Accident Only Income Protection

A monthly income from National Friendly if an accident stops you working. No medical questions at all, and cover can start paying as soon as 14 days after the accident.

Medical Questions Asked

£500–£6,000

Monthly Benefit Range

From 14 days

Shortest Deferred Period

Read this first: accidents only

This policy pays out if an accident stops you working. It does not cover sickness or unemployment. Most long-term absence from work in the UK is caused by illness rather than injury, so for most people a standard income protection policy is the better answer. This one exists for the cases where that is not available, not affordable, or not what is wanted, and it is our job to tell you honestly which of those you are in.

What Is Accident Only Income Protection?

Accident Only Income Protection replaces part of your income if you can't work because of an accident. You choose a monthly benefit between £500 and £6,000, up to a maximum of 70% of your earnings, and it is paid for up to one, two or five years per claim depending on the benefit period you pick.

National Friendly define an accident as an event causing bodily injury while the policy is in force, where the injury is caused directly and solely by accidental, violent, external and visible means with no other contributing cause. In plain terms there normally has to be an impact. Two things are covered without one: complete muscle, tendon or ligament tears requiring surgery (Grade 3 injuries) and joint dislocations.

There is no medical underwriting. You are not asked a single health question, there is no medical to attend, and nothing is excluded because of your history — which is what makes cover reachable for people who have found standard income protection difficult, slow or expensive to get.

Can You Take It Out?

National Friendly's conditions at the point the policy starts:

Aged 18 to 59

Your age when the policy starts. You then choose an end date on any birthday between 50 and 70.

Working 16+ Hours a Week

Employed or self-employed, at least sixteen hours a week.

Living and Working in the UK

The Channel Islands and the Isle of Man are not included. If you are in Jersey or Guernsey, talk to us about the cover that is available there instead.

Registered With a UK Doctor

With access to at least your last two years of medical records. Your records are not used to underwrite the policy — they matter at claim.

A UK Bank Account

Premiums are collected monthly by Direct Debit.

The Four Choices That Shape It

These decide both the cover and the cost. We will show you what each one is worth before you commit to it.

Up to 70% of your earnings. Set it against the bills that still have to be paid rather than against your whole salary. If you choose the five-year benefit period the most you can cover is £2,000 a month.

The maximum time the benefit is paid for each claim. The clock resets for a new, separate claim. A longer benefit period costs more, and it is what protects you against an injury that keeps you off work for a long stretch rather than a few months.

How long after the accident before the benefit starts paying: 14, 30, 60, 90, 180 or 365 days. Match it to what you already have. If your employer pays sick pay, wait until that stops; if you are self-employed, 14 days is usually the point money actually runs short. A shorter deferred period costs more.

Usually the age you expect to stop working. Premiums are due up to that date, apart from while a claim is being paid.

Included as Standard

Nothing to Pay While You Claim

Your premiums are waived for as long as the benefit is being paid.

Proportionate Benefit

If you go back to work but earn less than you did because of the accident, a reduced benefit can continue rather than stopping outright.

Contingency Benefit

Where earnings cannot be evidenced at claim, a benefit of up to £500 a month for up to 12 months can still be paid.

Friendly GP+

24/7 virtual GP consultations, prescriptions, fit notes and physiotherapy support, at no extra cost.

Friendly Dentist

Access to virtual dental appointments, also included as standard.

Earnings Protection

Up to £3,000 a month of your benefit can be protected against a fall in your earnings after the policy starts, by sending National Friendly proof of what you earned at the outset.

Options You Can Add

Covers a list of specified bone fractures graded Minor, Moderate or Major, paying £1,000, £2,000 or £3,000 depending on the grade. Paid as a lump sum by bank transfer once the evidence is in, and separate from the monthly benefit.

A lump sum equal to one, two or five years' worth of your main benefit — matching your benefit period — if you die as a result of an accident within 30 days of it.

Some leisure activities are covered as standard. This adds cover of £500 to £2,000 a month for accidental injuries sustained doing the activities on National Friendly's enhanced hazardous pursuits list (£500 a month on a five-year benefit period). Worth adding if you do any of them regularly — ask us and we will check the list against what you actually do.

Your cover rises each year so inflation does not quietly erode it. Your premiums rise alongside it to pay for the higher level of cover. We will show you the figures both ways.

Premiums Are Reviewable, Not Guaranteed

This is the trade for asking no medical questions, and it is worth understanding before you buy. There are two premium shapes:

Level reviewable — your payment stays the same for the first three years, then is reviewed. Reviews look at claims experience for the product as a whole, not at your own claims.

Age-costed reviewable — your payment starts lower and rises each year as you get older, and is reviewed on the same basis as well.

Either way, what you pay is not fixed for the life of the policy and can go up. A review can move premiums down as well as up, but you should plan on the basis that they may rise.

How It Compares

A summary to show where each product sits. Full terms, limits and exclusions are in the policy conditions and key facts document, which we go through with you before anything is arranged.

Standard income protection covers illness as well as accident — illness being the more common reason for long-term absence — and can pay right up to your chosen retirement age rather than for a capped period. It is medically underwritten, so it takes longer to arrange and your health history affects both the price and the terms. Where you can get it, it is usually the stronger cover, and premiums can often be guaranteed rather than reviewable.

Friendly Shield is also from National Friendly and also asks no medical questions, but it covers illness and accident and pays for up to three months per claim. This policy covers accidents alone and pays for up to one, two or five years. Friendly Shield can be bought online in a few minutes; Accident Only Income Protection is arranged through an adviser.

General personal accident policies mostly pay fixed lump sums for specified injuries. This pays a monthly income for as long as the accident keeps you off work, up to your chosen benefit period, which is what actually stands in for a wage. You can add fracture lump sums to it as well.

Common Questions

Correct — the policy is not underwritten and there are no medical questions on the application. That is the trade being made: because your health is never assessed, sickness is not covered at all and cover is limited to injuries meeting the accident definition.

An event causing bodily injury while the policy is in force, where the injury is caused directly and solely by accidental, violent, external and visible means with no other contributing cause — so there normally has to be an impact. Grade 3 muscle, tendon or ligament tears requiring surgery, and joint dislocations, are covered even without one.

This policy will not pay. That is worth sitting with before you buy: if illness is the risk you are most worried about, we should be looking at standard income protection or Friendly Shield instead, and we will say so.

No. Premiums are waived for as long as your benefit is being paid, then resume when the claim ends.

Yes, and it is sometimes the right answer — accident-only cover underneath a shorter illness policy, for instance. Benefit limits apply across your total cover, so we look at the whole picture rather than each policy on its own.

Benefits from an income protection policy you arrange and pay for personally are normally paid tax-free. We will confirm the tax treatment of whatever we recommend before you decide.

Why Baker Hudson Health?

Independent & Regulated

FCA authorised. We work for you, not the insurers: impartial advice with no exceptions.

We Explain the Small Print

No hidden clauses, no jargon. We walk you through your policy in plain English until every question is answered.

Built on Trust & Honesty

Baker Hudson Health was founded on solid relationships. We do all the work on your behalf: your interests always come first.

Find Out What It Would Cost

We will price Accident Only Income Protection next to standard income protection, so you can see the difference in cover and in cost side by side before you decide anything.

Baker HudsonHealth