Royal London enhances income protection to better support modern working lives

Royal London has enhanced its income protection offering, introducing new features designed to better reflect how people live and work today and to help advisers have more confident, relevant conversations about protection.

Built around three priorities, stronger support for families, clear and tangible value, and improved financial resilience, the changes aim to make cover easier to understand, more relevant to modern working and family lives, and more trusted when it matters most.

Developed in partnership with advisers and shaped by real customer needs, the enhancements introduce targeted, event-based support alongside traditional cover. These features are designed to support people through significant life moments that may not trigger a traditional claim but still have a financial and emotional impact.

The new features include:

• Support for serious child illness, loss and hospitalisation
• A three-month post-redundancy grace period
• Sabbatical cover
• A protected benefit promise up to 10%
• A fixed death benefit

Together, these changes provide greater clarity and consistency at claim stage, helping to reduce ambiguity, support fairer outcomes for customers, and strengthen Royal London's ability to pay more income protection claims.

Fi Wynn, Head of Protection Proposition at Royal London, said:

"People's lives and working patterns have changed, and protection needs to evolve with them.

"Our income protection enhancements broaden the role protection can play, going beyond traditional definitions of incapacity. They provide meaningful support for families, even more value for customers, and greater resilience in real-life situations.

"Designed with advisers, these changes are straightforward to explain, easy for clients to understand, and focused on delivering fair, consistent outcomes when it matters most."

Jo Miller, Managing Director, Income Protection Task Force, said:

"It's encouraging to see an insurer thinking more carefully about the moments in people's lives that don't fit neatly into a traditional claim definition. Redundancy, a seriously ill child or a career break are exactly the kinds of situations where people feel financially exposed and often don't realise that protection can help.

"We believe that when features such as these are included in advice conversations, they encourage growth in the market and develop trust with customers."

One of the most notable innovations within the enhancements is the Child Illness and Loss Benefit, which reflects the growing need to support families through a wider range of life events.

Paul Roberts, Propositions & Distribution Director, CIExpert, said:

"Too often, income protection has been viewed solely through the lens of replacing an adult's lost earnings when they are unable to work. Royal London's Child Illness and Loss Benefit challenges that thinking by recognising a reality many families face that a child's serious illness can be every bit as financially disruptive as a parent's illness. When a child becomes seriously ill, parents need the freedom to focus on their child's care and recovery, not the added worry of how they will manage financially if they need time away from work.

"Child Illness and Loss Benefit is one of the most significant innovations we have seen in income protection for many years because it reframes the purpose of parental income protection beyond the policyholder and acknowledges the wider impact serious illness can have on a family. At a time when the market rightly focuses on customer outcomes, this is a tangible example of a provider listening to the realities of modern family life and designing support around the challenges families actually face."

By focusing on clearly defined triggers and practical support, Royal London aims to build greater trust in protection while helping advisers address real-life client needs with confidence.

These enhancements form part of Royal London's ongoing commitment to improving customer outcomes, increasing product relevance, and supporting long-term financial wellbeing. They follow the occupational class review announced in April 2026.