A mortgage protects the roof over your head. Protection insurance protects the people underneath it. If your income stopped tomorrow, would your family manage? Would the mortgage still get paid? These aren’t easy questions, but they’re worth asking, and we’ll help you find honest answers.
At Saho Financial Services, we search the whole market for life cover, income protection, critical illness cover, and business protection. No pressure, no confusing jargon, just practical advice tailored to your situation. Read the FCA’s guidance on insurance advice if you’d like some independent background before we talk.
One of the biggest reasons people put off arranging protection is a nagging worry that insurers find ways not to pay. The figures tell a different story. UK insurers paid a record £8 billion in protection claims during 2024, roughly £21.9 million every single day, according to the Association of British Insurers. Of new individual claims made that year, 96.9% were paid, and the industry has paid out at least 97.9% of claims every year for the past decade.
Statutory Sick Pay currently sits at £123.25 a week, paid for a maximum of 28 weeks, and self employed workers aren’t entitled to it at all. Compare that with the average income protection claim, which paid out around £10,000 a year in 2024. That’s the sort of gap that catches families out, and it’s exactly what
protection insurance is designed to close.
Yet the FCA’s own research found that 54% of UK adults, around 29.2 million people, hold no protection product at all. Most people simply haven’t got round to it, not because they’ve weighed it up and decided against it.
Term cover, whole of life plans, and family income benefit, so the people who depend on you are looked after financially.
A lump sum paid out if you’re diagnosed with a serious illness covered by your policy, giving you space to focus on recovery rather than money.
A regular income if you’re unable to work due to illness or injury, so your bills keep getting paid even when your pay packet doesn’t arrive.
Cover for your property and belongings, often a condition of your mortgage offer, arranged properly from day one.
Cover built for rental property, including rent guarantee and legal expenses, so a difficult tenant doesn’t become a financial disaster.
Key person cover, shareholder protection, and relevant life plans, so your business can survive the loss of someone essential to it
Dan is a self employed electrician with a wife and two young children. He has no employer sick pay to fall back on if he’s injured on site. We arranged income protection with a short deferred period, so if Dan couldn’t work, a regular monthly income would start after a matter of weeks rather than months, keeping the household running while he recovered.
Priya and Tom had just taken out their first mortgage and knew they needed life cover, but weren’t sure how much or what type. After talking through their situation, we recommended a decreasing term policy roughly matching their mortgage balance, alongside a smaller level term policy to cover other family costs, giving them cover that actually matched their circumstances rather than a one size fits all figure.
Yes. We are authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. You can check our registration on the FCA Register using our FCA number, 920827. Being regulated means we are legally required to act in your best interests.
Workplace cover is a good starting point, but it usually ends the moment you leave your employer, and the level of cover may not match your actual needs. We’ll help you understand what you already have before recommending anything additional.
Most protection policies lapse if premiums stop, meaning cover ends. Statutory Sick Pay is only £123.25 a week for a maximum of 28 weeks, so it’s worth speaking to your provider or to us before cancelling rather than losing cover you might need. The Money and Pensions Service guidance has more on managing insurance costs.
In many cases, yes. Cover might come with exclusions or a higher premium, but plenty of insurers specialise in more complex health situations. We’ll help you find one that takes a sensible view of your circumstances.
