Income protection can pay for time off with stress, anxiety, depression or another mental health condition, but the label is not what triggers a payment. The six insurers' policies below pay when illness or injury stops you doing your work, and each claim is judged on how the condition affects you.

If this subject is close to home, Mind (mind.org.uk) offers information and support, and you can call Samaritans free, day or night, on 116 123.

Legal & General's terms (QGI12745, April 2025; adviser site) give an example: "stress on its own isn’t an illness, but it can lead to symptoms that might prevent you from completing the material duties of your occupation." Nothing here needs deciding today; whenever it suits you, the free form on this page can have an FCA-authorised broker phone to talk through your own health history.

Does income protection pay out for stress, anxiety or depression?

Each of these six wordings ties the payment to illness or injury that leaves you unable to work: Legal & General (April 2025), Zurich (April 2026; sold through advisers), Scottish Widows (September 2025), LV= (April 2026), Royal London (July 2026; available through advisers) and Aviva (October 2024). Print codes are in the Sources list. Royal London's own-occupation test shows how the wording reaches the mind as well as the body: it asks about loss, before age 70, of the physical or mental ability to do the material and substantial duties of the person's own occupation, through illness or injury.

Whether a mental health condition is excluded turns on the policy and on any exclusion written in for you, covered further down, and each claim is still judged on its own facts. The Legal & General sentence quoted above is an example from one insurer, not a rule for every policy. How each insurer words "unable to work", and the wait before payments start, is set side by side in comparing income protection plans.

How is a claim for a mental health condition assessed?

Legal & General says it treats "all claims individually" and assesses each "on how an illness or injury has impacted your ability to work". Being signed off by your GP "will help us to assess your claim", it adds, "but we’ll likely need more information".

The test differs by insurer. Royal London's own-occupation test above comes with a condition: "If, immediately before the start of the period of incapacity, the person covered isn’t in full-time work, we’ll assess the claim based on meeting the serious illness requirements." That second tier is a list of defined conditions, and it includes "Severe mental illness – of specified severity", which starts "A definite diagnosis by a consultant psychiatrist of any of the following:" before naming diagnoses and further requirements. Aviva's conditions instead measure incapacity against "each and every occupation" you followed in the 12 months before the illness or injury. Own occupation and any occupation explains the two families of test.

What evidence do insurers ask for?

The documents describe a similar pattern: your consent to approach your doctor, reports from those treating you, and sometimes an examination by someone the insurer chooses.

Insurer and documentWhat it says about evidence
Legal & General, QGI12745 (April 2025)It asks for "permission to contact your doctor for medical information" and says it sometimes relies on "third parties such as healthcare providers and the NHS", which "can mean delays".
Zurich, PWL850002003 (April 2026)"We’ll need to write to your GP or physician to get medical evidence to assess your claim." It lists delays in "GPs or physicians sending us medical reports" and in "arranging medical examinations and receiving reports".
Royal London, PCP8P10012/13 (July 2026)To confirm incapacity it might "ask the person covered to be examined by a doctor or health specialist we choose" or ask for "a report from a GP or treating consultant". It says it will "pay what we consider to be the reasonable cost of all medical reports or evidence we ask for".
Aviva, AL19002 (October 2024)"We need satisfactory evidence to support this." It asks for written consent to "access your medical records or reports" and for "reports from, third parties such as medical practitioners" and employers, and says it "may postpone or refuse a claim" if the information is not received.
Scottish Widows, 61218 (September 2025)"We will need evidence to support any claim you make. We may not pay your claim if we can’t get this evidence or if we can’t get all the information we need."

Timing matters because evidence takes time. Legal & General's terms ask you to report a claim within 2 weeks of becoming incapacitated if you chose a 4-week deferred period, and within 4 weeks for any other. Zurich says delays in medical evidence are "most likely to impact policies with shorter deferred periods".

Some documents also say what the insurer expects while a claim is paid. The same terms say "You’ll need to start and continue appropriate treatment for the condition you’re claiming for", and that, depending on the illness or injury, this might include a rehabilitation programme, counselling or therapy. Aviva's conditions say you "must take whatever steps are necessary to help your recovery", including working with advisers it appoints. Zurich lists, among the reasons it will not pay, that "you have not followed reasonable advice given to you by relevant medical professionals, such as your GP or physician". LV= stops payments for refusing treatment only where its summary says the reason "is unreasonable". What counts as reasonable in a particular case is for the insurer to decide.

What exclusions and limits can apply to mental health conditions?

With these insurers, exclusions are set when you apply and written into your policy papers. Scottish Widows' summary explains that "An exclusion is when a specific illness, sport or pursuit is not covered by your policy", and that you are told of any "before you make your decision to go ahead with the policy". Zurich says any specific exclusions are shown on a document it calls the Confirmation of terms; Royal London counts as an exclusion a reason "shown on your cover summary"; Aviva says that if it has applied none, "you’ll be on our standard terms".

One wording needs a plain mention. Royal London's plan details list among the reasons it will not pay a claim that the claim results from intentional self-inflicted injury. How that is read in a given case is for the insurer to explain. Samaritans are free to call on 116 123 at any time, if reading it has been hard.

Legal & General's underwriting leaflet (W10188, September 2025; it covers life, critical illness and income protection together) turns to mental health directly: it expects an exclusion to be likely where a past condition could come back, and its examples are anxiety, depression and back problems. So a past diagnosis can lead to an exclusion for that condition, and the wording on your own schedule decides how far it reaches. It is worth asking whether it names one diagnosis or a wider group.

The same leaflet says it cannot offer Waiver of Premium (paying your premiums while you claim) with certain medical conditions, and again anxiety and depression are among its examples. How that feature works is in what waiver of premium is.

How do pre-existing mental health conditions affect an application?

Legal & General's leaflet says anxiety and depression are significant when applying for disability cover. The decisions it lists include offering the cover you asked for if it sees "no extra risk", an increased premium, changed benefits (one example is a longer deferment period on an income protection application), an exclusion, or no cover where it judges the risk too high and likely to stay so. Which of these applies depends on your history and on the insurer, so no page can predict it.

Insurers also check. Zurich's key features (PWL850001003, April 2026) say "You’re responsible for the full disclosure of your medical information, don’t assume we’ll contact your doctor to get it", and ask you to allow access to your medical records for up to six months after the policy starts. Royal London can cancel or change cover if you do not consent to it asking, within six months of the cover starting, "any doctor they have consulted about their physical or mental health" to check your answers.

The law asks you to take care rather than to be perfect: section 2 of the Consumer Insurance (Disclosure and Representations) Act 2012 puts a duty on a consumer to take reasonable care not to misrepresent anything to the insurer. Legal & General's terms spell out what follows from a wrong answer: it can cancel the policy if the information was given "deliberately or recklessly", and can change the policy if it was given "through carelessness". Our guide to when an insurer can refuse to pay covers that rule, and life insurance with mental health issues covers what insurers ask for disclosure on the life side. For the income protection side, pre-existing conditions and the medical assessment take the questions further.

Insurers differ in how they weigh a history of anxiety or depression, and an FCA-authorised broker can put yours to more than one of them, though nobody can promise cover. The quote form here passes your details on, when you are ready.

Frequently asked questions

Can you claim income protection for stress leave?

Time off is not itself the trigger. In the wordings above, the question is whether illness or injury stops you doing your job's duties, whatever its cause, and Legal & General's example is that stress can lead to symptoms that do. The insurer decides on the evidence whether a particular spell qualifies.

Do Aviva, Zurich or Vitality income protection cover mental health?

Aviva's and Zurich's documents word their triggers as illness or injury, as quoted above, and any exclusion added for you is shown in your own policy papers. For Vitality, or any other plan, the policy wording is the place to check, so ask for it before you apply.

Does group income protection cover mental health?

The wordings above are all for policies you buy yourself. A group scheme through an employer has its own wording, so ask the scheme administrator or your employer for the policy document and what evidence it requires.

Can you get income protection if you already have depression or anxiety?

You can apply; the insurer decides, and Legal & General's leaflet lists the possible outcomes quoted above, from standard terms to an exclusion or no cover. The questions asked and the answers you give are what the decision rests on.

If you would rather talk your own situation through with someone, the free form is there for that, and a broker will phone you back for a quiet word about it.

Sources