Skip to content

Accident, sickness and unemployment insurance

Protect your salary with sickness insurance

  • Get a quote in under five minutes

  • Protect your mortgage or your salary

  • Choose from short-term or retirement cover

What is accident, sickness and unemployment cover?

Accident, sickness, and unemployment insurance (ASU) provides financial support to individuals who are unable to work due to illness or injury or are unexpectedly made redundant.

It’s a type of income protection insurance policy that pays you a tax-free proportion of your lost salary every month for a period of time over 12 or 24 months helping you get back on your feet.

With ASU you pay a modest premium each month, and if you fall ill, get hurt, or lose your job through no fault of your own, you and your outgoings will be covered – and you can use the money to pay your mortgage or keep your loved ones comfortable when you can’t work.

asu illustration

What is and isn't covered by ASU?

  • Tick

    What's covered?

    • Unemployment: When you lose your job through no fault of your own

    • Sickness: When you fall ill and are too sick to work

    • Accidents: When you are injured and unable to work

  • Cross

    What isn't covered?

    • Job loss: When you are fired from your position

    • Voluntary job loss: When you quit your job on your own

    • Pre-existing conditions: If you fall ill with a pre-diagnosed condition

Why compare income protection with MoneySuperMarket?

At MoneySuperMarket, our mission is to help easily find the great ASU cover at the right price:

  • Quick and simple

    MoneySuperMarket can help you quickly compare policies and prices from multiple insurers, making it easy to find a policy that fits your needs and budget.

  • Save money

    By comparing multiple policies together in one place you can easily find the right level of income protection cover for you at our cheapest premium.

  • Peace of mind

    You can purchase cover today providing financial security and peace of mind in case you are unable to work due to injury or illness.

Alternative types of income protection

There are three main types of income protection insurance to choose from:

Compare sickness protection quotes with MoneySuperMarket

  • Tell us about yourself

    Give a few details about the type of cover you need, some personal details, and employment.

  • We’ll search for tailored policies

    We’ll put together a list of policies matched to you, so you can easily compare price and features

  • Get covered

    Once you've found the policy that’s right for you, buy online or over the phone, with free impartial advice available.

ASU stands for accident, sickness and unemployment. It is a short-term insurance product which people take out in case unforeseen circumstances prevent them from working for a period, either due to injury, illness or redundancy. 

ASU is not tied to a particular debt or mortgage; instead it pays you a portion of your previous salary each month, which you can use for anything you like. 

ASU can be used to cover anything you like, including repayments on a mortgage or loan. So if you lose your job, you know you can keep up on your mortgage and keep your household going.

Yes, ASU covers you if you lose your job – provided it’s through no fault of your own. If you’re fired for something bad you’ve done, or if you leave the job without another one lined up, your policy most likely won’t pay out.

ASU is designed to cover involuntary redundancy – when you lose your job without warning. It won’t pay out if you take voluntary redundancy, and it doesn’t work if you are fired for misconduct.

ASU policies are available for people who are self-employed. You need to specify your employment status with your insurer, and the terms may be a little different to regular ASU, but self-employed ASU policies do cover you in the event you can’t work due to illness or injury.

Most ASU policies are short-term; they tend to pay out for 12 months – or 24 months in some circumstances. After this period, if you’re still too ill to work, the government should hopefully pick up the slack.

You can use your ASU payouts for anything you like, but there are specific income protection policies which are designed to cover your mortgage if you lose your job through no fault of your own. 

There are several things that aren't covered by an ASU policy. They include the following:

  • Losing your job immediately after you buy: Most policies have a waiting period to prevent fraudulent claims. So if you buy a policy knowing you're about to lose your job, you will find it hard to claim

  • If you've not been in your job long enough: You might find it hard to buy ASU if you've just started a new job

  • Various medical conditions: ASU policies exclude medical conditions you already know about, and they often don't let people claim if they're off work for stress or back pain

You work hard to earn your money, and we don’t think you should waste a penny of it paying over the odds on your household bills. That’s why at MoneySuperMarket, we’re on a mission to save Britain money.

  • Whip your credit score into shape with Credit Monitor

  • Super save over and over again with Energy Monitor

  • There are always more ways to save with MoneySuperMarket 

So how do we make our money? In a nutshell, when you use us to buy something, we get a reward from the company you’re buying from.

You might be wondering if we work with all the companies in the market, or if our commercial relationships with our partners might make us feature one company above another. We’ve got nothing to hide, and we want to give you clear answers when it comes to questions like these, so we’ve pulled together everything you need to know on this page.