Statutory sick pay changed in April 2026: what it still doesn’t cover
If you have ever asked "what happens to my pay if I can't work for six months?", the honest answer in the UK has always been: less than you think. On 6 April 2026 the state safety net got better at the edges. It did not get bigger in the middle, and that distinction matters if you are deciding whether you need cover for illness rather than death.
What changed on 6 April 2026
The first stage of the Employment Rights Act 2025 reforms to statutory sick pay (SSP) took effect in April 2026. According to Acas and GOV.UK, two barriers were removed:
- The waiting days went. SSP is now payable from the first day of sickness absence, instead of from day four.
- The lower earnings limit went. Previously you had to earn at least a minimum weekly amount to qualify. Lower-paid and part-time employees who were previously excluded can now claim.
Those are real improvements, particularly for people on low or irregular hours. But look at what did not change.
What SSP still pays, and for how long
Employees now receive the lower of two figures: the flat weekly rate of £123.25, or 80% of their average weekly earnings. It is paid by your employer for a maximum of 28 weeks per period of absence.
Put plainly, a flat rate of £123.25 a week is a small fraction of most people's take-home pay. It will not cover a typical rent or mortgage payment, let alone food, bills and childcare on top. If you earn enough that the flat rate is the lower figure, the 80% rule never comes into play.
SSP also stops at 28 weeks. A serious illness, a major operation with a long recovery, or a mental health condition can easily run past that. After it ends you may be moved onto benefits that are means-tested, which is a very different safety net from one that tracks what you used to earn.
Who gets nothing at all
SSP is an employees-only scheme. The self-employed are not eligible, and neither are most company directors who are not on a PAYE payroll as employees. If you freelance, contract through your own limited company or run a sole-trade business, your income stops the day the work does, and the April reform changed nothing for you.
That is why searches and forum threads on this topic tend to come from freelancers and contractors asking whether income protection is worth it. On sites run by insurers and brokers the answer is, unsurprisingly, usually yes, so treat that advice as the seller's view and work through the arithmetic yourself.
Where employer sick pay fits in
Many employers pay more than the statutory minimum. Contractual or occupational sick pay can be full pay for some weeks or months, then half pay, then nothing, and the schedule is in your contract or staff handbook rather than on GOV.UK. Whether you have that, and how long it lasts, is the most important fact to establish before you decide on any cover.
It is the same logic as death in service: an employer benefit is a useful floor, but it is tied to the job, can change, and usually ends the day you leave.
What income protection actually does
Income protection is a different product from life insurance. Instead of paying a lump sum on death, it pays a regular monthly income if illness or injury stops you working, after a waiting period you choose, for as long as the policy defines. The usual structure is a benefit set as a share of your income rather than the full amount, so there is still a reason to return to work. The key choices are:
- The waiting period (deferred period). A longer wait before payments start lowers the premium. Matching it to how long your savings or employer sick pay would last is the standard way to choose.
- The benefit length. Some policies pay for a limited term, such as one or two years per claim, while others can pay until retirement age. Longer cover costs more.
- How "unable to work" is defined. Own-occupation wording is generally more favourable than a test of whether you can do any job at all, so read the definition before the price.
None of the above is a recommendation of a particular insurer. The point is that income protection answers a question that neither life insurance nor SSP does: what pays the bills while you are alive but unable to earn.
How it relates to critical illness cover
Critical illness cover pays a lump sum if you are diagnosed with a condition on the policy's list. Income protection pays a monthly amount for as long as you cannot work, whatever the cause that meets its definition. They overlap but are not substitutes. A condition that is not on the critical illness list, or a long recovery from something that is, is the kind of case where income protection responds and a lump sum may not.
A practical way to size the gap
Work through it in four steps:
- Write down your essential monthly outgoings: housing, bills, food, transport, childcare, debt repayments.
- Subtract what you would still receive: SSP (up to £123.25 a week if you are an employee), contractual sick pay from your employer, a partner's income, and any benefits you could realistically claim.
- Look at how many months of that shortfall your savings could cover.
- If the gap is large or the savings run out before the sick pay does, that is the shortfall income protection is designed for.
For the death side of the same household maths, see how much life insurance you need, and for typical prices on the life cover side see how much life insurance costs.
Frequently asked questions
Try the calculator here to size the life cover side of the picture.