Zurich income protection

Not only is Zurich one of the UK’s leading life insurance providers, but it’s also one of the world’s leading income protection providers.

Income protection can pay out a percentage of your income if you’re left unable to work due to illness or injury.

This can help you to cover key daily living costs while you’re unable to work, allowing you to continue your current lifestyle.

Why not compare Zurich income protection with other major UK providers using the services of Reassured?

A friendly member of the team can provide you with personalised, fee-free and no obligation quotes. The service is FCA-regulated and quotes start from just 20p-a-day

Keep reading this Zurich income protection review to take a deep dive into the polices they offer as we help you establish whether they’re the right provider for you...

Zurich income protection key features

Zurich income protection insurance, the key features:

  • Up to 80% of your usual income can be protected with a Zurich income protection policy
  • Policies are available to those aged 16 - 64
  • Zurich offer two policies; Zurich income protection and Zurich income protection select
  • Cover comes with a level or increasing benefit (pay out sum)
  • Monthly or yearly premiums available, from £5 a month or £50 a year
  • Policies come with a wide range of additional features such as waiver of premiums and minimum benefit guarantee
  • Flexible terms to ensure your cover always meets your specific needs
  • Can’t be purchased directly through Zurich. You must take out a policy through a financial advisor or through a comparison site or broker (like Reassured)

Who are Zurich?

Zurich is one of the world’s leading insurers. With its headquarters located in Switzerland, Zurich now operate in over 215 countries.

As well as income protection, and a range of other insurance products, Zurich is also well known for their life insurance offerings.

Across all products, Zurich is rated 3.5 stars on Trustpilot - with 48% of reviews rating them ‘Excellent’.

Why not read our complete Zurich life insurance review?

Zurich income protection insurance

Zurich income protection can pay out up to 80% of your usual income in monthly (tax-free) payments if you become unable to work due to illness or injury.

This can help you to cover key living costs and maintain your current lifestyle while you’re off work. Zurich income protection payments could help to cover:

  • Monthly rent or mortgage payments
  • Household bills
  • Childcare costs
  • Food shop
  • Transportation costs
  • Debt and loan payments
  • Leisure costs

Policies are available to UK residents aged 16 - 64 and you must be employed or self-employed at the time of taking the policy out.

Zurich income protection policy

When taking out Zurich income protection, you have the choice between two policy options:

  1. Zurich income protection (a standard income protection policy)
  2. Zurich income protection select (a more comprehensive income protection policy)

You’ll have the same terms and conditions to choose from when taking out either policy. This includes:

  • The choice of a limited (short-term) benefit or full term (long-term) benefit
  • The choice of a level benefit (remains the same) or an increasing benefit (cover amount increases each year)

The difference is that Zurich income protection select offers a greater range of additional policy features to meet a greater range of needs.


The table below shows a comparison of Zurich income protection and Zurich income protection select:

Additional benefitZurich income protection insuranceZurich income protection select
Waiver of premiums Icon green tick Icon green tick
Minimum benefit guarantee Icon green tick Icon green tick
Maternity, paternity and adoption benefit Icon green tick Icon green tick
House person benefit Icon green tick Icon green tick
Doctor and surgeons package Icon green tick Icon green tick
Family carer benefit Icon ruby cross Icon green tick
Trauma benefit Icon ruby cross Icon green tick
Hospital stay benefit Icon ruby cross Icon green tick
Needlestick benefit Icon ruby cross Icon green tick
Funeral benefit Icon ruby cross Icon green tick
Multifracture benefit Icon green tick
(for an additional cost)
Icon green tick
(for an additional cost)


Keep reading as we’ll discuss the terms and conditions of Zurich income protection in more detail…

How much Zurich income protection insurance do you need?

Enter your monthly financial commitments to calculate the level of income protection cover you might require.

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£723 a month is the average monthly mortgage payment in the UK, with the average monthly rental price coming in at £700.

The majority of our monthly income will go towards rental or mortgage payments.

For this reason, it’s essential to have precautions in place to ensure you could keep up to date with your payments if you weren’t receiving your usual income.

Monthly income protection payments can help to cover this large expense and ensure you can stay in your home.

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According to the Money Advice Service, the average household spends £340 a month on household bills.

This includes electricity, gas, TV and broadband.

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Childcare costs are on the rise with it now costing £137.69 per week for part-time nursery for a child under the age of two.

That’s over £550 per month - is this an amount you’d be able to keep up with if you were unable to work?

Becoming ill could also result in the need for additional childcare while you attend doctors’ appointments or medical treatment.

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The average household in the UK spends around £97 a week on their food shop, totaling £388 a month.

While this may seem like a small amount in comparison to some of the other expenses mentioned, the food shop is often where we try to scrimp and save when we fall on hard times.

Income protection can take care of the cost of your weekly food shop, as well as many other essential costs.

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At the beginning of 2020, credit card debt in the UK was at £2.1 billion, with almost 27 million UK residents in some kind of debt.

Becoming unable to work could make it hard to keep up with credit card or loan payments (including car finance or other financed goods).

Failure to keep up with payments could result in additional interest being incurred or late fees issues - resulting in a higher total needing to be paid.

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The average spent on public transport each month comes to an average of £94.

This includes the cost of public transport, as well as petrol and diesel vehicles.

While this amount may reduce while you’re unable to work as you won’t need to commute there may be additional spending on public transportation if your illness or injury leaves you unable to drive.

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Your total cover estimate

£ 0

Let us find your best quotes.

Zurich income protection terms and conditions

When taking out an income protection policy through Zurich, there are some key policy terms and conditions that you may want to consider when establishing whether their cover is right for you.

You must be a UK resident and either self-employed or employed in order to take out a policy. Other key details are as follows:

Zurich logo
AgeZurich income protection is available to those aged 16 - 64. When taking out a policy, your cover must end by the time you reach 69 years of age.
Term lengthA Zurich income protection policy can have a minimum term length of 5 years, up to a maximum of 54 years (policy must end by age 69).
Benefit amountThe amount paid out to you can be up to 80% of your usual income, up to a maximum of £20,000 a month.
Benefit typeYou can choose whether you would like a level benefit or increasing benefit. With a level benefit, the amount you receive will remain the same throughout the lifetime of your policy. With an increasing benefit, your benefit amount will increase each year in line with the Retail Prices Index (RPI) up to a maximum of 10% each year. With this option, your premiums will also increase as a result.
Payment periodYou can choose a short-term payment period of up to 2 years or a full term (long term) option (this could pay out to you until your policy expires if you’re unable to return to work).
PriceYou can choose to pay for your policy either monthly or yearly. Monthly premiums start from just £5 a month, or £50 a year. If you stop paying your premiums, your cover will cease.
Premium typePremiums are guaranteed, meaning your premiums won’t change throughout the policy lifetime. Unless you choose an increasing benefit where your premiums will increase alongside your benefit amount.
Deferred periodDeferred period options include 4, 8, 13, 26, 52 and 104 weeks. The deferred period refers to the period of time you’ll need to be unable to work before your payments will commence. Zurich also offer a ’dual’ deferred period which will allow you to stagger your payments.


Reassured can help you to compare Zurich income protection quotes, so why not get in touch?

Zurich income protection additional features

Zurich income protection policies come with a great range of additional features to meet a wide range of needs.

Zurich income protection policies

Zurich income protection policies come with the following additional features (at no extra cost to you):

  • Minimum benefit guarantee - If your income has reduced since the start of your policy, Zurich will pay you a minimum benefit amount of up to £1,500. You must be working at least 16 hours a week to qualify for this benefit
  • Waiver of premiums - Zurich will cover the cost of your monthly premiums while you’re unable to work after 13 weeks of being incapacitated or after your deferred period ends (which ever happens first)
  • Maternity, paternity and adoption benefit - Will allow you to claim while you’re on maternity, paternity or adoption leave. The amount you receive will be based on your income in the 12 months before your leave started
  • House person benefit - If you’re not in employment when you become incapacitated you may be able to claim a house person benefit. This will pay you up to £1,500 per month. You must meet a certain definition to be able to claim this
  • Doctors and surgeons’ package - The doctors and surgeons package comes with some features which specifically meet the needs of those in the medical profession
Zurich income protection select policies

Those taking out a Zurich income protection select policy will have access to all the standard additional features as well as the following (at no extra cost):

  • Family carer benefit - If you need to care for a spouse, partner or child, Zurich will pay out up to £1,500 for a maximum of 12 months. The person you are caring for will need to meet a certain definition in order for you to claim
  • Trauma benefit - Up to £50,000 will be paid out to you alongside your monthly benefit if you suffer a specific trauma such as blindness, deafness, loss of hand or foot, loss of speech, paralysis of limb or loss of ability to live independently
  • Hospital stay benefit - Zurich will pay out to you £100 per night if you’re admitted to hospital for 7 consecutive nights if you’re admitted for an illness or injury that occurs during your deferred period. This benefit will be paid for a maximum of 90 days across your policy term
  • Needlestick benefit - Up to £50,000 will be paid out to you if you develop HIV, hepatitis B or hepatitis C as a result of an accident carrying out your usual work duties
  • Funeral benefit - If you pass away while your policy is active, up to £10,000 will be paid out to your loved ones to help cover funeral costs
Doctors income protection features

Features that come with the doctors and surgeons’ income protection include:

  • Minimum benefit of £3,000 - If your income has reduced since the start of your policy, Zurich guarantee to pay out up to £3,000 per month for your monthly benefit. You must be working at least 16 hours per week to qualify
  • NHS sick pay guarantee - This benefit is only available to those employed directly by the NHS and will help you to line up your deferred period to match with your NHS sick pay schedule
Zurich income protection additional features

With either a Zurich income protection policy or Zurich income protect select policy you can choose to add the following for an additional fee:

  • Multi-fracture cover - A lump sum of £2,000, £4,000 or £6,000 will be paid out if you suffer a fracture, dislocation, tendon, rupture or ligament tear. The amount paid out will depend on the location of the injury. This benefit can be used multiple times throughout the lifetime of your policy but a maximum of £6,000 can be paid out each year

All policies will also come with rehabilitation services and return to work packages, to make your return to work as smooth as possible after a claim period.

Find the best policy to meet your needs using the services of Reassured.

Zurich group income protection

Group income protection allows employers to pay a regular income to employees if illness or injury prevents them from working for an extended period of time.

As with an individual policy, Zurich group income protection will pay out up to 80% of an employee’s usual income and there are two policy types to choose from:

  1. Group income protection - This is a full term (long term) option
  2. Group income protection (limited benefit term) - This is a short term option that will pay out for a maximum of 5 years

This benefit is available to employees aged 16 - 69.

Group income protection isn’t currently something that’s offered by Reassured.

However, Reassured can help you to compare Zurich personal plans. Simply get in touch for your free quotes.

How much is Zurich income protection?

How much you pay for Zurich income protection will depend on a variety of factors.

Zurich offer the choice to pay monthly or yearly, with monthly premiums starting from £5 and yearly premiums starting from £50.

The exact price you pay will be calculated using the following key information:

  • Age
  • Heath and wellbeing
  • Smoking status
  • Occupation
  • Lifestyle
  • Length of cover
  • Length of payment period
  • Length of deferred period

Zurich premiums are guaranteed, which means the price you pay won’t change over time.

This is unless you choose an increasing benefit where your premiums will increase along with your benefit amount to compensate for the greater level of cover.

Income protection through Reassured starts from 20p-a-day, so why not compare Zurich income protection with other leading providers to find your most affordable policy?

What is Zurich income protection select?

The Zurich income protection select policy is the most comprehensive option offered by Zurich.

While the general terms and conditions offered remain the same as a standard income protection policy, those taking out a Zurich income protection select policy will benefit from a wider range of additional policy features.

As well as the standard additional features offered by Zurich, income protection select also comes with:

  • Family carer benefit
  • Funeral benefit
  • Hospital stay benefit
  • Needlestick benefit
  • Trauma benefit

Due to the higher level of cover, premiums for this policy type may be more expensive than with a standard income protection policy.

Compare Zurich income protection through Reassured to secure the best deal.

Does Zurich income protection pay out?

In 2021, £2.9 million was paid out by Zurich in income protection insurance claims.

A quarter of all income protection claims (25%) were paid out for cancer and another quarter of all claims were paid out for musculoskeletal problems. With 21% of claims being paid out for mental health reasons.

Furthermore, a total of £222 million was paid out by Zurich across life insurance, income protection and critical illness cover[1].

Is Zurich income protection good?

Whether Zurich income protection is a good fit for you will depend on your needs and personal circumstances.

Hopefully this article has helped to provide a better understanding of Zurich and the income protection they offer.

Zurich offers flexible cover that can be changed over time to meet ever growing needs, with a wide range of additional benefits available.

They also offer benefits specifically for doctors and surgeons, so their cover may be particularly beneficial for those in the medical profession.

Read our complete doctors income protection guide for more information »

Speaking to an expert can help you to gather any further information you may require, so why not chat to a friendly member of the Reassured team?

Zurich income protection quotes

Comparing quotes is the best way to ensure you secure the most affordable price on the policy that meets all of your needs.

You can do this, free of charge, by using the FCA-regulated service provided by Reassured.

The whole of market comparison service offered by Reassured can help you to compare Zurich income protection with all other major UK providers.

Quotes are fee-free, personalised and without obligation. The best part is income protection through Reassured starts from just 20p-a-day.

Start your journey today and get in touch with a friendly member of the team.

Sources:

[1] https://www.covermagazine.co.uk/news/4036983/zurich-pays-life-insurance-claims-h1-2021

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