NHS sick pay typically covers 6 months full pay, then 6 months half pay, depending on your length of service. It’s a genuine safety net, just a temporary one. Income protection picks up exactly where that ends.
Income Protection for Doctors
Built around own occupation cover, so you’re protected for your specific role, not just any job.
1,125+ Clients Protected
FCA-Regulated Advice
15 Insurers Compared
A Process Built Around You
No generic sales pitch. A process designed around the career and future you’re working towards.
01
Your Enquiry
Takes 60 seconds. A specialist then calls to understand what you need help with and confirm we’re the right fit for you.
02
Your Consultation
A proper conversation about your goals and the future you’re building, early retirement, family security, the life you want. We’ll flag any gaps too, but this is about your plan, not just what could go wrong.
03
Your Recommendation
We research the market properly and come back with a recommendation shaped around where you’re headed. Happy to proceed? We handle the paperwork from there.
Why Doctors Choose Income Protection
01/
NHS Sick Pay Is Generous, But It Runs Out
02/
Locums and Private Practice Often Have No Safety Net at All
No employer usually means no sick pay. If you work as a locum, in private practice, or through your own limited company, income protection is often the only safety net you have if illness or injury stops you working.
03/
Your Training and Earning Power Are Hard to Replace
Years of medical school and specialist training built genuinely high earning potential. If illness or injury stops you practising, replacing that income in another field is extremely difficult, this cover exists to prevent that gap.
04/
"Own Occupation" Cover Matters More in Medicine
Cheaper policies only pay out if you can’t do any job at all. Own occupation cover pays if you can’t do your specific medical role, whether that’s surgery, patient contact, or your specialism, which matters far more to a doctor than most professions.
05/
The Job Carries Real Occupational Risk
High-pressure clinical environments, physical strain in surgical specialties, and antisocial hours all add up. Many policies also cover mental health conditions, though terms vary by insurer, so it’s worth checking what’s actually included.
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What Our Clients Say
Protection That Actually Pays Out
97.9% of individual protection claims were paid in 2025, with a record £209 million paid specifically for income protection (ABI/GRiD, 2026). Claims are rarely declined out of reluctance, it’s almost always incomplete disclosure at application, which is exactly why proper advice from the start matters.
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Why Doctors Choose Affinity Advice
We’re not just another comparison site. We specialise in income protection for doctors, and that changes everything.
How Insurers Assess Doctors
Insurers treat medical professionals differently depending on specialism and career stage. Getting cover right means understanding those differences, not just filling in a form.
1,125+ Clients Protected
Since 2022, we’ve helped over 1,125 clients put the right cover in place. That’s a genuine track record, not a sales pitch, built one properly understood case at a time.
With You for Your Career
We don’t just sell a policy and disappear. As your income grows and your life changes, we review your cover with you, so it always matches where you actually are.
A Panel of 15 UK Insurers
We’re not tied to any insurer, and no provider pays us more to be recommended. We search properly to find the policy that fits you, not the one that’s easiest to sell.
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Adam Surtees
Founder, Affinity Advice
About Us
I founded Affinity Advice because doctors kept falling through the same gap, stuck choosing between a faceless comparison site with no real guidance, or a generalist adviser who treated income protection as a sideline to pensions and investments. Nobody was building a service just for them.
We cut through the jargon, not corners. Since 2022, we’ve helped over 1,125 clients put the right cover in place, specialising exclusively in income protection for doctors, so you’re getting advice from someone who actually understands your career, not a generalist working through a checklist.
Everything is tailored to you, your speciality, your income, your goals. Because if people truly understood income protection, every one of them would have it.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What factors affect the cost of income protection for doctors?
Premiums depend on your age, health, and occupation risk, plus the level of cover (typically 60-70% of income) and your chosen deferred period. Longer deferred periods generally reduce cost. We compare options across a panel of 15 insurers to find the right balance for your budget.
Can I get income protection as a self-employed or locum doctor?
Yes. Self-employed and locum doctors often have little or no sick pay, which makes this cover especially valuable. We tailor your deferred period and cover level to match how you actually work, rather than applying a standard employed-doctor template.
What exclusions should doctors watch for in income protection?
Every policy has exclusions that vary by insurer, common examples include undisclosed pre-existing conditions or certain high-risk hobbies. As a doctor, it’s also worth checking how your specific role is defined. We go through your policy’s exclusions with you before you commit, so there are no surprises later.
What's the waiting period (deferred period) for income protection?
The deferred period, or waiting period, is how long you wait after stopping work before payments start, usually matched to when your sick pay ends. A longer deferred period generally means a lower premium. We help you choose the right balance for your circumstances.
Income protection vs critical illness cover, what's the difference?
Critical illness pays a one-off lump sum for specific serious conditions, insurers paid out £1.25 billion in critical illness claims in 2025 (ABI/GRiD). Income protection instead pays a monthly income for as long as you can’t work, covering a much wider range of illness or injury. Many doctors choose both.
Are income protection policies with mental health coverage available for doctors?
Many income protection policies cover mental health conditions, though terms vary by insurer, some apply exclusions for medical professionals specifically. Mental health accounted for 19% of individual income protection claims paid in 2025 (ABI/GRiD), so it’s worth checking exactly what’s covered before you commit.
You've Built the Career. Let's Protect the Plan.
Early retirement, family security, the life you’ve been working towards, none of it should rest on hoping nothing ever goes wrong. A proper conversation with a specialist who understands medicine is where that certainty starts.
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No-obligation. We don’t charge a fee for our services, we’re paid by the insurer if you go ahead.
