The Aviva income protection policy you can buy from Aviva directly is called Living Costs Protection, and it works differently from the full-term cover many people picture: you pick a fixed monthly amount, it pays for up to 12 months per claim, and it does not ask what you earn, though you must work at least 16 hours a week. Aviva also writes group income protection through employers, which pays a percentage of salary.
To have Aviva's terms weighed against other insurers' for your own job and health, leave your details in the quote form and an FCA-authorised broker will call you back. There is no charge.
Which Aviva income protection do you mean?
Aviva's consumer page names its income protection Living Costs Protection and says you apply to Aviva by phone. The documents behind it are a policy summary (AL19001, October 2024) and policy conditions (AL19002, October 2024), both held in Aviva's adviser document library and linked from that page.
The second route is group income protection, which an employer arranges for staff. A quote or application goes through an adviser or the employer's usual Aviva contact, and the technical guide (GR02417, June 2025) is written for employers and their advisers. Everything below from that guide is employer material, not something a person can buy alone; the policy is intended for schemes with three or more members.
For the product type itself, see how income protection works in general; comparing income protection plans sets Aviva beside other insurers.
How does Aviva decide you cannot work?
The two products use different tests, and the test is where claims are won or lost.
For Living Costs Protection, the conditions measure incapacity against "each and every occupation" you have followed in the 12 months before the illness or injury began, not just your main job. An occupation there means paid work of at least 16 hours a week, and its duties are the "material and substantial activities or tasks" that cannot reasonably be left out or changed. The main benefit is paid only if you have not taken up any other occupation since the incapacity started.
Group cover lets the employer pick one of three definitions in the policy schedule; if none is specified, "own will apply":
| Group option (GR02417) | What the guide says |
|---|---|
| Own | Inability to do the duties of the member's job role, full time and part time, because of illness or injury. |
| Suited | Inability to do those duties and other occupations suited to the member by education, training or experience. |
| Switched | Own for the first 24 months after the deferred period, then the suited test. |
Where a member's job needs a licence other than an ordinary driving licence, or a medical certificate, "a ‘suited’ definition will be applied to that member in all cases".
What limits does Living Costs Protection set on amount, wait and length?
These are the individual policy's terms, from the summary and conditions.
| Term | What the documents say |
|---|---|
| Monthly benefit | Between £500 and £1,500 a month (£6,000 to £18,000 a year); you do not give your earnings. |
| Deferred period | 4, 8, 13 or 26 consecutive weeks. |
| Length of each claim | A maximum of 12 months for each claim, including any back to work benefit. |
| Policy term | Between 5 and 52 years, and it cannot go past your 71st birthday. |
| Who can apply | Aged 18 to 59, working at least 16 hours a week, and not already off work through illness or injury. |
| Number of policies | One per person, apart from extra policies bought under the life change benefit. |
Aviva's consumer page says the policy can cover as much as 90% of monthly take-home pay, capped at £1,500, and suggests a different type of income protection if that does not meet your outgoings. Sick pay, other insurance and business income do not reduce the benefit, although a payment may affect a claim on other income protection policies or your eligibility for means-tested state benefits.
The 12-month cap is the central feature. Once 12 payments have been made, you must be back at work for at least 16 hours a week for six consecutive months before claiming again, and then the deferred period applies again. A claim for the same illness or injury within 12 months of returning to that level of work skips the deferred period, unless all 12 payments have already been made. A longer deferred period is the cheaper choice but means a longer wait; what moves the price and how much cover to weigh up deal with that trade-off, and the maximum you can hold in total covers holding more than one policy.
What about redundancy, the self-employed and health conditions?
On redundancy, Aviva's page is plain: "You can't claim Living Costs Protection if you stop working or are made redundant." Income protection and redundancy goes through the other routes.
Self-employed people can take out the policy as long as they work 16 hours or more each week; how other insurers treat sole traders is in income protection for the self-employed. Group cover is different: the guide lists "the self-employed (other than equity partners)" among those it is not designed for.
On health, the summary says Aviva may exclude a medical condition or an activity from the policy, and will tell you before it gives a start date. Aviva's news release of 25 March 2026 reports that of its income protection claims declined in 2025, "around three-fifths were due to misrepresentation of relevant information during application", so full answers to the health and job questions matter. Past conditions are covered in income protection and pre-existing conditions, and the assessment in the medical assessment. Asking a broker how Aviva and others have treated a history like yours is one use of the form below the article.
What does Aviva's group income protection offer instead?
This is employer and adviser material: if you are covered at work, your employer has already made these choices, so ask for the scheme's policy schedule. Group cover pays "a percentage of salary", up to 80% for employees or 50% for equity partners, and the technical guide (June 2025) caps the overall income benefit at £425,000. The options the guide lets the employer set:
- Deferred period: 8, 13, 26, 28 or 52 weeks. Benefits "will not be paid" while the employer keeps paying full salary, so the guide says the wait should be aligned to when salary is due to reduce.
- How long it pays: to a cease age, which can be State Pension Age or a fixed age from 60 to 70, or for a limited payment term of two, three, four or five years.
- Rising payments: a fixed 3% or 5%, or RPI or CPI with caps of 2.5%, 3% or 5%, once payments have run for 12 consecutive months.
- Other income: the benefit takes account of "continuing income from an employer (such as occupational sick pay)" and some other insurance.
Aviva will usually offer a free cover limit, the most cover a member can have without giving medical information, and exclusions may be applied to benefit above it. Absence for a lifestyle choice, caring for a dependant or workplace matters is not covered, and a member who does not take part in a treatment or rehabilitation programme may lose benefit. Benefit normally stops when the member leaves service, unless a pay direct policy was chosen or Aviva has agreed to pay the claim directly.
What help comes with a claim, and what do Aviva's figures show?
Living Costs Protection includes two features at no extra cost. Waiver of premium means Aviva pays your premiums during a successful claim, from 13 weeks or the end of the deferred period, whichever is sooner (see waiver of premium). Back to work benefit pays one month's benefit if you return to work but earn less, because you changed occupation or had to restrict your duties or hours. Separately, if Aviva needs more information before deciding on an application, a protection promise gives free cover for accidental injury, not illness, in the meantime.
The group product leans on rehabilitation: Aviva's employer page says it assigns an expert case manager, and its release says 85% of employees who were case managed returned to or remained in work. That is Aviva's own measure of its group service, not a forecast for any individual.
The release of 25 March 2026 covers claims in 2025. For individual income protection, Aviva paid "just over £63.5 million in benefits to around 4,100 new and existing claimants", with an overall acceptance rate of 90%; musculoskeletal conditions were the most common cause of claim, followed by mental health conditions and cancer. For group income protection it reports around 6,500 claims paid and more than £146 million in benefits. These are Aviva's own totals for the year, not a guide to any one claim.
Once you want real terms rather than a summary, the quote form passes your request to an adviser firm who will ring you; the steps after that are in how to apply for income protection. For Aviva's neighbours, Legal & General's income protection is on its own page, and the wider area is under critical illness and income cover.
Frequently asked questions
Does Aviva income protection cover redundancy?
No. Aviva's page says Living Costs Protection does not cover redundancy or unemployment, and you cannot claim if you stop working or are made redundant.
What is Aviva's income protection maximum benefit?
For Living Costs Protection it is £1,500 a month (£18,000 a year). For group cover it is up to 80% of an employee's gross taxable earnings, or 50% for equity partners, within an overall £425,000 cap.
What if a quote calls the Aviva policy Income Protection Plus?
Aviva's consumer and employer income protection pages describe Living Costs Protection, bought direct, and Group Income Protection, arranged by employers. If a quote, letter or adviser uses another product name, ask for the policy summary and policy conditions behind it, and check the incapacity test and how long each claim can pay.
Can the self-employed get Aviva income protection?
Yes for Living Costs Protection, provided you work at least 16 hours a week. Group cover is for employees and equity partners.
Does Aviva income protection pay out for as long as I am ill?
Living Costs Protection pays for up to 12 months per claim. Group cover can pay to a chosen cease age or for a limited payment term of two to five years, as the employer chooses.
Sources
- Aviva, Policy Summary of Living Costs Protection (AL19001 10/2024; linked from Aviva's income protection page), read 20 October 2026. static.aviva.io
- Aviva, Living Costs Protection Policy Conditions (AL19002 10/2024), read 20 October 2026. static.aviva.io
- Aviva, Income protection insurance (consumer web page), read 20 October 2026. aviva.co.uk
- Aviva, Group Income Protection Technical Guide (GR02417 06/2025; written for employers and advisers), read 20 October 2026. static.aviva.io
- Aviva, Group income protection insurance (employer web page), read 20 October 2026. aviva.co.uk
- Aviva, Aviva paid nearly £2 billion in protection claims in 2025 (news release, 25 March 2026), read 20 October 2026. aviva.com