How long an income protection policy keeps paying on one claim depends on its income protection insurance benefit period, which you fix when you buy. Full-term cover can pay until the policy's end date; limited, or short-term, cover stops after a set stretch on each claim, which the insurers below put at 12 or 24 months, or at one, two or five years.
Sick pay, savings and the kind of work you do all bear on which length to pick, and only a quote shows the price gap. Fill in the short form here for a free call from an FCA-authorised broker who can go through both.
How long does income protection pay out for?
MoneyHelper's guide (archived September 2026) describes payments that stop at whichever comes sooner of a return to work, retirement, death or the end of the policy term, and says a policy can be claimed on repeatedly while it lasts.
Zurich's key features (PWL850001003 04/26) offer payments for the full term of the policy or limited for each claim. Labels vary: Zurich writes "claim period", Royal London "cover payment period", LV= "claim limit", Aviva "limited payment term", and Legal & General "limited benefit period".
What matters is how long one claim can run and how a later absence counts against it. The wait before payments start is a separate choice (see the income protection waiting period), and the basics are in how income protection works.
What do full-term and limited periods mean in each insurer's documents?
One row per insurer, each from that insurer's own document; documents written for advisers are marked.
| Policy (source) | Paying until the policy ends | Limited period |
|---|---|---|
| Zurich Income Protection (PWL850001003 04/26, PWL850002003 04/26; adviser documents) | Full term: a benefit for the remaining policy term | Up to 24 months for each claim; chosen before the policy starts |
| Legal & General Income Protection Benefit (QGI12745 04/25; adviser section of its site) | Payments run until you can return to work or the policy ends | Optional 12 or 24 months (its Low Cost option) |
| LV= Income Protection (summary 49025-2022 04/26; web page) | Pays until you return to work, the policy ends or you die | Budget version (summary 49017-2025 04/26): 12 or 24 months per claim, chosen at the start |
| Royal London Personal Menu Plan (plan details July 2026, PCP8P10012/13; adviser web page) | Full term to a specific age, up to age 70 | One, two or five years, called the cover payment period |
| VitalityLife Income Protection (adviser sales aid VLB0022 09/26; adviser web page) | Until the end of the plan term, depending on the plan | One, two or five years, depending on the plan |
| Scottish Widows Protect (summary 61218 09/25; adviser site) | Full term: no maximum number of claim payments before the policy ends | The 2 years version: a maximum of 24 claim payments on a first claim |
| Aviva Living Costs Protection (conditions AL19002 10/2024; adviser library) | Not this policy: its conditions say it has a limited payment term | 12 months for each incapacity |
These are the named documents' lengths, not a market-wide list. Aviva's policy as a whole is in Aviva income protection, and the same insurers' incapacity tests and amounts are in how to compare income protection plans. Royal London's and Vitality's options come from material written for advisers, so check with an adviser which are open to you.
How do repeat claims count against a limited period?
A 24-month limit does not always mean a fresh 24 months after each return to work: a second absence may use up the months left, wait until you have been back at work for a set time, or start a new allowance.
| Policy (source) | A second absence for the same cause | After the allowance is used up |
|---|---|---|
| Legal & General (QGI12745 04/25) | Same or related illness within 12 months of returning to work: a linked claim, with no new deferred period, paid for the period left | Back at work 6 months in a row, 16 hours a week or more, before a claim for the same or a related reason; a different reason can be claimed for |
| Zurich (PWL850002003 04/26) | Within 12 months of the previous claim ending: linked, using the remaining months, only if the earlier claim paid for under 24 months. Return to Work Package payments count towards the 24 | Fully back at work for six months before a claim for the same or a related condition; a new or unrelated condition does not need the six months |
| LV= Budget (conditions MIMIBIP17G) | Claims within six months of each other for the same accident or sickness count as one single claim | Six months back at work, with no breaks and the same hours, before a claim for the same reason |
| Royal London (July 2026) | Same cause and occupation, within 52 weeks of payments stopping, and not back at work against your doctor's advice: paid for the remainder, only if you returned to work before the period ended | At least 26 continuous weeks back at work before a connected claim |
| Scottish Widows, 2 years version (Protect summary 61218 09/25) | The summary sets a limit of 24 payments on a first claim | Back at work for at least 16 hours a week for six months in a row after the claim period ends resets the number to 24 |
| Aviva Living Costs Protection (AL19002 10/2024) | The 12 months can be one block or several; the same condition within 12 months of the claim period ending uses any unused months, up to the policy end date, with no new deferred period | Six consecutive months back in an occupation, then the deferred period again and a new limited payment term |
Legal & General's terms work an example: a 24-month limited period, a first claim of 6 months, then incapacity again from a related illness, and "We’ll pay your monthly benefit for the remaining 18 months of your 24-month limited benefit period." Each insurer defines "related" itself; for L&G it means a condition you had symptoms of, sought advice or treatment for, or knew about, which directly or indirectly contributed to the incapacity you claimed for before.
On Zurich's full-term option its key features put no limit on the number of claims, though only one is paid at a time. The broker who rings after you use the form can read the linked-claim wording on a quote with you.
What happens when a limited period runs out?
Payments stop, even if you still cannot work. LV='s Budget conditions say that once a claim reaches the claim limit "your payments will stop, even if you are still unable to work", and Scottish Widows' summary warns, after 24 payments, "This could mean that you won’t receive any claim payments even though you can’t return to work."
Legal & General, Zurich, Aviva and LV= say the policy continues, and the first three say premiums restart. Zurich lets someone who cannot return to work ask it to cancel; LV= cancels a homemaker's policy once a single claim reaches the limit, with no refund of premiums.
Zurich allows a move from full term to limited at any time, with the premium recalculated; the move the other way needs no claim yet, at least five years left and an age of 59 or under, and Zurich reassesses your circumstances. LV= lets a Budget claim limit move between 12 and 24 months on a special application form, without guaranteeing the change. For the other policies above, ask the insurer or a broker.
Which end ages can full-term cover run to?
Full term runs to the policy's end date, so the end age you choose sets the real length. Where the documents above give a limit, it is at or near the 70th birthday:
- Zurich: maximum age at the end of the term 69, meaning before the 70th birthday; terms of 5 to 52 years.
- Scottish Widows: by the 70th birthday at the latest, sooner for some occupations.
- LV=, standard or Budget: at least 5 years, ending before you reach 70.
- Royal London (adviser page): to a specific age, up to age 70; a plan term of five to 52 years.
- Aviva Living Costs Protection: five to 52 years, not past the 71st birthday.
For Legal & General and Vitality, ask what end ages are offered. Since MoneyHelper ties payments to retirement too, set the end date beside the age you expect to stop working. The most you can insure is in the maximum income protection amount.
How do the two compare on cost and protection?
On cost, LV= is the one insurer above that states a direction. Its Budget summary (49017-2025 04/26) says capping payments at 12 or 24 months is how "we are able to offer you a lower premium compared to our full Income Protection cover", and gives no figure. How much a limited period might save comes down to a quote on your own details; general price factors are in what income protection costs.
On protection, the difference is a long absence. Legal & General's terms say a limited option "might not be right for you if you want peace of mind that you’ll be covered no matter how long you are incapacitated". Full-term cover can keep paying through one, within its own conditions.
If the aim is to keep mortgage payments covered, income protection or mortgage protection compares the two routes. To compare full-term and limited quotes on your own details, ask for a call-back through the short form; there is no charge. More guides sit under critical illness and income.
Frequently asked questions
What is short-term income protection?
It is the common name for cover whose payments stop after a fixed period on each claim, such as one or two years, rather than at the policy's end date. It caps how long one long absence is paid for.
When does income protection stop paying out?
Each policy has its own list. Zurich's key features stop payments at the earliest of: you no longer meet its definition of being unable to work, you have no loss of gross income, continuing income or other benefits rise above its maximum benefit, the policy ends, a chosen limited period is used up, or you die.
Sources
- MoneyHelper (archived 24 September 2026), What is income protection insurance?, read 20 Oct 2026. moneyhelper.org.uk (archive)
- Zurich, Key Features (PWL850001003 04/26) and Terms and conditions (PWL850002003 04/26) of its Income Protection policy, sold through advisers, read 20 Oct 2026. key features, terms
- Legal & General, Income Protection Benefit Policy Terms and Conditions (QGI12745 04/25; adviser section of its site), read 20 Oct 2026. qgi12745.pdf
- LV=, Budget Income Protection Guaranteed Premiums Policy Summary (49017-2025 04/26) and Policy Conditions (reference MIMIBIP17G; the only print code in the file is 34556-2021 02/23), and Income Protection Guaranteed Premiums Policy Summary (49025-2022 04/26), with its web pages, read 20 Oct 2026. Budget summary, Budget conditions, standard summary, web page
- Royal London, Plan details for The Personal Menu Plan Income Protection (July 2026, PCP8P10012/13; through advisers) and its adviser web page, read 20 Oct 2026. plan details, adviser page
- VitalityLife, Income Protection Cover sales aid (VLB0022 09/26; adviser literature) and adviser web page, read 20 Oct 2026. sales aid
- Scottish Widows, Protect Income Protection Cover policy summary (61218 09/25; adviser site), read 20 Oct 2026. 61218.pdf
- Aviva, Living Costs Protection Policy Conditions (AL19002 10/2024) and Policy Summary (AL19001 10/2024), read 20 Oct 2026. conditions