Quick answer · Updated August 2026
"Loss of earnings insurance" covers several different products. For earnings lost to illness or injury, the real answer is income protection (up to 65% of salary, tax-free, to retirement). Short-term ASU policies (accident, sickness, unemployment) cap at 12–24 months and — the honest part — their unemployment element is expensive, exclusion-heavy and rarely pays as people hope. Redundancy is otherwise essentially uninsurable privately.
The Map of "Loss of Earnings" Cover (August 2026)
| Product | Covers | Honest assessment |
|---|---|---|
| Income protection | Illness/injury, to retirement | The gold standard — see the provider ranking |
| ASU (accident, sickness & unemployment) | Short gaps, 12–24 months max | Sickness element OK; unemployment element exclusion-heavy |
| Mortgage payment protection (MPPI) | Mortgage payments only, short-term | Usually beaten on value by open-market IP |
| Redundancy-only cover | Involuntary job loss | Scarce, costly, excludes anything foreseeable at purchase |
What to Actually Buy
Statistically, illness is the earnings risk worth insuring — long-term sickness dwarfs redundancy in both frequency and duration, and it's the one insurers price fairly: start with income protection. For redundancy risk, the practical answer is an emergency fund: 3–6 months of expenses, unmatched by any ASU policy's value. If you do buy ASU for a short-term gap, read the unemployment exclusions before paying — "known risk" clauses void most claims made within months of purchase.
Frequently Asked Questions
Barely — private unemployment cover is limited to short-term ASU policies with strict exclusions (nothing foreseeable at purchase, waiting periods, 12–24 month caps). An emergency fund is the honest answer for redundancy risk.
Income protection — up to 60–65% of gross salary, tax-free, payable to retirement age on full-term policies. It is the only product that genuinely replaces a salary long-term.
Sometimes as a short-term bridge — but compare its sickness element against real income protection first, and treat the unemployment element sceptically: it is the most excluded, least-paid part of the product.