Zurich income protection review

Zurich income protection policies come with the following additional features (at no extra cost to you):

• Minimum benefit guarantee - If your income has reduced since the start of your policy, Zurich will pay you a minimum benefit amount of up to £1,500. You must be working at least 16 hours a week to qualify for this benefit
• Waiver of premiums - Zurich will cover the cost of your monthly premiums while you’re unable to work after 13 weeks of being incapacitated or after your deferred period ends (which ever happens first)
• Maternity, paternity and adoption benefit - Will allow you to claim while you’re on maternity, paternity or adoption leave. The amount you receive will be based on your income in the 12 months before your leave started
• House person benefit - If you’re not in employment when you become incapacitated you may be able to claim a house person benefit. This will pay you up to £1,500 per month. You must meet a certain definition to be able to claim this
• Doctors and surgeons’ package - The doctors and surgeons package comes with some features which specifically meet the needs of those in the medical profession

Those taking out a Zurich income protection select policy will have access to all the standard additional features as well as the following (at no extra cost):

• Family carer benefit - If you need to care for a spouse, partner or child, Zurich will pay out up to £1,500 for a maximum of 12 months. The person you are caring for will need to meet a certain definition in order for you to claim
• Trauma benefit - Up to £50,000 will be paid out to you alongside your monthly benefit if you suffer a specific trauma such as blindness, deafness, loss of hand or foot, loss of speech, paralysis of limb or loss of ability to live independently
• Hospital stay benefit - Zurich will pay out to you £100 per night if you’re admitted to hospital for 7 consecutive nights if you’re admitted for an illness or injury that occurs during your deferred period. This benefit will be paid for a maximum of 90 days across your policy term
• Needlestick benefit - Up to £50,000 will be paid out to you if you develop HIV, hepatitis B or hepatitis C as a result of an accident carrying out your usual work duties
• Funeral benefit - If you pass away while your policy is active, up to £10,000 will be paid out to your loved ones to help cover funeral costs

Features that come with the doctors and surgeons’ income protection include:

• Minimum benefit of £3,000 - If your income has reduced since the start of your policy, Zurich guarantee to pay out up to £3,000 per month for your monthly benefit. You must be working at least 16 hours per week to qualify
• NHS sick pay guarantee - This benefit is only available to those employed directly by the NHS and will help you to line up your deferred period to match with your NHS sick pay schedule

With either a Zurich income protection policy or Zurich income protect select policy you can choose to add the following for an additional fee:

• Multi-fracture cover - A lump sum of £2,000, £4,000 or £6,000 will be paid out if you suffer a fracture, dislocation, tendon, rupture or ligament tear. The amount paid out will depend on the location of the injury. This benefit can be used multiple times throughout the lifetime of your policy but a maximum of £6,000 can be paid out each year