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# Income Protection and Personal Accident Insurance
If you fall off a scaffold and break your back, your van payment still goes out. Your mortgage still goes out. Your CIS deductions don't help because you're not earning. Construction is one of the most physically demanding and dangerous industries in the UK, and most self-employed workers in it have zero safety net if they can't work.
Rule of thumb: no work means no money. If you can't survive 3 months without earning, you need a plan. Insurance, savings, or both.
You Don't Get Sick Pay
Self-employed workers get no Statutory Sick Pay. None. That benefit is for employees only.
If you're too injured or ill to work, your options are:
- Employment and Support Allowance (ESA): £92.05 per week if you're 25 or over (2025-26 rates). If you're placed in the Support Group (meaning your condition is severe enough that you're not expected to work), that rises to around £130-£140 per week. That's it. Try paying a mortgage and a van lease on £92 a week.
- Universal Credit: possible, but subject to the Minimum Income Floor after 12 months (see our UC guide).
- Your own savings.
- Income protection or personal accident insurance.
Options 1 and 2 barely cover food. Option 3 only works if you've actually saved. Option 4 is what this guide is about.
Income Protection Insurance
Income protection pays you a monthly amount if you can't work due to illness or injury. You choose the amount when you take out the policy, usually 50-70% of your normal earnings.
Typical cost: £10-£50 per month depending on your age, health, the amount covered, and your job. Construction workers pay more than desk workers because the risk is higher.
Key things to understand:
"Own Occupation" vs "Any Occupation"
This is the single most important thing in the policy.
- Own occupation: the policy pays out if you can't do YOUR job. A brickie who can't lay bricks gets paid, even if they could technically sit at a desk.
- Any occupation: the policy only pays out if you can't do ANY job. So that same brickie with a wrecked shoulder who could theoretically answer phones? No payout.
For anyone in construction, own occupation is the only policy worth having. It costs more. It's worth more.
Deferred Period
This is how long you wait before the policy starts paying. Options are usually 4 weeks, 8 weeks, 13 weeks, or 26 weeks. Longer wait = cheaper premium. But you need enough savings to cover the gap.
How Long It Pays
Some policies pay for 1-2 years. Others pay until retirement age. Short-term policies are cheaper but leave you exposed if you have a serious injury.
Tip for new starters: even a basic income protection policy that covers 12 months is better than nothing. If you broke your ankle tomorrow, could you survive 12 months without earning? If not, look into it.
Personal Accident Insurance
This is different from income protection. Personal accident insurance pays a lump sum or weekly benefit if you have a specific accident. Fall off a ladder, cut off a finger, break a leg.
It's cheaper than income protection but more limited. It doesn't cover illness. It doesn't cover conditions that develop over time (like a bad back from years of heavy lifting).
Typical cost: £5-£20 per month.
Construction-specific risks this covers:
- Falls from height
- Tool injuries
- Crush injuries
- Cuts and amputations
It's useful as a top-up alongside income protection, not as a replacement for it.
What About Your Existing Insurance?
Check what you've already got before buying new cover.
- Public liability insurance covers damage to other people and their property. It does NOT cover your own injuries or lost income.
- Employer's liability is for people who employ others. Not relevant here.
- Van insurance sometimes includes personal accident cover for road accidents only. Read the policy.
- Trade association membership sometimes includes a small amount of accident cover. Check with your federation.
Building an Emergency Fund
Insurance has its place, but cash in the bank is the simplest protection.
- 3 months of expenses is the minimum you should aim for. Rent or mortgage, van payment, tool finance, insurance, food, bills.
- 6 months is safer, especially in construction where injuries can take months to heal.
- Start small. £50 a week into a separate account. In a year that's £2,600. In two years, £5,200. That buys you time.
Tip for new starters: work out your monthly fixed costs right now. Write them down. That number is what you need to survive if the tools go down. Everything else is negotiable.
The Real Cost of No Cover
A brickie on £250 a day breaks their wrist. Recovery time: 8-12 weeks minimum.
- Lost earnings: £10,000-£15,000
- Van payment still due: £300/month
- Tool finance still due: £100/month
- Insurance still due: £150/month
- Mortgage or rent: £800-£1,200/month
That's £12,000-£18,000 in costs and lost income from one injury. An income protection policy costing £30/month would have paid out £1,500-£2,000/month during recovery.
Tax Relief on Premiums
Income protection premiums are NOT tax-deductible as a business expense. But the payouts are tax-free if you've paid the premiums yourself from post-tax income. That's the trade-off.
Personal accident insurance bought through your business may be an allowable expense. Check with your accountant.
Sources
- gov.uk, "Employment and Support Allowance rates 2025-26"
- HSE, "Construction industry accident statistics 2024-25"
- Association of British Insurers, "Income protection explained"
- MoneyHelper, "Income protection insurance"
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