How much family income benefit do you need?

To work out how much family income benefit you need, start with the monthly amount your household would be short if your pay stopped, then run that amount to the date your youngest child could manage without it. Once you have those two numbers, you can put them to an FCA-authorised broker: a few lines in the short form here ask for a call back, which costs nothing, and the broker will go through what a policy built on those figures would look like.

This page is about sizing the cover. Comparing quotes and providers is a separate page, and what family income benefit is is explained on its own.

How do you calculate the monthly amount?

With family income benefit you choose an income rather than a single lump sum. Aviva's key features document (EDCO0871-0126, January 2026) says "You decide on how much cover you want" and calls that amount the monthly benefit, paid for the remaining term. So the calculation is a monthly budget gap rather than a multiple of salary.

1. Add up what the household must keep paying each month: rent or mortgage, bills, food, childcare, travel.
2. Subtract what would still come in: a partner's pay, other income, and any monthly pension or payment already due to your family.
3. Treat the remainder as the monthly benefit to aim at.

Aviva's guidance for new parents (last updated 17 June 2026) lists income replacement first among the things to weigh: "how much your family would need to replace your income". It does not have to be all of your pay: only the part the household would miss. Lump sums that already exist, such as an employer's death in service payment, sit outside this monthly sum; the life-cover side of that is in how much life cover you need.

Products set their own limits on the figure. Scottish Widows' page for advisers on its Life Cover with Critical Illness Cover (personal) lists a minimum family income benefit of £5,000 per year and a maximum of £150,000 per year. That is one product's range, stated as a yearly amount, not a limit across the market.

How long should the term run?

The term sets how many months of payments the cover can make. Aviva's key features allow a term lasting any number of years from 3 up to 70, provided the cover ends before your 90th birthday, and note that "some people may choose the number of years left on their mortgage, or until their children might leave home." Its general life insurance guidance for single parents makes a similar point about any cover: it "should be enough to support your child until they can become financially independent."

When your youngest child would be independent is your own judgement, not a fixed age. Here is a hypothetical example to show the method. The figures are made up; it is not an insurer's example and not a premium:

The £237,600 is not a lump sum, and it is not what every claim would pay. Family income benefit pays the monthly amount only for whatever is left of the term, so that total is the ceiling, reached only if the death came right at the start, and it would arrive as £1,100 a month rather than in one payment. Every month the policy runs without a claim lowers the most it could pay. Whether a lump sum can be taken in place of the income is covered in family income benefit as a lump sum.

If a second child is younger, the term follows that child. A mortgage that outlasts the children's independence can be covered separately (how long you need life insurance).

Should you want a monthly figure and term like these priced, leave your details and a broker will talk them through with you, with no charge for the call.

Should the monthly amount rise with inflation?

A level benefit pays the same each month, so its buying power shrinks over an 18-year term. Aviva's document notes "Inflation will reduce the spending power of any money you’re paid in the future", and its increasing option raises the insurance by 5% each year. The premium rises too, and Aviva says it climbs by a higher percentage than the insurance does.

Legal & General's terms (LG2030, October 2026, in its adviser area) say increasing cover may be offered as an option, and where it is, the cover follows the Retail Prices Index, held to 10% a year if RPI is higher. When you size the cover, decide whether your starting figure should be today's cost of living or a figure that grows; increasing term life insurance explains the same idea for lump-sum cover. What the two shapes do to a quote is on the comparison page.

What if the amount you picked turns out to be wrong?

Aviva's key features say: "Make sure you review your policy in line with your earnings and lifestyle. If you don’t, you may find you have more or less cover than you actually need." Going down is the simpler direction: the same document lets you reduce the monthly benefit or shorten the term.

Going up without new health and lifestyle questions is possible with Aviva up to and including your 55th birthday, if you marry or enter a civil partnership, have or adopt a child, or your income rises through promotion or a career change. Each increase "can’t be more than 50% of the original monthly benefit or £625, whichever is lower", and all increases together are capped at the lower of the original monthly benefit or £1,250. Aviva adds that these options may not be available to everyone, for example where a medical condition existed when the cover started.

Legal & General's terms set a different test. The option applies only where it is shown on the Policy Schedule and the policy began before the life insured's 55th birthday, and L&G must be told within six months of the event, which can include a new baby, an adoption, a pay rise from a promotion or new job, or a bigger mortgage. The increase is limited to the lower of 100% of the original amount or £1,400 a month, among other limits, and the same cap applies across all increases. Other insurers' rules may differ again, and the broker can take you through how they work on any policy you are weighing up, free, when they call.

If critical illness also matters to you, how much critical illness cover you need covers sizing that lump sum. The hub is critical illness and income.

Frequently asked questions

How do I calculate family income benefit?

Take the monthly household costs you need to keep paying, subtract the income that would continue, and multiply the gap by the months until your youngest child is independent. That gives the most the cover could pay if a claim came on day one; it falls each month after. The table above shows the steps with made-up figures.

Is there a sum assured on family income benefit?

Not in the usual lump-sum sense. Aviva's document calls the amount you choose the monthly benefit, paid for the remaining term, so what a claim pays is that benefit times the months left.

Is there a family income benefit calculator?

The sum is a subtraction and a multiplication, so a spreadsheet or a sheet of paper will do it, using the steps in the table above.

What is the maximum family income benefit cover?

It depends on the insurer and the product. Scottish Widows' adviser page lists £150,000 per year for family income benefit on its Life Cover with Critical Illness Cover. For another insurer's ceiling, ask the broker on your call-back and they can tell you what it allows.

Having settled on a monthly figure and a term, you can request quotes by sending your number through the enquiry form.

Sources

• Aviva Life & Pensions UK Limited, YourLife Plan Family Income Benefit key features (EDCO0871-0126, January 2026), read 21 October 2026. protection.aviva.com
• Aviva, Life insurance for new parents (last updated 17 June 2026), read 21 October 2026. aviva.co.uk
• Legal and General Assurance Society Limited, Family and Personal Income Plan Policy Terms and Conditions (LG2030 2026/10, in its adviser area), read 21 October 2026. legalandgeneral.com
• Scottish Widows, Life Cover with Critical Illness Cover adviser product page (undated), read 21 October 2026. adviser.scottishwidows.co.uk