How much does income protection cost? No honest monthly figure exists until an insurer has your age, job, health and smoking history, because insurers price the person as well as the product. What can be set out is what moves the price and in which direction: the wait before payments start, how long they last, the monthly amount, your age, job, health and smoking, and whether the premium is allowed to rise.

You can ask an insurer direct for a figure. If you would rather talk the choices through first, an FCA-authorised broker can work out what income protection would cost at your age, in your job and with your health. Asking one costs nothing, and the form on this page sets that up.

What decides the price of an income protection policy?

Insurers name what goes into the price; how much each factor weighs shows only in a quote, so what follows is direction, not size. Aviva's policy summary (AL19001, October 2024, linked from its income protection page): "Your monthly premiums depend on the amount of cover you choose, as well as your age, job, health, lifestyle, and smoking habits." Zurich's key features (PWL850001003, April 2026, sold through advisers) add "how long you want the cover to last" and any "additional benefits you choose".

MoneyHelper's guide (archived September 2026) gives the fullest list: "The cost is affected by: your age your occupation whether you smoke or have smoked the percentage of income you’d like to cover the waiting (or 'deferred') period until the policy pays out the range of illnesses and injuries covered health – your current health, weight and family medical history."

How do the deferred period and the payment period change the cost?

The deferred period is the wait between becoming unable to work and the first payment. Aviva: "The longer your deferred period, the cheaper your premium will be, but the longer you’ll have to wait before we start paying your benefit." LV='s policy summary (April 2026) calls it a waiting period: "The longer your waiting period, the lower the premium for your cover is." Scottish Widows' policy summary (September 2025, hosted on its adviser site) shows the same direction in a table of changes to an existing policy: under "Will I pay more or less after the change is made?", a longer deferred period is marked "Less", and ending the policy at an older age "More".

The saving is paid for in time without income. Legal & General's terms (QGI12745, April 2025, from the adviser section of its site) give the usual way to choose: "if your employer pays you sick pay for 26 weeks, you might choose a waiting period of 26 weeks". Lining one up with your sick pay is covered in income protection for NHS staff and other public-sector workers, and the options side by side in how to compare income protection plans.

Does paying out for a shorter time cost less?

Legal & General's shorter version is labelled in its terms: "Choosing a limited benefit period (also known as Low Cost option) You can choose a limited benefit period of 12 or 24 months." The trade is stated in the same document: "We’ll stop your monthly benefit when your chosen limited benefit period ends."

How does the monthly amount you insure change the premium?

A bigger monthly benefit usually means a bigger premium; Aviva puts the amount of cover you choose first among its factors, and MoneyHelper lists "the percentage of income you’d like to cover".

Zurich warns about insuring more than a claim would pay: if the income it pays is less than your monthly benefit, it will not refund premiums you have already paid. How much to insure at all is a separate question, set out in how much income protection you need.

How do age, job, smoking and health affect the premium?

Buying younger usually costs less than buying later: MoneyHelper, in a passage about cancelling, says "replacement cover might be more expensive as prices generally increase with your age".

Job. Aviva says of changing one: "You can tell us if you change your job, but you don’t have to. If it’s a lower risk job, your premium might go down."

Smoking. Zurich counts whether you use tobacco or nicotine replacement products, or how long it is since you stopped, and lets you ask it to review your premium if you have given up smoking. Smoking usually raises a premium; stopping may allow a review, not a promise of a lower one.

Health. Scottish Widows says your answers "may mean we have to add exclusions to your policy and could also change the premium shown on your personal quote summary". Royal London's plan details (July 2026, sold through advisers) give an example of a charge being reviewed: "the extra premium we charged because of the person covered’s body mass index as they have now lost weight".

How the policy defines being unable to work. MoneyHelper describes own occupation as "usually the most expensive, but it’s also more likely that you’ll make a successful claim", and any occupation: "This is usually the cheapest, but there is a higher risk of it not paying out." A cheaper quote may rest on a tougher test; our comparison of plans sets the clauses side by side.

Whether a health or lifestyle detail changes your price is the insurer's underwriting decision. To have that tested against your own history rather than guessed at, the broker introduced through this page's form can ask insurers on your behalf.

Do guaranteed and increasing premiums cost the same?

Not over time. MoneyHelper describes the split: "a standard premium, which the insurer can increase over time, or a guaranteed premium, which remains fixed for as long as you have the policy." It adds: "Guaranteed premiums can cost slightly more in the short-term, But many people like the security of knowing what they’ll be paying in future."

The insurers' documents describe guaranteed premiums on level cover, each on its own condition. Legal & General: "If you choose level cover, your monthly payments are guaranteed." Zurich's guarantee holds "unless you" choose Increasing Cover, change your cover, or "choose Zurich Accelerate and we change the Accelerate premium."

On increasing cover the premium rises with the benefit. Legal & General: the monthly premium rises in line with the change in the Retail Prices Index (RPI) multiplied by 1.5, with a maximum increase of 15% per year. LV=: "The premium will increase in line with inflation multiplied by 1.5." Scottish Widows raises it "by 1.5 times the percentage your cover amount increases"; Zurich says "Premiums will go up by 1.5% for each 1% increase in cover"; Royal London uses "the rate shown in the additional features section of your cover summary, multiplied by 1.2". Those are rules for how a premium grows, not prices, and they differ by insurer.

Conditions travel with the option. Scottish Widows says you can only choose increasing cover at the start of the policy. Legal & General lets you decline a yearly increase, but "If you decline the increase three years in a row, we’ll remove this option". Ask for level and increasing quotes separately.

How can you estimate your premium, and how can you bring it down?

An estimate is only as good as the details behind it, so insurers price through an application (Aviva's route is in the questions below). Zurich's key features say your adviser will help you decide whether the policy is right for you and tell you how to apply. A quote can still move: LV= says "We’ll explain your premium before your policy starts. This may be different to that shown on your personal quote."

For the self-employed, Aviva's page says a policy is open to someone who works 16 or more hours a week. Income protection for the self-employed covers how earnings are proved; when you ask for a quote, ask whether being self-employed changes it.

Each lever for a lower premium has a cost:

  • a longer deferred period, at the price of a longer wait with no payment;
  • a limited payment period, at the price of payments stopping when it ends;
  • a lower monthly benefit, at the price of a smaller income during a claim;
  • level rather than increasing cover, at the price of a benefit that, in Zurich's words, "will not increase in line with inflation";
  • giving up smoking or moving to a lower-risk job and asking the insurer to review, as Zurich and Aviva describe.

If you add critical illness cover alongside, critical illness insurance cost covers what moves that price; related products are in our critical illness and income guides. When you want real numbers rather than directions, say in the form on this page that you would like two waits compared; the broker who replies can request quotes on identical cover both ways, so the trade-off is priced rather than described.

Frequently asked questions

What is the average cost of income protection in the UK?

Premiums are set for each applicant, so an average would say little about yours. MoneyHelper says "The amount you pay each month in premiums will depend on the policy and your circumstances."

How much does Aviva income protection cost, and how do you get a quote?

Aviva's summary describes the step from quote to price: "When you first apply for a policy, we quote you a premium for the benefits you asked for." Its income protection page says "You can apply for our Living Costs Protection directly with us over the phone", or you can go through a financial adviser.

Does income protection cost more if it covers redundancy?

Aviva's page says "This policy doesn’t cover redundancy or unemployment", and Scottish Widows' summary says its policy has no unemployment cover. Redundancy is not part of what you pay for on those two policies; whether income protection covers redundancy has its own page, and mortgage payment protection cost deals with that separate product.

Which insurer has the cheapest income protection?

That depends on the person, and quotes are only comparable on the same monthly amount, deferred period, payment period and level or increasing cover. Any adviser, including the one this site introduces you to, can tell you how many insurers they can quote from.

Sources

  • Aviva, Policy Summary of Living Costs Protection (AL19001 10/2024; linked from Aviva's income protection page), read 18 October 2026. static.aviva.io
  • Aviva, Income protection insurance (web page for Living Costs Protection), read 18 October 2026. aviva.co.uk
  • Legal & General, Income Protection Benefit Policy Terms and Conditions (QGI12745 04/25; adviser site), read 18 October 2026. legalandgeneral.com
  • LV=, Income Protection Guaranteed Premiums Policy Summary (49025-2022 04/26), read 18 October 2026. lv.com
  • Scottish Widows, Protect Income Protection Cover policy summary (61218 09/25; adviser site), read 18 October 2026. adviser.scottishwidows.co.uk
  • Zurich, Key Features of the Zurich Income Protection Policy (PWL850001003 04/26; sold through advisers), read 18 October 2026. zurichintermediary.co.uk
  • Royal London, Plan details for The Personal Menu Plan Income Protection (PCP8P10012/13, July 2026; through advisers), read 18 October 2026. royallondon.com
  • MoneyHelper (archived 24 September 2026), What is income protection insurance?, read 18 October 2026. web.archive.org