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But they might not be the most suitable insurer for you, so do your homewpork before you apply and don’t take my word s gospel
Because the insurer you apply to first can affect what options you have after that. If they load your premium or adds exclusions, that decision will follow you to the next insurer.
That’s why comparing properly before applying matters.
It’s highly likely that when you were a kid, your Ma or Da told you to work hard, get a good job and you’d be sorted.
But sometimes things go wrong.
You can do everything right and still get sick or injured.
The problem isn’t just the illness.
It’s what happens next.
Your income stops but everything else doesn’t.
Mortgage and bills and food and bills and clothing and more bills.
It’s hard to keep you head above water unless you have income protection in place.
That’s what brings most people here.
Income protection pays you a replacement income if you can’t work due to illness or injury.
You choose a waiting period (4, 8, 13, 26 or 52 weeks), and after that, the policy pays a monthly income until you’re back at work or the policy ends.
The average claim lasts about seven years.
That’s not a short-term problem.
Looking at those numbers, most people should at least consider income protection.
At lion.ie, we compare all five insurers:
Price varies depending on your age, job, health and how the policy is set up.
As a rough guide, a 40-year-old earning €45,000 with a 13-week deferred period might pay somewhere in the region of €40–€70 per month after tax relief.
But there’s an important catch.
👉 The price you see online is before underwriting.
Once you apply, insurers look at your BMI, occupation and medical history and that’s when the real terms are set.
That’s why two people with the same salary can get very different outcomes depending on the insurer they choose.
Most quotes are shown as:
If you pay 40% tax, your premium is effectively 40% cheaper.
If you want to see what this looks like for your own situation, use the calculator here:
👉 Try the Income Protection Calculator
You might be tempted to go for the cheapest quote.
That’s where people get caught.
Policies look similar, but they’re not identical.
And more importantly, insurers don’t assess risk the same way.
The same person can get very different terms depending on who they apply to.
Value Added Benefits
AvivaCare gives access to digital GP, second medical opinions and therapy support.
Key Features
Continuation option allows you to keep cover if you leave your employer.
Flexible structure allows you to adjust benefits over time.
Claims
Strong reputation for paying claims fairly and supporting clients through recovery.
Claims handled in Ireland with strong rehab support.
Royal London offers strong flexibility.
Notably:
Zurich offers strong rehab support and partial payments if returning to work gradually.
They also provide access to specialists and treatment support.
Strong for fluctuating income via Confirmed Income Option.
Good indexation value.
Includes LifeCare benefits and pension protection options.
For us, Aviva is usually the strongest overall.
But the right insurer depends on your:
Insurers don’t agree on what your job is “worth” from a risk point of view.
One might class you as low risk while another might bump you up a level and charge more for the exact same cover.
I’ve seen the same job priced three different ways across insurers.
That’s why where you apply first matters more than people think.
It won’t.
Some insurers are far stricter than others when it comes to medical history.
The same person can get different decisions from all 5 providers.
This is the big one.
The price you see online is based on perfect health.
Then you apply… and suddenly the premium jumps or exclusions appear.
Income protection is strictly underwritten so the real terms and price only show up once the insurer looks properly at your case.
You’ll be shown one option.
Convenient, but very limited.
Same issue.
That insurer can only sell you their own policy (whether it suits you or not)
This is where it starts to make sense.
You get access to all five insurers in Ireland, which means a much better chance of getting the right terms first time.
And with income protection, getting it right first time matters more than people realise.
More importantly, we’ll give you a very good idea of which insurer is likely to give you the best outcome before anything is formally submitted.
That avoids the classic mistake of applying blind and limiting your options.
If you want to get a feel for pricing:
If you’d rather get it done properly first time:
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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