How do I position income protection to a client who has extensive sick pay?

Sick pay is an important part of the recommendation process – but it’s not a replacement for income protection.

Even generous employer schemes have a limit. Most don’t extend beyond 6 months, and many offer far less. The key is to assess the client’s actual sick pay structure and map out when it ends. This creates a natural handover point where income protection can step in.

A powerful example is our longest Income Protection claim that ended in 2023 after 38 years.

Why would I recommend income protection if I’m already recommending critical illness cover?

Although often discussed together, income protection and critical illness cover are fundamentally different products – and they protect against different risks.

Critical illness cover pays out for a specified list of serious illnesses. Income protection is broader: it pays out when the client is unable to perform their own occupation, regardless of the specified illness or injury.

Income protection can support clients during the most common reasons people are signed off work for, such as mental health or musculoskeletal conditions – many of which wouldn’t trigger a critical illness claim.

Put simply, critical illness covers the initial cost of diagnosis (such as home adaptations or private treatment) and income protection covers the long term impact by not being able to work and earn. When used together, they provide a much more rounded and realistic safety net.

How does underwriting work for income protection – especially around exclusions?

Many advisers worry about exclusions because they’ve had past cases where clients weren’t happy with the outcome. It’s understandable – nobody wants a difficult post-underwriting conversation.

That’s why it’s worth highlighting LV’s exclusion review feature. Where an exclusion is specifically stated as reviewable in the acceptance terms and policy schedule, it can be reconsidered in the future. It’s a strong reassurance for clients and a valuable selling point for advisers.

Framing underwriting as a collaborative, ongoing process, rather than a one-time decision, often helps clients feel more comfortable with the initial outcome.

Why is income protection so expensive?

This is one of the biggest myths in protection advice – and often stems from starting the conversation in the wrong place.

When advisers lead with price or product, clients naturally compare on cost alone. But when we begin by focusing on what income protection does – replacing the income that pays for their home, family and lifestyle if they can’t work – clients engage very differently. It becomes a conversation about quality, security and long-term resilience, not just a monthly premium.

Once the value is established, cost becomes easier to justify. And in many cases, income protection is less expensive than advisers expect, depending on the structure. It can even be more cost-effective than critical illness cover.

There are also plenty of ways to tailor the plan to your client’s budget, including:

• Short-term payment options.
• Longer deferred periods.
• Personal Sick Pay (PSP) for those in higher-risk jobs.
• Benefit amounts and policy terms that can be flexed.

When we frame income protection around the quality of the support it provides, rather than the quantity of the quote, clients are far more likely to recognise its value and see it as an essential part of their financial safety net.

At LV=, we’re committed to helping you ensure your clients can become financially resilient, and our range of Income Protection products are there to support your clients should they be unable to work due to injury or illness.

Names and images are for illustrative purposes only.

¹ LV= Reaching Resilience data 2025