UK Income Protection Calculator — Methodology

Last verified 5 May 2026 against HMRC SSP guidance and ABI income protection standards. Calculator at /uk/insurance/income-protection-calculator/.

What this calculator does

Estimates the monthly benefit needed from an income protection policy, after subtracting Statutory Sick Pay (£123.25/week in 2026/27), employer sick pay, and any group income protection benefits, capped at industry-standard percentages of earnings.

The formula

netMonthlyIncome = take_home_monthly

Outgoings = essentialBills + minimumDebtPayments

ssp = £123.25 × 52 / 12 = £534.08 / month
      (paid for up to 28 weeks)

After SSP / employer sick pay expires:
  shortfall = netMonthlyIncome - sspAfterTax
            - employerLongTermSickPay

recommendedBenefit = min(shortfall,
                         netMonthlyIncome × industryCapPct)

Industry caps typically:
  60-70% of pre-tax salary as a benefit
  (set by insurer, not by HMRC)

Authoritative sources

• Statutory Sick Pay (gov.uk)
• Statutory Sick Pay rates and thresholds
• ABI — income protection insurance
• MoneyHelper — income protection

Assumptions and limitations

• SSP rate of £123.25/week is the 2026/27 statutory figure and assumes the user qualifies (LEL met, employed not self-employed).
• Self-employed users get no SSP — set sspAfterTax = 0.
• Industry cap is informational; insurers set their own caps (typically 60% of gross, sometimes including employer pension).
• Deferred period (4, 8, 13, 26, 52 weeks) affects premium and replacement timing but is not modelled in sizing.
• Does not model means-tested benefits (Universal Credit, ESA) — these may further reduce the gap.

Source data

The rates used by this calculator are exported as machine-readable CSVs:

• SSP rate 2026/27 /data/ssp-rate-2026-27.csv

These CSVs regenerate automatically from our canonical rate data at every build, ensuring the calculator output and the published rate data stay in sync.

Verification log

• 5 May 2026: SSP weekly rate verified at £123.25 against gov.uk; max duration confirmed at 28 weeks