World Cancer Day, which was on 4 February, aims to raise awareness of the condition and promote its prevention, detection, and treatment. It also highlights the advances that have been made in treating cancer, which means millions have survived the condition and gone on to enjoy a long and fulfilling life.
This is of course good news, although it’s important to remember that recovering from cancer treatment can take time, which in turn could have implications for your financial security. The same can be said of any serious illness of course, if you’re off work for an extended period as you get better.
While you may assume Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) will allow you to maintain your lifestyle, the reality could be very different. This is why setting up financial protection that provides an income or lump-sum that you can live off is likely to be a very shrewd idea.
Read on to discover more about financial protection and why it may need to form a central part of your financial strategy. Before you do though, we need to take a closer look at Statutory Sick Pay.
Employers may not pay you if you’re too ill to work
While some employers may pay you if you’re off work due to an illness, there is no legal obligation for them to do so. Where employers do pay, the amount you receive often drops significantly after a certain period of time, for example, three or six months.
If you’re employed, you can claim Statutory Sick Pay (SSP), although in the 2025/26 tax year the amount you will receive is only £118.75 a week, and is payable for a maximum of 28 weeks. As such, you could receive up to £3,325, which probably isn’t going to be enough for you to meet your financial obligations.
This means relying on SSP alone could be something you bitterly regret, if you’re unable to work due to a serious illness or accident. Worse still, you may be forced to rely on your savings or investments to meet your financial commitments, which could deplete them much more quickly than you think.
This, in turn, could create significant amounts of stress for you at a time when you’re trying to relax and recover from an operation or illness, which may impede your recovery. You may even be forced to return to work before you’re fully recovered, due to financial necessity.
You may be able to protect your income during a serious illness
An income protection policy could provide you with an income if you’re diagnosed with a serious illness and are unable to work. This type of policy is designed to pay out a tax-free monthly amount to help maintain your standard of living, and usually a percentage of your normal gross salary. This is typically between 50- 70%.
There is usually a deferment period before you receive any payments, which is often set as three or six months, although this can be as short as one month. The longer the deferment period, the less expensive the premiums will be.
This means that if your employer pays your full salary for three months, for example, you could set your deferred period for the same amount of time to ensure there is no break in your income. Income protection plans are available as either short-term policies, which could provide cover for a set period of time, such as 1, 2 or 5 years, or long-term policies that could pay out until retirement.
If you’re well enough to return to work before the policy ends, or before you reach retirement, the payments will cease.
Critical illness cover may help with the cost of treatment
While income protection could help you to maintain your standard of living without depleting your savings or investments, it may not provide enough money to cover the cost of private treatment. If you have critical illness cover (CIC), on the other hand, it could be used to fund private medical care so that you can return to work more quickly.
This is because CIC provides a lump sum upon the diagnosis of certain serious illnesses and is often paid tax-free. As a result, having CIC, in addition to income protection could allow you to receive treatment much more quickly, and provide financial peace of mind while you recover.
As such, you wouldn’t need to rush back to work before you’re fully recovered due to financial pressure. Alternatively, the CIC could be used to pay for alterations to your home if needed. Because CIC pays a lump sum on the diagnosis of specific illnesses that are detailed within the policy, it’s important to understand what’s covered and what isn’t.
That said, CIC typically covers cancer, heart attack (of specified severity) and strokes.
It’s not only the breadwinner that may need protection
While you might think it only needs to be the main income earner that needs financial protection, there are other factors to consider. For example, if your spouse or partner looks after the children, your childcare costs may skyrocket if they’re diagnosed with a serious illness and are unable to care for them.
This is why considering protection for them as well might be a shrewd financial move. Similarly, if your child is diagnosed with a serious illness and you take time off work to care for them, your employer is not obliged to pay you.
That’s why taking financial protection for your children could be a wise decision, as it could provide the funds you need to cover the loss of income while you look after your child. What you may not realise though, is that many insurance providers offer children’s cover at no extra cost if you take out CIC for yourself.
Another important way the payment could be used is to cover travel or accommodation costs if the child is receiving specialist care some distance away.
Get in touch
As you can see, having financial protection in place means you can rest easy, knowing that whatever happens to you or your family, you’ll be able to deal with the financial consequences. That said, it’s important to remember that the cover provided and cost of the premiums will depend on several different factors, including your age, health and profession.
Furthermore, CIC providers may cover different illnesses and specify differing levels of severity before the policy pays out. This is why you should always speak to a financial adviser to ensure the policy you’re considering is right for you and your family, and that it represents value for money.
If you would like to discuss this further, please contact us on 0333 010 0008 and we’d be happy to arrange a no-obligation initial meeting with one of our independent financial advisers.
4 February 2026