Income Protection
Replace your income if illness or injury prevents you from working. The most undervalued insurance product.
Life insurance pays when you die. Critical illness cover pays when you are diagnosed with a serious condition. But what happens if you simply cannot work for six months, a year, or longer due to illness or injury? Your salary stops, but your mortgage, school fees, and family obligations do not. Income protection fills this gap — and it is the most undervalued insurance product in Africa.
The Income Gap
Most African employers provide limited sick pay — typically one to three months at full salary, then nothing. If you are self-employed or a business owner, there is no sick pay at all. Yet the average long-term disability claim lasts over two years. That is two years of mortgage payments, school fees, household expenses, and family obligations with no income to cover them.
Income protection insurance pays a monthly benefit — typically 50–75% of your pre-disability income — for as long as you are unable to work, up to a specified age (usually 60 or 65). It is the closest thing to a guaranteed salary when you cannot earn one yourself.
How Income Protection Works
You select a monthly benefit amount, a waiting period (the time between becoming unable to work and the policy starting to pay — typically 30, 60, or 90 days), and a benefit period (how long the policy will pay — typically to age 60 or 65).
If you become unable to perform your own occupation due to illness or injury, the policy pays the monthly benefit after the waiting period. The benefit is typically tax-free (depending on your jurisdiction) and continues until you recover, reach the end of the benefit period, or reach the specified age.
The longer the waiting period you choose, the lower the premium — because you are effectively self-insuring for the first 30, 60, or 90 days. If you have sufficient savings to cover three months of expenses, a 90-day waiting period can reduce your premium significantly while still protecting against the catastrophic scenario of long-term disability.
Why Offshore Income Protection?
The same currency argument applies here as with life cover. If your expenses include dollar-denominated school fees, an offshore mortgage, or regular international travel, you need your income protection benefit to be in a currency that matches those obligations.
International income protection policies also tend to have broader definitions of disability, fewer exclusions, and more generous terms than local African policies. The claims process is typically more straightforward, and the insurers have stronger financial ratings — meaning greater certainty that they will pay when you need them to.
Our Process
01
Income Assessment
02
Policy Design
03
Placement
04
Claims Support
Next step
Every strategy begins with a conversation. We would welcome the opportunity to understand your circumstances and show you what is possible.
Key Facts
50–75% of income
30–90 days
To age 60–65
USD, GBP, EUR
Often tax-free
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