Income protection is a type of life insurance which pays part of the lost income if unable to work because of a disability caused by illness or injury. income protection generally provides you with monthly payments that replace up to 70 percent of your monthly income.

Each applicant is assessed individually however some key features of income protection are:

• Replaces up to 70% of your gross income if you are unable to work due to injury or sickness.
• Mental illness can be considered for a payout depending on the insurer and pre-existing mental health-related conditions.
• Needlestick injury cover can be obtained for certain professionals working in the medical industry.
• The payout can be claimed for partial disability as well, allowing the insured to continue working a certain number of hours. This varies across each insurer.

Income protection generally finishes at around 65-70 years of age, depending on your occupation.

The benefit period is the amount of time you choose to receive payments from your insurer for. The longer the benefit period the higher the premium. The benefit period can range from 1 year to 70 years of age.

A waiting period is the amount of time you choose to wait to get paid after lodging your claim with your insurer. The reason different waiting periods exist is some people may have paid leave or savings they want to rely on if something were to happen before they receive payments from their insurer. The shorter the waiting period, the higher the premium. Waiting periods range anywhere from 14 days to 2 years.

Premiums depend on a number of factors such as age, occupation type, smoking status, pre-existing medical conditions, length of benefit period and length of waiting period.