If you’re looking at income protection, this is usually the first real question:
How much cover do I actually need?
Not what the insurer allows.
Not what looks good on a quote screen.
What you’d genuinely need to keep things ticking over if your income stopped.
Let’s break it down properly.
You can get an instant quote here:
👉 Try the Income Protection Calculator
It takes about 60 seconds and shows quotes from all 5 insurers in Ireland.
If you’d rather not guess your way through it, you can also send me your details here and I’ll come back with a proper recommendation.
In Ireland, you can cover up to:
👉 75% of your gross income
But there are a couple of important adjustments.
Your cover is reduced to take account of State Illness Benefit.
So in reality, you’re insuring:
75% of your income minus the state benefit
Example:
You don’t qualify for State Illness Benefit if you pay Class S PRSI.
So you can insure the full:
👉 75% of your income (or profits if you’re a sole trader)
Just because you can insure 75% doesn’t mean you have to.
The better question is:
What would your life look like if your income stopped?
You’re aiming for:
Not luxury.
Not worst-case panic mode.
Somewhere in the middle because you might be out of work for a while (the average income protection claim with Aviva is 7.8 years)
Some people are comfortable at 50–60% replacement income while others are willing to pay for the security of 75 %.
There’s no perfect number for everyone, just the right one for you.
If your quote looks high, these are the factors you can adjust to reduce your premium:
The most effective way to reduce cost is usually:
👉 Increase the deferred period
If your employer pays you for 6 months, there’s no need to pay for a 4-week deferred policy.
Similarly, if you have savings that would last for over a year, you should choose a 52 week deferred period.
36 year old
To insure €35,000 per year would cost roughly:
€60 per month (before tax relief)
After tax relief, that drops to around:
€36 per month
That’s protecting the majority of your income for around one euro per day.
The biggest mistake we see is this:
Someone gets a cheap quote online, applies for it… and then gets a nasty surprise.
The premium goes up or exclusions are added or the insurer doesn’t offer cover at all.
Why?
Because income protection is strictly underwritten.
The price you see online is based on perfect assumptions.
Once you apply, the insurer looks at:
And that’s when the real terms are set.
Different insurers assess risk differently so one might load your premium heavily, another might offer standard rates, and another might exclude a condition entirely.
Once you apply and get terms, that outcome doesn’t just disappear.
It can influence future applications with other insurers.
That’s why going direct or picking a random quote can backfire.
The safer approach is to check the market properly before applying.
We deal with all five insurers in Ireland and can usually tell you where you’re most likely to get the best terms — before anything is formally submitted.
—
You’ve got two good options:
👉 Use the calculator and get your own quotes
(Just be aware — the price you see initially isn’t always the final price once underwriting is complete.)
or
👉 Send me your details and I’ll come back with what I would do in your situation
Editor’s note: First published June 2017 | Fully rebuilt in April 2026 to reflect how income protection is actually priced and underwritten in Ireland today, including real-world pricing, tax treatment, and the risks of applying based on online quotes alone
Written by Nick McGowan, QFA RPA APA
Nick is a qualified financial advisor and founder of Lion.ie. He’s been helping people get income protection sorted properly for over 15 years.
If you’d like straight answers without the sales pitch, learn more here.
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As Ireland's leading life insurance broker, we specialise in comparing the rates and policies from the top five Irish life insurance providers and offering the very best value quotes to suit the individual needs of our clients. Our expertise lies in finding a suitable insurance plan for those with specific needs, be it a particular illness, occupation or claim history, we've got you covered in every sense!
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