of your net profit.
Benefits are paid to you monthly free of tax, and you can choose to include inflation cover.
The maximum benefit at the start of your Income Protection is £49,000 per year. The minimum benefit is determined by the requirement to have a minimum premium of £5 per month.
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What income protection does not cover
Income protection does not cover redundancy or dismissal. Additionally, when you complete your medical we may need to exclude some pre-existing medical conditions.
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What is the difference between income protection and critical illness
Critical illness cover will only pay one lump sum when you become critically ill due to long term and very serious conditions, such as cancer, which can be used towards any large costs, like a mortgage. Income protection sickness benefits are usually paid monthly while you’re off work due to illness or injury.
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How to claim income protection insurance
As soon as you think you may need to make a claim, please contact us by phone on 0800 526 249. The Claims Team will explain the claims process and send you a claim form or, alternatively, you can make a claim online.
Our Member Services Team are always happy to help. You can call them on 0800 526 249.
Important things to consider about Income Protection
- If you stop paying premiums under this plan, your cover will cease.
- If your income increases and you do not review your benefit level, you may not have sufficient benefit to meet your needs when you make a claim.
- If your income decreases and you do not review your benefit level, you may not be able to claim the full amount of benefit you applied for when the plan started, or you may only be entitled to House Persons Benefit if you are unemployed at the date of incapacity.
- If you cancel your plan, you will not receive any money back.
- Benefits received from this plan may affect your entitlement to any other benefit.
- If you do not give us accurate and honest answers about your health and lifestyle, we may not pay the benefit in the event of a claim.
All references to taxation are to UK taxation and are based on Shepherds Friendly Society’s understanding of current legislation and H M Revenue and Customs practice which may change in the future. For our With Profits plans investment growth is by means of bonuses, the amount of which cannot be guaranteed throughout the term of the contract. Please ensure that you read the full terms and conditions of this plan which are available from your financial adviser or by contacting us directly.
Please note: No advice has been provided by Shepherds Friendly. If you are in any doubt as to whether a plan is suitable for you, we recommend getting in touch with a financial adviser, who will be happy to take you through what options are available. Should you consult a financial adviser there could be a cost involved and you should confirm this cost beforehand.