or
Self-employed income protection is a type of insurance designed to replace a portion of your income if you’re unable to work due to illness, injury, or accident. As a self-employed individual, you don’t have the benefit of employer sick pay, so this type of cover can provide a financial safety net, ensuring that you can continue to meet your regular expenses like mortgage payments and bills while you recover.
If you’re self-employed, income protection insurance can be crucial. Without the stability of a regular employer-backed income, any period of downtime due to illness or injury could lead to significant financial strain. Self-employed income protection helps protect against the risk of lost earnings, ensuring you receive a regular payout when you’re unable to work.
For many people working for themselves, their income is entirely dependent on their ability to work. If you are a freelancer, contractor, or business owner, an unexpected illness or injury can have a profound impact on your ability to earn. Without the safety net of self-employed income protection, even short-term sickness could mean losing clients or facing financial difficulties.
Self-employed income protection policies typically pay out a percentage of your regular income—usually between 50% and 70%—if you’re unable to work due to illness, injury, or accident. Payments are made monthly, and you can choose how long you’d like the payments to continue for, depending on the policy. The duration of cover can be anything from a few months to a longer-term policy until you’re able to return to work or reach retirement age.
When you take out income protection insurance self-employed, you select a deferred period, which is the time you must wait after falling ill or getting injured before your policy starts to pay out. The shorter the deferred period, the higher the premium.
Unlike employees, who may receive statutory sick pay (SSP) from their employer, self-employed workers do not have access to sick pay from the government. This is why sickness insurance for self-employed individuals is critical. It acts as a substitute for sick pay, ensuring you have a steady income while you’re unable to work.
Yes, self-employed sickness insurance exists to help cover lost income if you become sick and can’t work. This insurance covers situations where you’re unable to perform your usual work duties due to illness, giving you peace of mind that you won’t face financial hardship.
A self-employed income protection policy usually covers:
Some policies offer self-employed injury insurance or self-employed accident insurance as specific add-ons to cover injuries and accidents that directly impact your ability to work. The aim is to ensure that you have regular monthly income to help cover essential expenses such as mortgage payments, bills, and other costs.
PRE EXISTING INJURIES OR ILLNESSES MAY BE EXCLUDED
The amount of cover you need depends on your personal circumstances, including:
It’s essential to assess your financial commitments and how long you could realistically manage without an income before deciding on your coverage amount.
The cost of income protection insurance for the self-employed varies depending on factors such as:
On average, premiums can range from £10 to £50 per month, depending on the level of cover and policy details.
Aside from self-employed income protection, there are other insurance policies that self-employed workers might want to consider for comprehensive protection, including:
Get things moving, apply for a protection.
Free unbiased protection advice is just a phone call away
A deferral period is the time between when you stop working due to illness or injury and when your self-employed income protection policy starts to pay out. The length of the deferral period can affect your premium: shorter periods usually result in higher premiums, while longer periods can reduce costs.
No, most income protection insurance policies for the self-employed will only cover a percentage of your income, typically between 50% and 70%. This ensures that you still have a financial safety net without providing an incentive not to return to work when you’re able.
Yes, income protection insurance can cover short-term sickness, depending on the policy and deferred period. Some policies are designed to cover both short-term and long-term absences from work, so it’s essential to choose the right one based on your needs.
Most self-employed income protection policies do not include critical illness cover as standard, but you can add it as an optional extra. Critical illness cover provides a lump sum payout if you’re diagnosed with a serious condition such as cancer, stroke, or heart disease.
Contact Us
Cookie | Duration | Description |
---|---|---|
cookielawinfo-checkbox-analytics | 11 months | This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics". |
cookielawinfo-checkbox-functional | 11 months | The cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional". |
cookielawinfo-checkbox-necessary | 11 months | This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary". |
cookielawinfo-checkbox-others | 11 months | This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other. |
cookielawinfo-checkbox-performance | 11 months | This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance". |
viewed_cookie_policy | 11 months | The cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. It does not store any personal data. |