Income Protection
Income protection (IP) gives your clients a monthly payment if they can’t work because they’re ill or injured. You might want to explain it to your clients as a bit like a replacement payday for when they’re ill.
Income is the thing that keeps a roof over our heads, food on the table and clothes on our back. It’s also what helps us do the things we love.
We like to think of income protection in two parts:
The financial side: keeping money coming in every month to take care of day-to-day bills
The wellbeing side: making sure your clients are happy and healthy, helping them back to work
Client conversations
If you’ve found your way to this page, then you’re probably looking to introduce income protection to your clients. Let’s face it, talking about income protection isn’t always plain sailing. You probably hear things like ‘I get sick pay from work’ or ‘it won’t happen to me’. Our customer webpage is here to make things easier for you. There’s information to help your clients identify the need, some talking points and even some myth busting thrown in too.
It’s a great read for you and your clients – share away.
All about AIG
If you’re looking for cover that helps people from the get-go and empowers your clients to take ownership of their health, you’re in the right place.
Here's a whistle-stop tour of our income protection offering. Let’s start with what your clients have access to from the moment they take out their insurance:
Prevention
We’ve all heard the saying ‘prevention is better than cure’. But it's really true. Life happens and you can’t always stop an illness or injury. But we want to put your clients in the best position possible to look after their health and wellbeing.
Let’s introduce you to Smart Health*, our award-winning health and wellbeing service. Available from day one of the policy, it offers six different ways for your clients to stay at their best – whether that’s mental health support or a 24/7 online GP. Accessed via the app or website, it’s unlimited and includes partners and children up to age 21 too.
*Smart Health is provided to AIG Life Limited customers by Teladoc Health. We want to let you know that these services are non-contractual, which means they don’t form part of the insurance contract with us. If our partnership with Teladoc Health ends, these services could be changed or withdrawn in the future.
But don’t just take our word for it. Hear from Kevin who used Smart Health for himself – he’s one of nearly 117,000 people signed up to use the service1.
Kevin's story
"I was so lucky. The Smart Health GP really saved my life."
– Kevin, AIG customer
Image shown is a stock image and not the actual customer.
Rehabilitation
If your clients do end up needing to take some time off, we’ve got their back straightaway. No need to wait for the deferred period to end. There’s a whole set of experts and services ready and waiting.
- Rehabilitation: from the moment your clients are unable to work, they can get help from vocational rehabilitation specialists to speed up their recovery. So that some time off doesn’t turn in to a long time off.
“I would not be where I am today without the counselling sessions AIG arranged – a huge part of my recovery.”
Lauren, AIG customer who used rehabilitation services - Hospitalisation: if your clients are in hospital for a long time the costs can rack up. From car parking, to snacks and everything in-between. That’s why we’ll give them £1002 a night from the seventh night of their stay – making life that little bit easier.
- Recuperation: when it’s time to go back to work, your clients can get access to services to help them do just that. Whether it’s physiotherapy, counselling or retraining, we could pay up to 3 x their monthly benefit amount to help cover the cost3.
Financial protection
The last thing your clients need to be worrying about when they’re poorly is paying the bills. Income protection puts a stop to any concerns – making sure they get a monthly payment to look after the day-to-day expenses.
We’ll pay up to 60% of the first £60,000 of their salary plus 50% of anything after that4. And don’t forget that payments are tax free.
Here’s some of the other in-depth detail we’re sure you’ll want to know:
Minimum and maximum ages
- Minimum age at entry: 17
- Maximum age at entry: 59
- Maximum age at end of policy: 70
Type of cover
- Level: this covers your client for a fixed monthly benefit
- Increasing: the monthly benefit increases each year to take inflation into account. Up to a maximum annual increase of 10% (using Retail Prices Index – RPI)
Payment options
- Deferred period options (weeks): 4, 8, 13, 26, 52
- Maximum benefit a year: £250k. For a homemaker, we’ll pay a maximum of £20k a year
- Limited claim payment term option: two years – a useful budget option to reduce monthly premiums
- Proportionate payment: we’ll top-up income if your client is earning less when they go back to work – normally it’s for things like working reduced hours or in a lower paid role
Unemployment support
If your client claims within 30 days of leaving their job, we’ll use that job to make a decision about their claim – whether it’s due to unemployment, becoming a homemaker or taking a career break. If it’s over that 30 day mark, we’ll treat them the same as a homemaker (using our work tasks definition).
Support’s there if your clients are made redundant. We’ll pay their premiums for up to six months5 so they stay covered. All they need to do is let us know within one month of leaving their role.
Reviewable exclusions: flexibility is key
Reviewable exclusions
If there are any exclusions put on your client’s policy, we’ll consider removing them through the term of the policy if their health changes in a way that means the exclusion isn’t needed. So if their health changes for the better, be sure to let us know.
Making changes to a policy aka guaranteed insurability options (GIOs)
Your clients can change their policy, making sure it still meets their needs. Our usual options are available on our income protection products:
- Getting married or entering a civil partnership
- Having or legally adopting a child
- Mortgage increase or getting their first mortgage
- Salary increases
If your client moves into a rented property or their rent goes up, they’ll be able to increase their cover
They can also reduce the monthly benefit or term of the cover, change the deferred period or change a full payment term to a limited payment term, or vice versa. We want to keep our income protection as flexible as possible because we know circumstances change.
Income replacement guarantee
Your clients can get up to £1,5006 every month if their income has decreased since they took the cover out and no longer supports their chosen monthly benefit when they claim. We call it income replacement guarantee. And if they’re a doctor, dentist or surgeon, they can receive up to £3,0007.
Specialist professions
If your client’s a doctor, dentist, surgeon or teacher, we’ve introduced some specialist options for them.
Sick pay guarantee
for doctors, dentists, surgeons and teachers
Sabbatical break cover
for doctors, dentists and surgeons
Income replacement guarantee
for doctors, dentists and surgeons
Help your clients be at their best with AIG’s income protection. Mentally, physically, financially.
Literature and resources
Income Protection – key facts
For an overview of YourLife Plan Income Protection, check out our key facts.
Income Protection – customer webpage
Help your clients identify the need, discuss talking points and delve into some myth busting.
Income Protection – cover details
Read our cover details for an explanation of how YourLife Plan Income Protection works.
Income Protection – occupational sales aid for dentists, doctors and surgeons
Have a read of this guide to get to grips with our YourLifePlan Income Protection features that are just for dentists, doctors and surgeons.
1 Teladoc data, September 2023
2 Evidence such as hospital admission summary, discharge summary or medical letters may be required
3 At our discretion and up to 3x your client’s monthly benefit
4 If your client claims, how much they’ll be paid is based on their pre-tax annual income before they became too ill to work, not the income they had at the start of their cover
5 Over the lifetime of their policy
6 They need to have been working at least 16 hours a week before they stopped work if they’re self-employed, or 25 hours for those employed. And their monthly benefit is equal to £1,500 or more
7 For doctors, dentists and surgeons, the minimum number of working hours per week is 32. And their monthly benefit is equal to £3,000 or more
8 Dentists, doctors and surgeons must be registered with the General Medical Council or General Dental Council and licensed to practice in the UK