Yes, builders, carpenters, electricians and lorry drivers can apply for income protection, but insurers sort every job into an occupation class, and the class can change the price, the options and sometimes whether cover is offered at all. What follows sets out what insurers' own documents say about those classes, how a claim is judged for manual work, and what to ask about a trade or driving job.

No page can say what a bricklayer or a taxi driver will pay, because it depends on the exact job, the tasks within it and the applicant's health. If you would like those details put to several insurers for your own job, the enquiry form here goes to an adviser firm's FCA-authorised broker, who phones back at no charge to you.

Can people in manual and trade jobs get income protection?

In insurers' own documents, the job is an input to the decision rather than a bar. Zurich's Guide to Occupations (LIFKAC332 (3/25), March 2025), a document for intermediaries marked not for use with clients, says: "We will use the customer’s job title to determine eligibility for Income Protection, Total Permanent Disability Own Occupation and Waiver of Premium."

Insurers' lists also move. On 8 April 2026 Royal London described, on a page of its site written for financial advisers only, a review of its occupation classes that brought improved terms for 707 occupations and new opportunities for cover for 545. It added that "A small number of occupations will move to a higher class, and for some roles Income Protection will no longer be available."

So it depends on the job title, checked against each insurer's own list. self-employed people and contractors have their own pages on proving income. For how the product works at all, start with how income protection works.

How do insurers' occupation classes work?

An occupation class is a number or letter an insurer attaches to a job to reflect how risky it judges the work to be. Zurich sets its classes out job by job in a guide for intermediaries. It asks the applicant to split the job into tasks, including whether driving is essential and the annual mileage, and "Whether machinery is used or duties involve physical activity", each given as a percentage of time at work, plus the amount of outdoor work.

Office jobs with no real accident or health risk sit at the bottom of its scale. Trades come further up:

Zurich's guide (LIFKAC332, March 2025)How the guide describes itExamples it lists that this page is about
Class 4"These occupations may be skilled or unskilled and may be at risk of disability due to heavy manual labour or accidents while working with machinery."Carpenters and plumbers; lorry drivers
Row headed "Decline"Includes jobs with "a significant risk of accidents in the workplace" and those where "the claims experience for this occupation or sector has been very poor"Labourers; scaffolders

The guide gives these as typical jobs for each class, not a promise of how any application will be classed. The row headed "Decline" is Zurich's, in its March 2025 guide, for its own policies; it is no evidence of what any other insurer does with a labourer or a scaffolder, and other insurers use their own scales. The same Royal London review says it can now consider some occupations it previously would have automatically declined, and has improved pricing for "occupations once seen as higher risk but now involving more skilled or supervisory work, such as mechanics and electricians", so a list from an earlier year may no longer match.

How do occupation classes raise the price?

What follows is direction only, since each insurer sets the price for a class when it quotes. A job in a higher-risk class usually costs more than the same cover on the same person in a lower one. The documents point the same way from the other side: Aviva's Living Costs Protection policy summary (October 2024) says a move to a lower-risk job might bring the premium down, and Royal London's plan details (July 2026) let the policyholder ask for a review if the person covered "has changed to an occupation involving less manual activities".

Two jobs are priced together, not separately. Royal London's myths guide for advisers (9 December 2025, adviser-only) says an underwriter covering both jobs "might amalgamate the salaries for both occupations and apply the most cautious occupation class". Where the roles are very different, it adds, an underwriter "might exclude the second occupation", so a weekend taxi or van round alongside a day job is worth declaring and asking about. Cover size and wait length also move the price; see what income protection costs.

To have your own job priced instead of guessed at, a broker reached through the enquiry here can ask insurers how they would class a typical working day of yours, with any machinery, driving or work at height.

Which claim definitions are available to manual jobs?

Policy terms from the insurers listed below word their main test around the job you were doing before the illness or injury, for people working enough hours; the wording of six insurers is set side by side in how to compare income protection plans. Which test an insurer would attach to your own manual job depends on that insurer and the work, and the broker can find out for you free when they ring back.

The point that matters for trades is the fallback test. Some policies switch to an activities-of-daily-living test, where you must be unable to do a set number of everyday tasks such as walking or lifting. In the two policies here that use it, the switch turns on hours worked, not on the kind of work. Legal & General's Income Protection Benefit terms (April 2025) apply it to people not working, or working on average less than 16 hours a week over the 3 months before incapacity. Scottish Widows' Protect summary (September 2025) gives as examples not working at all, or not averaging 16 hours a week of paid work, in the 90 days before. Neither document ties the activities test to a trade.

The stricter suited-occupation and any-occupation tests are explained in own, suited and any occupation.

Do higher-risk jobs get shorter terms or longer waits?

Sometimes, according to the insurers' own documents, though how much shorter the term or longer the wait varies by insurer and job; that is a point the broker can check for your trade at no cost on the call-back. Zurich's terms (April 2026) say: "For certain higher risk occupations, the options available may be restricted." Aviva's target market statements for Living Costs Protection and Income Protection+ (both April 2026, for distributors and not for customers) say "There may be restrictions to the maximum ceasing age of the policy, or the minimum deferred period depending on the customer’s occupation", and the first notes that "(4 and 8 week waiting periods are not available for some occupations)".

Scottish Widows says the latest a policy can end is "by your 70th birthday, but for some occupations the policy will end sooner". Legal & General's Low Start product summary (April 2025) says certain occupations have limits on the length of the policy, and LV='s summary (April 2026) offers 1 or 2 month waits depending on the job. The takeaway is a question to ask, not a rule: whether your job changes the ending age or the shortest wait you can choose. If you are a sole trader with no sick pay, that matters, and how much cover you need covers the sum; age limits have their own page.

What about miners, seafarers, taxi drivers and other jobs?

How miners, seafarers, offshore workers, taxi or ride-hailing drivers and train drivers are treated varies from insurer to insurer. For those jobs, the useful route is to ask, rather than assume either way:

  • which occupation class the insurer gives your exact job title, and whether it differs between employed and self-employed work;
  • whether the incapacity definition is own occupation for that job, and what happens to it if you change job;
  • whether the shortest waiting period or the latest ending age is restricted for the job;
  • whether any other work you do is covered, excluded or priced at the higher class.

The enquiry form on this page is where you can mention your job title; the broker who rings can then raise these questions with insurers. Cover for your family if you die is a different product (see construction workers), and three covers compared shows what each pays. More is in the critical illness and income guides.

Frequently asked questions

Can a self-employed builder get income protection?

Self-employed people can apply, and the trade is still classed by its job title, as above. How insurers check a self-employed income is set out on the self-employed page.

Which occupation class are HGV and lorry drivers in?

Zurich's March 2025 guide lists lorry drivers among the typical jobs in its class 4, the class for heavy manual work or machinery risk, and it asks about annual mileage. That is Zurich's scale only; other insurers class drivers on their own lists, so ask each which class it gives your job and whether the driving changes it.

Does income protection cost more for manual workers?

A higher-risk class usually costs more than a lower one for the same cover, though the size of the gap depends on the insurer and the exact job. A later move to less manual work can be a reason to ask for a review.

Should I tell the insurer if I change jobs?

Aviva's Living Costs Protection summary says you can tell it about a job change but do not have to. Royal London's plan details say there is no requirement to tell it about changes to employment after cover starts, giving a move to a more hazardous occupation as an example. Those are two insurers' terms; check your own policy wording.

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