Sick pay for people who don't get sick pay
Personal Sick Pay is income protection rebuilt for the self-employed: waiting periods from a single day, own-occupation cover, and a benefit designed around a wage that stops the moment you do.
The gap it exists to fill
Employees fall back on sick pay. Sole traders, CIS subcontractors, gig workers and most drivers fall back on nothing — the income stops on day one, and standard income protection with a one-to-three-month wait leaves exactly the weeks they can least afford uncovered. Personal Sick Pay was built for that gap.
How it works
Structurally it's income protection: a monthly benefit while illness or injury stops you working, on an own-occupation basis. The differences are practical. Waiting periods start at one day and run through one week, four weeks and upwards. Benefit amounts are set against your real self-employed earnings. And the occupations it targets — trades, drivers, manual roles — are the ones standard products treat most cautiously.
| Standard income protection | Personal Sick Pay | |
|---|---|---|
| Shortest wait | Typically 1 month; some occupations 3 months minimum | From 1 day |
| Built for | Employees with sick pay to bridge | Self-employed and manual trades with none |
| Definition | Own occupation (varies) | Own occupation |
| Premium trade-off | Lower — longer waits | Higher per £ of benefit — pays far sooner |
Getting the balance right
Day-one cover is powerful but priced accordingly. Most self-employed clients land on a short-but-not-instant wait — one or two weeks — that keeps the premium sensible while still catching a real injury quickly. Pair it with an accurate earnings assessment and, for limited company directors, a comparison against the Executive Income Protection route.
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