Make an Income Protection claim

No. Your Income Protection policy is designed to pay you a monthly income if you’re unable to work and can’t perform your own occupation due to illness or injury.

Your policy isn’t designed to cover you if you elect to stop working through choice. It must be due to an illness or injury which prevents you from working, as defined in your policy terms and conditions.

If you have more than one occupation, we will assess all of them when you make a claim.

Stress including work related stress, isn’t defined as an illness in its own right for the purposes of your policy. However, it can lead to symptoms or conditions which may prevent you from performing the main duties of your own paid occupation. That’s why it’s important that we assess your claim fully, fairly and in receipt of medical evidence from your GP to ensure we can provide the right outcome based on your individual circumstances.

If you are experiencing stress and need some additional support or guidance, we can help. Zurich Support Services offers easy access to free, confidential support, whenever you need it. The services available include short term counselling with fully qualified and experienced (BACP, UKCP accredited) counsellors, along with a range of other options designed to help when you need it most.

You can find more useful resources, including access to external agencies and organisation designed to help on our website.

Your Income Protection claim is paid based on your inability to work resulting in a loss of income, If you return to work in any capacity this will impact your claim. However if you return to work on a limited basis (for example on reduced hours), or to a different occupation, you may still be entitled to continue receiving a proportion of your benefit. You can contact our claims team to discuss how this will impact your claim or refer to your policy terms and conditions.

Timescales can vary, especially if we’re dependent on 3rd parties such as your GP or medical professional for information needed to assess your claim.

The more information we have upfront, the faster we can assess your claim, so making sure you provide as much detail as early on as possible, the better. If we accept your claim, we will waive your premiums in line with your policy terms & conditions.

If you’re self-employed we’ll need:

• Copies of your most recent tax return and accounts
• Copies of any fit notes or medical certificates relating to the period you were unable to work, or which relate to your condition or symptoms
• Copies of any medical letters or reports relevant to your claim
• Details of any additional income you may be receiving from other sources
• Details of any claims you are making with other insurance companies

If you’re employed we’ll need:

• Your last 3 month’s wage slips prior to the period you were unable to work
• A current wage slip showing any continuing income, such as sick pay
• Your last P60 issued before the period you were unable to work or your P45 (if you’ve since left your employment)
• A copy of your employment contract if you’ve become unable to work in the first 12 months of a new job
• Copies of any fit notes or medical certificates relating to the period you were unable to work, or which relate to your condition or symptoms
• Copies of any medical letters or reports you or your employer have received which are relevant to your claim
• Details of any additional income you may be receiving from other sources
• Details of any claims you are making with other insurance companies

We’ll explain how you can provide these documents when we call to discuss your claim.

We’ll need to obtain medical information to support your claim from your GP, consultant or treating medical professional.

To help gets things moving please send us copies of any medical reports, in or out-patient assessments, fit notes etc. upfront. The quicker we can get this information, the faster we can assess your claim and pay any benefit’s you may be entitled to.

It may be necessary for us to contact your employer, the Department for Work and Pensions, or any other insurance company that you have made a claim with. This ensures we have a more complete picture in order to fully and accurately assess your claim.

We may also ask your employer for any other information that is relevant to assess your claim, for example your job description.

We’ll generally ask for your consent to obtain medical information from your GP or treating consultant and we’ll use this information to assess your claim.

After we’ve received these medical reports we may ask you to have an independent medical examination.

An independent examiner can help us reach a fair decision for your claim and may also be able to suggest further investigations or treatment that could ease your symptoms or speed up your recovery.

If this is necessary we’ll supply the independent examiner with copies of any medical reports we’ve received from your doctor or hospital consultant, or both, so the examiner has details of your medical history before conducting the examination.

It may be appropriate to supply your doctor, or any other insurance company who are also considering a claim for you, with a copy of the examiner’s report.

We’ll  meet the cost of obtaining any medical reports or independent medical assessments required to assess your claim.

There are a range of different benefits you may be able to claim for depending on the options and additional cover selected.

We’ll explain what additional evidence we’ll need based on the benefit being claimed for, when we call to discuss your claim.

If your policy begins PR you can write to us at: Zurich Assurance, Protection Operations, PO Box 4157, Swindon, SN4 4QB.

If your policy doesn't begin PR, please use this address instead to make sure we get your correspondence to the right place, first time. Zurich Assurance - InForce Claims, Unity Place, 1 Carfax Close, Swindon, SN1 1AP.

If you’re experiencing financial difficulty there are a range of support mechanisms available to help, including access to Zurich Support Services.

If you’re experiencing financial difficulty there are a range of support mechanisms available to help, including access to

It’s free and completely confidential, available 365 days a year, 24 hours a day. To find out more simply download our brochure.

You can also find more information about benefits and support available if you’re temporarily unable to work because of sickness at MoneyHelper and Citizens Advice.

• Zurich Support Services leaflet (582.6 KB/PDF)

Timescales can vary and will be heavily influenced by the time it takes to obtain assessment critical information from 3rd parties such as your GP, medical professional, or your employer.

Notifying us of your claim as soon as you’re unable to work and providing us with as much information as you can upfront, is always helpful.

As a general rule of thumb you'll need to maintain your regular premiums as normal, pending assessment of your claim.

When we call you to discuss your claim we’ll explain what happens and agree next steps, including what will happen with your direct debit.

We’re committed to providing you with the highest possible level of service. If you feel we've not delivered this, let us know so we can act quickly to put things right. To do this, please complete our online complaint form. If the policy number starts with 'PR' please use the life protection online complaint form.

If you need any further help please visit:

• Life insurance, pensions and investments complaints page