Legal & General income protection UK

Legal & General are one of the UK’s leading financial services providers, offering a range of income protection and life insurance solutions.

But is their income protection good and how does it match up to others on the market?

Why not use the services of Reassured's advised team to compare Legal & General income protection with all the UK’s best income protection providers.

Their whole of market comparison service allows you to find the best policy to meet your needs, at the right price for your budget (including providers who offer cover from just 20p-a-day ‡ .

Quotes are fee-free and completely without obligation so why not get in touch?

Keep reading this review as we establish if Legal & General are the right income protection insurance provider for you…

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Who are Legal & General?

Legal & General have been providing financial services in the UK for nearly 200 years.

Founded by a team of six lawyers in 1836, Legal & General are now the one of the UK’s leading financial services providers[1].

Legal & General are an award winning insurer, having won the 'Best Life Insurance Provider' award 4 years running (2020 - 2024)[2]. As well as being commended for their life insurance, Legal & General have also won many other awards:

  • Outstanding Insurer of the year - LifeSearch Awards 2024
  • Organisation of the Year - Protection Review Awards 2022
  • Best Overall Protection Provider - Mortgage Advice Bureau Awards 2022[3]

Legal & General income protection reviews

Across all of their services, Legal & General are rated 4.1 stars on Trustpilot - with 50% of their customers rating them as ‘Excellent’[4].

Furthermore, their income protection benefit policy is rated 5 stars by Defaqto.

Overall, customers of Legal & General rate their income protection well and you’ll also benefit from being protected by a well trusted household name when taking out one of their policies.

Why not compare Legal & General income protection through Reassured? A friendly member of the team can help you to find the best available deal.

Legal & General income protection key features:

  • You’ll be paid a regular monthly income by Legal & General if you become too ill or injured to work
  • Legal & General can protect up to 60% of your usual earnings up to £60,000 per year plus 50% on earnings over £60,000
  • Legal & General offer both short-term income protection (illness and injury insurance) and long-term income protection (income protection benefit)
  • Policies come with a range of additional benefits, such as rehabilitation support service
  • Policies have flexible elements that allow you to make changes to keep up with ever changing needs
  • Legal & General offer special policy features for doctors and medical professionals (such as sick pay alignment)

What does Legal & General income protection cover?

Income protection through Legal & General will cover you for:

  • Illness
  • Injury

The injury or illness sustained must be one that prevents you from carrying out the daily activities of your job.

You must be incapacitated for longer than your deferred period in order for your payments to commence.

Income protection payments can help you stay afloat financially when you’re unable to earn your usual income.

These payments could be used to help cover:

  • Rent or mortgage payments
  • Household bills and utilities
  • Weekly food shop
  • Transportation costs
  • Childcare expenses
  • Medical treatment
  • Leisure costs

Compare Legal & General income protection through Reassured today.

Why not input your monthly outgoings into our income protection insurance calculator (below) to find out how much cover you need?

How much Legal & General income protection insurance do you need?

Enter your monthly financial commitments to calculate the level of Legal & General 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

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Legal & General income protection policies

Legal & General offer two income protection policies, these include:

Illness and injury insurance legal and general

Illness and injury insurance

Legal & General illness and injury insurance is a more simplified (or short-term) version of income protection insurance.

  • Can cover up to 60% of your usual income (capped at £2,000 a month)
  • Payments will be made for a maximum of 1 year per claims period (that’s 12 monthly payments per claim)
  • You can make multiple claims throughout the lifetime of the policy
  • 4 week deferred period (payments will commence after this time if you’re still unable to work)
  • Pay outs are tax-free
  • This policy won’t cover you for unemployment
  • This policy is well suited to those who are employed and self-employed who don’t benefit from a comprehensive sick pay scheme
  • Available to UK residents aged 18 - 55 (you must be working at least 16 hours per week to be eligible)
Income protection benefit legal and general

Income protection benefit

Legal & General income protection benefit is a more long term form of cover, offering flexible terms that can be changed to meet your needs.

  • Can cover up to 60% of your usual income (up to £60,000 a year. Then up to 50% of your income over £60,000 a year)
  • Payments can be made until you return to work or until your policy comes to an end 
  • Cover will last until your chosen retirement age
  • Deferred period can be 4, 8, 13, 26 or 52 weeks
  • Pay outs are tax-free
  • This policy won’t cover you for unemployment
  • Can be taken out with a level (remains the same) or increasing (will increase over time) benefit
  • This policy is well suited to those who want more comprehensive cover to protect their income
  • Available to UK residents aged 18 - 59

Legal & General income protection terms and conditions

When taking out income protection through Legal & General, there are a few key policy terms and conditions you should be aware of.

These include:

Income protection

Benefit amount - Legal & General can pay out up to 60% of your usual income in monthly tax-free payments to help cover key financial commitments while you’re unable to work.
Policy Term

Policy length - With illness and injury insurance your policy must finish by your 60th birthday. If taking out income protection benefit your policy must finish after your 50th birthday but before your 70th birthday.
Payment Period

Payment period - Depending on which policy you take out, the payment period will either be a maximum of 12 months (illness and injury insurance) or it can last up until your chosen retirement age (income protection benefit).
Definition of Incapacity

Definition of incapacity - Policies offer an ‘own occupation’ definition of incapacity (meaning you can claim if you’re unable to do your specific job).
Deferred Period clock

Deferred period - With an illness and injury insurance policy, your deferred period will be 4 weeks. With an income protection benefit policy, your deferred period could be 4, 8, 13, 26 or 52 weeks. Your payments will begin if you’re still unable to work after this time.
Premium Type

Premium type - Premiums through Legal & General are guaranteed, meaning the amount you pay remains fixed throughout the lifetime of your policy. This is unless you change your cover amount.

To fully understand your policy why not speak to an expert like Reassured?

A friendly member of the team can help you through every step of the application process, while finding you the best available deal from the whole of the market.

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How much does Legal & General income protection cost?

The price you pay for Legal & General income protection will vary from person to person.

During the application process Legal & General will ask for key information and this will help to determine the price you pay.

The information you’ll be asked to provide includes:

  • Age
  • Current health and wellbeing
  • Medical history
  • Occupation
  • Smoking status
  • Policy term
  • Deferred period
  • Payment period
AgeLegal & General income protection cost (payment period until age 65)
20£12.27
25£12.56
30£15.11
35£20.50
40£24.90
45£31.69
50£39.61

Quotes are based on a non-smoker, in good health, with an annual income of £30,000. Cover is until age 65, with a 6 month deferred period and a maximum benefit amount. Quotes are correct as of 20/11/24.

As you can see from the table, the price you pay increases each year as you get older.

Seize the day and take out cover sooner rather than later to lock in the most affordable premium price.

Simply get in touch for your free quotes.

Legal & General income protection for NHS dentists, Doctors, Nurses Midwives & Surgeons

Legal & General are one of the UK providers who offer special features to meet the needs of NHS workers.

These features include:

Stepped benefit - This will allow you to have two deferred periods. You can have both a 26 and 52 week deferred period, which will allow you to receive payments at stepped times to help match up with your NHS sick pay schedule (for those that have been in service for 5+ years.

It can also be possible for arrangements to be made for those who have been with the NHS for less than 5 years).

Income guarantee - Your benefit amount will be calculated based on your earnings at the time of your claim (not when you first took the policy out), so if your earnings have gone down you may receive less than you were expecting.

Income guarantee can help you to protect your benefit amount. For those in the medical profession, this will be the lower of £3,000 or the monthly benefit at the start of your policy.

You must meet the following criteria to qualify for these benefits:

  • Employed by the NHS
  • Registered with the General Dentist Council (GDC)
  • Registered with the General Medical Council (GMC)
  • Registered with the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC)

Why not read our complete income protection for doctors article to find out more about what options are available to medical professionals? »

Legal & General executive income protection

Legal & General also offer executive income protection. A policy which can be taken out by a business (rather than an individual) to protect the income of an employee.

Any employed could be named as the insured person, including employed directors of their own limited company.

Executive income protection can allow small - medium sized businesses to provide some form of financial protection, as they may be unable to qualify for large group protection schemes.

As premiums are paid for by the business, they can often be classed as a business expense - allowing them to be tax deductible for the business.

Legal & General executive income protection comes with the following policy details:

  • Protect up to 80% of a key employee’s income (up to £25,000 a month)
  • Includes pension contributions, national insurance and dividends
  • Benefit amount can be level (remains the same) or increasing (will increase overtime. Premiums will also increase as a result)
  • Minimum term length of 5 years and the policy must end before the policyholders 70th birthday
  • Both short term (limited) and long term (full) payment periods available

Compare Legal & General executive income protection with other leading providers using Reassured.

All quotes are fee free and no obligation, so why not get in touch?

We have a dedicated executive income protection page if you require more information »

Legal & General income protection claims

In 2023, 80% of income protection claims were paid out by Legal & General.

The average pay out sum was £669 per month and the top three reasons for making a claim were:

  1. Musculoskeletal injuries - 43.2%
  2. Cancer - 17.5%
  3. Mental health - 5.4%[5]

To make an income protection claim with Legal & General you will need to contact them directly.

You can do this with the following contact information:

  • Legal & General income protection contact number: 0800 027 9830
  • Phonelines are open Monday to Friday from 09:00 until 17:00

You may be required to fill in some forms and provide some medical evidence of your illness or injury.

Once a claim has been deemed successful, you’ll need to wait for your deferred period to end before your payments will commence.

You’ll need to have made at least one monthly premium payment in order to make a claim on your policy.

Additional policy benefits

Legal & General income protection policies come with a range of additional benefits, including:

  • Linked claims - If you need to claim for the same (or similar) reason within 12 months, you can make a claim and the deferred period won’t apply. There’s no limit on the number of claims you can make
  • Proportionate benefit - If you go back to work after claiming on reduced earnings due to your incapacity, Legal & General will pay a proportion of your benefit amount. This will only be payable if your most recent claim did not make the maximum benefit amount
  • Continuous cover - If you’re out of work or on a career break when you become incapacitated you can still claim, however the definition of incapacity will mean that you need to be unable to complete at least 3 daily living activities in order for a claim to be successful
  • Increasing low start benefit - This option helps to protect your monthly benefit from inflation
  • Low cost option - Keeps your premiums low by limiting the amount of time your monthly benefit can be paid. Your monthly benefit will be paid out for a maximum of 1 – 2 years at a time (instead of up until your chosen retirement age)
  • Stepped benefit - Allows your policy to have two different deferred periods and two monthly benefits at different times
  • Income guarantee - As your claim will be based on your earnings at the time, if your earnings have reduced throughout the lifetime of your policy, Legal & General offer the income guarantee to protect your benefit amount. This is based on the lower of £1,500 or your monthly benefit at the start of your policy
  • Hospitalisation benefit - If you are hospitalised for more than 7 consecutive nights during your deferred period Legal & General will pay 1/30th of your benefit amount for each night up to a maximum of £150 each day
  • Private diagnostics - This can be added for an additional cost and will provide you with access to a specialist through the Trustedoctor portal. This can help to speed up consultations and can also cover your children
  • Fracture cover - This can be added for an additional cost. You will be covered for a specific fracture, dislocated joint, ligament tear or ruptured tendon. You can make multiple claims on this throughout the lifetime of your policy. The amount paid out will vary depending on which body part is injured, but no more than £7,500 will be paid each year
  • Cover payable upon death - If you pass away during the term of your policy, Legal & General will pay out an amount equal to 12 times your monthly premium
  • Waiver of premiums - You won't need to pay your premiums during a claims period

Compare Legal & General income protection quotes

To compare Legal & General income protection with some of the UK’s best providers, contact Reassured.

Quotes are fee-free, personalised and completely without obligation.

Comparing quotes will allow you to see multiple offerings so you can ensure you’re getting the best available price.

Not only can Reassured help you to compare Legal & General quotes, but a friendly member of the team can be on hand to answer any questions you might have.

So why not use their whole of market comparison service to find your ideal policy?

Compare Income Protection Insurance Quotes »

Sources:

[1] https://www.legalandgeneral.com/about-us/

[2] https://www.legalandgeneral.com/insurance/life-insurance/guides/best-life-insurance/

[3] https://www.legalandgeneral.com/adviser/protection/adviser-toolkit/why-legal-general/

[4] https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/legalandgeneral.com

[5] https://cms.legalandgeneral.com/globalassets/adviser/protection/protection-new/adviser-toolkit/our-claims/2023-claims-statistics-infographic.pdf

The information in this article has been taken from the Legal & General website and is correct as of 20/11/24

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