Side by side
| Income protection | Critical illness | |
|---|---|---|
| What it pays | A monthly income, typically 50–70% of pre-tax earnings | A single tax-free lump sum |
| What triggers a claim | Any illness or injury that stops you doing your job | Diagnosis of a condition on the insurer's defined list |
| Mental health conditions | Covered on most policies | Almost never covered |
| Back pain and musculoskeletal | Covered | Not covered |
| Number of claims | Unlimited over the life of the policy | Usually one — the policy ends when it pays |
| Waiting before payment | Deferment period of 4–52 weeks | Survival period, typically 10–14 days after diagnosis |
| How long it pays | Until recovery, end of term, or retirement | Once, then cover ceases |
| Typical relative cost | Lower for the same household protected | Higher for a meaningful lump sum |
Why the trigger matters more than the payout
Most people compare these two products on what they pay. The more useful comparison is what makes them pay.
Critical illness cover is a list product. The insurer names the conditions it will pay for and defines exactly how severe each must be. A diagnosis that falls outside the list, or inside it but below the severity threshold, produces nothing — even if you are too unwell to work.
Income protection is a capability product. It does not care what the diagnosis is called. It asks one question: can you do your job? If the answer is no and a doctor agrees, the policy pays.
That is why the two commonest causes of long-term absence from work in the UK — mental health conditions and musculoskeletal problems such as chronic back pain — sit squarely inside income protection and almost entirely outside critical illness.
When to choose each
- ✔ Your household runs on your monthly salary
- ✔ You are self-employed with no sick pay behind you
- ✔ Your employer sick pay stops within a few months
- ✔ You have little in savings to bridge a long absence
- ✔ You want cover that can pay more than once
- ✔ Clearing the mortgage on diagnosis would change everything
- ✔ You would need capital for adaptations or private treatment
- ✔ A partner would need to stop working to care for you
- ✔ You run a business and need capital, not salary
- ✔ Income protection is hard to place for your occupation
A worked example
Scenario. Sam is 38, earns £42,000, has a £180,000 mortgage and three months of employer sick pay. Sam is signed off for eighteen months with severe depression.
With critical illness only: no payout. Depression is not on the insurer's list of critical illnesses. After three months of sick pay, household income falls to Statutory Sick Pay and then to nothing.
With income protection (13-week deferment, 60% benefit): the policy starts paying around £2,100 a month from the point sick pay ends, and keeps paying for the whole eighteen months until Sam returns to work. Cover then continues for any future claim.
Reverse the scenario — a heart attack that Sam recovers from in eight weeks — and critical illness pays a lump sum while income protection, with a 13-week deferment, pays nothing. Neither product is redundant. The question is which risk would break your household first.
Combining the two affordably
- Stretch the deferment period on income protection to fund a modest critical illness sum alongside it.
- Size critical illness to the debt, not to your income — often a decreasing sum that tracks the mortgage is enough.
- Check employer benefits first. Group life and group income protection schemes are common and change what you actually need to buy.
- Prefer guaranteed premiums on both where affordable, so the cost cannot be reset upward later in life.
Frequently asked questions
Related guides
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