Quick verdict from our protection desk

If you only read one section, read this one. We see the insurer's quotes alongside the rest of the UK market every day, so we have a fairly clear sense of where the plan earns its place and where it does not.

How a broker reads the Royal London plan

When a Royal London quote lands on our desk we look at three things first: the definition of incapacity, the deferred period structure and the standard policy features. All three are above-average for the UK market, which is why the plan keeps appearing in our recommendations.

The incapacity definition is 'own occupation' as standard. In plain English: a claim is assessed on whether you can do your specific job, not whether you could in theory do anything else. That is the most generous wording available and what most independent advisers steer clients towards.

Deferred periods are the gap between stopping work and the policy paying. Royal London offers 4, 8, 13, 26 and 52 week options - covering everything from self-employed cases who need money quickly to NHS staff with long sick pay who can comfortably wait.

Standard features are unusually rich. Fracture cover, hospitalisation benefit, minimum benefit guarantee, accelerated terminal illness payments and the Helping Hand service are built in rather than priced as add-ons - something often lost when people judge the plan on headline price alone.

Inside the policy: features and pay-outs

The plan replaces part of your earnings if you cannot work because of illness or injury. Cover runs up to 65% of gross income, capped at £20,000 a month or £250,000 a year - enough to rebuild a six-figure salary almost in full.

Eligibility sits between ages 18 and 59 at outset, and the policy can run from five to 52 years, up to age 70. You can pick a short-term payment period (1, 2 or 5 years) or a full-term plan running to retirement, depending on whether you are protecting a mortgage or your whole working life.

Below are the features we walk clients through when they ask us to break down the policy. These are the parts of the plan you will actually rely on if you ever claim.

• Waiver of premiums - if you are off work and claiming, Royal London covers your premiums for you
• Increasing cover option - you can raise the benefit by a fixed 2% to 5% each year, or link it to RPI capped at 10%
• Life-changes / guaranteed insurability - top up your cover after a salary rise, house move or new child without fresh medical questions
• Fracture cover - up to £4,000 paid out for specified bone injuries, with two separate claims allowed in any twelve-month window
• Hospitalisation benefit - up to £100 a night for stays beyond six consecutive nights during the deferred period, paid for up to 90 nights
• Minimum monthly benefit floor — claim payments are capped on the lower side at £1,500 per month, so a later drop in earnings cannot push a valid claim below that figure
• Back-to-work payment - extra payments in months one and two of returning to work for plans with longer deferred periods
• Accelerated terminal illness cover - the deferred period is waived if a terminal illness is diagnosed
• Payment on death - a lump sum equal to twelve monthly benefits is paid to your estate if you pass away while insured
• Helping Hand - 24/7 virtual GP, mental health support and rehabilitation services for the policyholder and immediate family

Pay-outs are tax-free in the hands of the claimant. Most people use the monthly benefit to keep up with mortgage or rent, household bills, food and childcare. The cover is meant to keep your life running rather than replace every penny - which is partly why the regulator caps benefits below full salary.

The most common reasons for a successful claim, per Royal London's published data, are musculoskeletal problems (around half of paid claims), cancer and mental health conditions - in line with the wider UK protection market.

What Royal London income protection costs

There is no single price for this cover. The premium is calculated from personal factors and policy choices, and the final monthly figure can sit anywhere from a few pounds to well over £100 depending on what you ask the plan to do.

Personal information that drives the premium includes your age, smoking status, height and weight, health history, lifestyle and occupation. Policy choices that move the price are the term length, payment period (short-term or full-term), deferred period and whether you choose level or increasing benefit.

To give you a realistic feel for the numbers, here is roughly what a Royal London quote tends to look like for a non-smoker in good health on a £30,000 income, taking cover to age 65 with a three-month deferred period. Prices are illustrative and will move with your personal details.

The takeaway is that the longer you ask the policy to keep paying after a claim, the more the premium climbs - a full-term plan typically costs two to three times what a one-year plan does. Locking cover in early and only buying the level of benefit you actually need are the two most reliable ways to keep premiums down.

Cover for NHS doctors, nurses and dentists

Royal London is one of the few UK insurers with a genuine NHS-specific track inside its income protection plan, rather than relabelled standard cover. For doctors, dentists, nurses, midwives and other healthcare professionals on an NHS pension, this is one of the strongest reasons to look at the plan seriously.

To qualify for the NHS variant you must work in a medical role with sick pay that mirrors the NHS schedule, be registered with the relevant body (GMC, NMC or GDC) and - for doctors and surgeons - hold a current UK licence to practise.

The single feature that sets it apart is how the deferred period is handled. NHS sick pay tapers from full to half pay over time, then runs out entirely - and the length of full and half pay depends on how long you have been with the service. Rather than asking you to guess, the plan slots in exactly when your sick pay reduces.

Broadly, the plan steps in at month two for first-year staff, month three in year two, month five in years three to four, month six in year five and month seven from year six onwards. That avoids the classic gap medics fall into where their deferred period and sick pay do not line up.

Other NHS-specific features are worth highlighting separately.

• Sabbatical cover - keep paying premiums during a career break of up to twelve months and the policy stays live, provided you have already held it for a year and been with the NHS for a year
• Enhanced minimum benefit guarantee for doctors and surgeons - £3,000 a month rather than the standard £1,500
• Recognition of pensionable salary, on-call and overtime in the income calculation
• Ability to write a separate plan over private practice income, in addition to NHS earnings, so consultants and dentists with mixed income can protect both sides

Royal London for business owners and key staff

Alongside the personal plan, Royal London writes a key-person policy aimed at limited companies, partnerships and LLPs. The cover is taken out and paid for by the business and pays out to the business if a named key individual cannot work due to illness or injury.

Companies typically use the benefit to top up the key person's salary while they are off, hire a temporary replacement, prop up profit during the absence or cover fixed business costs. Up to 75% of gross profit attributable to the key person can be covered, capped at £250,000 a year, over payment periods of one or two years.

Worth flagging: the key-person variant has narrower distribution than the personal plan and is typically arranged through a specialist business protection adviser. If you are a director or partner exploring this, speak to a broker who handles commercial cases rather than treating it like a personal application.

Where Royal London sits in the wider UK market

Stepping back from the policy detail, it helps to see how the cover compares to the other UK insurers our protection team works with day to day. No single insurer wins on every measure - the right answer depends on your job, your health and what you need the plan to do.

Working out the right level of cover for you

The most common mistake people make when applying for any income protection, frankly, is buying either too much or too little cover. Both have a real cost. Buying too little leaves you scrambling if you cannot work; buying too much wastes premium on benefit you would never receive.

A sensible starting point is to look at what your household actually needs each month, not your gross salary. The monthly benefit is paid free of income tax, so you do not need to replace your full take-home figure to keep your standard of living roughly the same.

When we run a budget with a client we add up the monthly outgoings below, then choose a benefit and deferred period that bridge the gap between sick pay or savings and that figure.

• Mortgage or rent
• Council tax, utilities and broadband
• Food shop and household basics
• Childcare or school fees
• Loans, credit cards or car finance
• Transport, fuel or season tickets
• Insurance and pension contributions you would still want to keep up
• A small buffer for unexpected costs while you are unwell

Claims, exclusions and cancellation

Royal London publishes its claims paid statistics each year and the figures are consistently strong - 99% of all protection claims paid in the most recent published year, with several million pounds of that going to income protection claimants. That puts it in line with the better names in the UK market.

Making a claim on the plan is straightforward in principle. You contact the claims team, complete a claim form, share medical information and proof of earnings, and the insurer assesses the claim. Royal London may ask you to be seen by a doctor or specialist as part of that assessment - this is standard practice across the industry, not a sign that the claim is being resisted.

The reasons a claim might be declined are predictable: a deliberately self-inflicted injury, an illness that falls within an exclusion (usually a pre-existing condition), a condition that does not actually stop you doing your own occupation, or non-disclosure of information at any stage.

If your circumstances change and you no longer want the cover, you can cancel the policy at any time by contacting the insurer directly. Cancel within the first 30 days and any premiums you have paid are returned. After that the plan simply ends with no refund - and you should also tell your bank to stop the direct debit so payments do not continue by mistake.