Key facts: Statutory Sick Pay is roughly £120 a week, lasts a maximum of 28 weeks, and excludes the self-employed entirely. Income protection replaces 50–65% of gross earnings, usually tax-free, potentially until retirement. Employer sick-pay schemes vary from generous to none — your contract is the first document to check.
What SSP actually provides
SSP is a floor, not a safety net: a flat weekly amount (around £120) paid by employers from the fourth day of illness for up to 28 weeks, regardless of your salary. For a median earner it replaces well under a fifth of income. After 28 weeks it simply stops, handing you to means-tested benefits. And eligibility has holes — earnings thresholds, and no SSP at all for the self-employed, who fall back on Universal Credit and (for some conditions) disability benefits.
The employer sick-pay lottery
Many employers pay more than SSP — full pay for one to six months is common in larger firms and the public sector — but it's contractual, varied and finite. Check your contract for the exact terms: how long at full pay, how long at half, and what triggers the drop. That number becomes the most important input into any protection decision, because it sets how long you could cope before needing cover to start.
What income protection adds
Income protection pays a regular, typically tax-free benefit of 50–65% of gross earnings when illness or injury stops you working — for long-term policies, until you recover, retire or the term ends. The deferred period (the wait before payments begin — 4, 8, 13, 26 or 52 weeks) is the cost lever: set it to start exactly when employer sick pay ends and the premium drops sharply while the protection stays seamless. Own-occupation definitions — paying because you can't do your job — are the quality marker to insist on; see the best income protection options.
Who actually needs the bridge
The self-employed, most urgently — no SSP, no employer scheme, income stops on day one. Employees with short or no employer sick pay. Anyone whose outgoings couldn't survive six months at £120 a week — which is most mortgage-holding households. The statistical case is blunt: long-term illness during working life is far more common than death during working life, yet most families insure the rarer event and not this one.
Building your bridge
Start from your contract's sick-pay terms and your monthly essentials; a protection specialist will match the deferred period, benefit level and term to the actual gap. Compare income protection through Nesto — free, no obligation.
Frequently asked questions
How much is Statutory Sick Pay?
Roughly £120 a week (the rate updates each April), paid for a maximum of 28 weeks. It's the same regardless of your salary.
Do the self-employed get sick pay?
No SSP at all — the self-employed rely on Universal Credit and savings, which is why income protection matters most for them.
Is income protection paid tax-free?
Personal policies pay benefits tax-free, since premiums come from taxed income. Company-paid arrangements differ.
How do I make income protection affordable?
Lengthen the deferred period to match employer sick pay or savings, cover essentials rather than full lifestyle, and compare insurers — pricing varies widely.