Despite the financial impact that illness can have, seven in ten consumers say they haven’t seen or heard anything about income protection in the past year, according to the CIExpert’s Critical Thinking 2026 report.

At Citywide, protection planning does not start with products. It starts with people, their families, and the life they want to protect. In fact, the conversation is rarely about insurance. More often it is about questions such as: Would the mortgage still be affordable if my income stopped? Could we keep the children in childcare? Would my partner need to change their plans?

That is why protection needs to be matched to real life. Different policies are designed to solve different problems, and many people assume one policy does more than it was ever designed to do.

Let’s imagine Melanie had an illness, but it had not progressed enough to keep her off work. That is normally where a protection story ends: no absence = no claim and nothing to show for the premiums. But her adviser had recommended a severity-based policy rather than a standard one. So, when her condition worsened, she qualified for a payout of almost £10,000. “She would not have had a claim from any other policy,” he said at the time.

That gap between what people assume protection covers and what it actually covers is where the industry keeps tripping over itself. CIExpert’s Critical Thinking 2026 report, found that around seven in ten people have not seen or heard anything about income protection in the last year. People haven’t necessarily rejected the product. Rather, most of them have simply never encountered it outside a workplace benefits menu, if they have encountered it there at all.

How often are people claiming on their income protection?

A number that might surprise you is just how frequently, and how young, people call on their income protection policy. Royal London’s claims data puts the average age of an income protection claim at 38. Modelling for a non-smoking couple aged 35 and targeting retirement at 65, it puts the probability of one of them being off work for two months or more before then at 38%. Compare that with the far smaller probability of either of them dying in the same period, which is around 11%, yet the risk most households insure against, the maths is counter intuitive.

So, what does a complete protection portfolio look like, and where does income protection sit within it? Let’s have a look at three products, each doing a different job.

1. Life insurance Pays a lump sum on death. It settles a mortgage, replaces a breadwinner’s contribution, or funds a specific bequest. It does nothing while the policyholder is alive, however ill they may be.

2. Critical illness cover Pays a lump sum on diagnosis of a specified serious condition, from a defined list, once. Its job is the immediate cost of a crisis: adapting a home, clearing debt, taking time to recover without financial pressure.

3. Income protection Replaces a portion of earnings, usually 50% to 70%, for as long as the policyholder cannot work, up to retirement age or a set term. It catches long absences that never make it into a critical illness definition: chronic back pain, a mental health condition, a slow recovery from surgery.

Melanie’s experience highlights that not all protection policies are created equal. Some provide support earlier in the progression of an illness, while others only pay when specific conditions are met. Two policies that appear similar can produce very different outcomes at claim time, which is why the detail matters as much as the headline cover. For many working families, the right protection plan may combine life insurance, critical illness cover and income protection — but the starting point should always be a review of what is already in place, what it would actually pay, and where the gaps may be.

Income protection and family income benefit are a must for any family with young kids and liabilities. Take a young family: two working parents, two children under five, household costs of £4,000 a month once the mortgage, childcare, and everyday bills are added up. One parent earns £60,000 and covers the larger share of that budget. If serious illness stops that income, the other parent’s earnings alone are rarely enough to keep the household afloat, and savings start covering the gap almost immediately. A policy paying 60% of salary, after a 13-week wait, replaces roughly £3,000 a month. Combined with the second income, that is usually enough to keep the mortgage paid, the childcare running, and the family’s routine largely intact while the ill parent focuses on getting better rather than on the bills. – Petra Spirkova

Before arranging anything, check what you already have. Employer schemes often include protection benefits, and paying premiums through work can be more tax efficient but the fine print matters. Some benefits are capped or only pay for a set period.

Diversification is usually spoken about in the context of investments; cover deserves the same discipline. The right combination of protection policies, tailored to your circumstances, helps ensure your financial plan can withstand life’s unexpected setbacks. A Citywide review can help you understand what is already in place and whether personal cover should dovetail with it, speak with your adviser or get in touch to explore this.

Sources: CIExpert, Critical Thinking 2026 (sponsored by Royal London and Guardian, supported by Aviva, Legal & General, Vitality Life and Zurich); Royal London claims data via Saltus; Vitality adviser case study (Alan Knowles), Institute and Faculty for Actuaries, ONS