Key Features at a Glance

From L&G’s Income Protection Benefit policy terms and conditions (QGI12745, April 2025) and adviser product information:

How Much Legal & General Pays: Calculator Examples

L&G caps the benefit at 60% of the first £60,000 of your annual income plus 50% of income above £60,000, up to £240,000 a year. The cap stops people being better off ill than working. Some examples of the maximum:

• Earning £30,000: up to £18,000 a year, £1,500 a month
• Earning £40,000: up to £24,000 a year, £2,000 a month
• Earning £80,000: up to £46,000 a year (£36,000 plus £10,000), about £3,833 a month

You can choose less than the maximum to keep the price down; many people cover their essential outgoings rather than their full income. People who work fewer than 16 hours a week, including housepersons, can cover up to £1,666.67 a month. A longer deferred period and a limited benefit period both cut the price. Many employees match the deferred period to when their sick pay ends; from April 2026, Statutory Sick Pay is £123.25 a week at most, for up to 28 weeks.

Own Occupation: When You Can Claim

If you work 16 hours a week or more, L&G’s policy terms use an own occupation definition: you can claim if you are unable to carry out the material and substantial duties of the job you are doing when you become ill or injured. This is the most generous type of definition, because you are assessed against your own job rather than any job.

If you work fewer than 16 hours, are a houseperson or are unemployed when you claim, a stricter daily activities test applies instead. You must be unable to do at least three of six activities, such as walking 200 metres, climbing 12 stairs, or lifting 2kg. Drewberry notes that L&G tends to decline higher-risk occupations rather than offer them a weaker definition, so some manual jobs may need a different insurer.

What Is Included, and Optional Extras

Included, according to L&G’s policy terms and product information:

• Waiver of premium: you stop paying premiums while claiming.
• Proportionate benefit: a reduced benefit if you return to work on lower earnings.
• Linked claims: if the same illness returns within 12 months, you do not serve the deferred period again.
• Hospitalisation benefit: 1/30th of your monthly benefit per night, up to £150 a night, for longer hospital stays.
• Rehabilitation and wellbeing support to help you back to work.
• Life cover: a lump sum equal to 12 monthly premiums if you die during the policy. Drewberry notes this is lower than some rivals, which pay a multiple of the benefit.

Optional extras listed by Drewberry include private diagnostics (from about £4.50 a month) and fracture cover (from about £5.90 a month). L&G also offers optional cover that increases each year with inflation.

Main exclusions: unemployment and redundancy, and the normal effects of pregnancy (medically confirmed complications are covered). Depending on your medical answers, conditions you already had may also be excluded.

Low Start, Executive and Group Income Protection

• Low Start Income Protection: starts cheaper, with premiums that rise each year with your age. The maximum benefit is lower, at £10,000 a month (£7,000 if cover increases).
• Executive Income Protection: a version bought by a limited company for a director or employee, paid as a business expense. Drewberry reviews it separately as an option for company directors. See relevant life insurance for the equivalent life cover.
• Group income protection: bought by employers for staff. L&G says it paid 3,643 group income protection claims in 2025, worth more than £82 million. If you have it through work, HR usually starts the claim. See group income protection.

Legal & General Claims Record

L&G publishes its claims figures every year. For 2025, it reported:

• More than £1.388 billion paid across over 26,000 retail and group protection claims.
• Individual income protection: £9.2 million in benefits to 814 new and existing claimants, with 85% of new and continuing claims paid.
• For comparison, it paid 97.5% of life claims and 92.9% of critical illness claims.

The most common reason claims fail across the industry is information not disclosed on the application, so answering the medical and lifestyle questions fully matters more than anything else.

Legal & General vs Aviva Income Protection

Aviva’s maximum is higher for anyone earning up to £120,000 (for example £2,167 a month against L&G’s £2,000 on £40,000); above £120,000, L&G’s 50% rate gives more. Price usually matters more than these differences and depends on your job and health. See Aviva income protection for the full review.

NHS Staff and the Self-Employed

NHS staff: NHS sick pay can run for up to six months on full pay and six months on half pay. Drewberry notes that L&G offers stepped deferred periods for NHS professionals, so part of the benefit starts when sick pay halves and the rest when it stops, which avoids paying for cover you do not need early on.

Self-employed: there is no sick pay, so a shorter deferred period often matters more. Drewberry notes that L&G limits people who have been self-employed for 12 months or less to 35% of their earnings. See self-employed income protection and protection for the self-employed.

How to Claim or Cancel

• Claim early. L&G’s terms ask you to notify them within two weeks of becoming unable to work on a 4-week deferred period, or within four weeks on longer periods.
• Have ready: your policy number, details of your job and earnings, and your GP or specialist’s details. Payments can be delayed while reports are gathered.
• Payment timing: benefit is paid monthly in arrears, so the first payment arrives about a month after the deferred period ends.
• Cancel within 30 days of receiving your documents for a refund of premiums paid. After that, cover ends when you stop paying. See cancelling Legal & General policies.
• Redundancy is not covered. See income protection and redundancy.

Other L&G cover: Legal & General life insurance reviews, L&G critical illness cover, L&G mortgage life insurance and L&G whole of life. For how income protection compares with other cover, see income protection vs critical illness, life vs critical illness vs income protection, critical illness cover and the best life insurance companies.

FAQs: Legal & General Income Protection (2026)