Income Protection Insurance
Income Protection helps you feel confident in your family’s financial security.
- Comprehensive cover up to 75% of your income up to $10,000 a month
- Quick and easy to apply
- 5% off your premium with our multi-policy discount if you’re an existing Suncorp Insurance customer
What does Income Protection Insurance cover?
Income protection insurance provides with financial support if you are unable to work, for longer than the waiting period, due to sickness or injury. It offers regular monthly payments for a set period, helping you cover essential expenses such as bills, rent, or mortgage payments.
With Suncorp Income Protection Insurance, you can receive up to 75% of your pre-tax income, with a maximum benefit of $10,000 per month.
Key features & benefits
Maximum benefit amount
Choose a cover amount up to $10,000 a month or 75% of income*
Cover amount increases yearly in line with inflation and your premiums will adjust to reflect the increase
*75% of the average of the last 12 months’ pay at time of claim
Benefit period
Receive income payments for 6 months, 1 year, 2 years or 5 years – you choose!
Waiting period
Your choice of a 14, 28, 60 or 90 day waiting period before your benefit period starts.
Assistance returning to work
Partial benefits are paid to supplement earning capacity, to assist your return to work on claim benefit periods of 2 years or 5 years.
Recovery Support Benefit
If you are bed confined for longer than the waiting period, you may receive extra financial support for the first two months of the claim period. This could help cover expenses for childcare, nursing care, housekeeping, travel to medical appointments and more.
Cover for mental health and pre-existing conditions
Includes coverfor pre-existing medical and mental health1 related conditions, if you meet health assessment criteria.
Please see the PDS for further details.
Optional Add-On
Accidental Injury Benefit
Designed to help you and your family with the financial strain of accidental injury, this will backdate the benefit payment to the date of your accidental injury, if it results in:
- Being totally out of action for the duration of the claim waiting period
- Remaining totally out of action beyond the end of the claim waiting period and eligible to receive a benefit or partial benefit
- The total benefits paid on any claim is up to the maximum claim benefit period nominated on your policy. The Accident Benefit Option is available if you take out Income Protect Plus Cover with a 14 or 28 day claim waiting period.
What's Not Covered
No benefit will be payable if the sickness or injury is caused or contributed by:
Other exclusions may apply, including other specific exclusions agreed upon with you first and as listed in the policy schedule. Please see the PDS for further details.
How income protection can help you and your family
Once your income protection claim is approved, you can use your monthly benefit to help with any expenses or other needs, including:
Rent or mortgage payments
Bills and credit card repayments
Childcare and school fees
Everyday essentials like food, clothing, and petrol
Learn more about Income Protection Insurance
Calculate your income protection cover
Use the Income Protection calculator to help you get an indication of how much cover you may need
Why Suncorp Income Protection?
Australian residents
Australian residents aged 18 to 60 working 20 or more hours a week.
Quick and easy to apply
Apply online or over the phone with no medical exams required for Australian residents aged 18-60
Flexible for you
See how you can help tailor a policy to suit your needs, lifestyle and budget
Comprehensive cover
You can choose to insure up to 75% of your income, up to $10,000 a month with Income Protect Plus Cover
Extra support if you’re out of action
Receive a Recovery Support Benefit for up to two months if you’re confined to bed as a result of sickness or injury
Easy claims process
If you need to make a claim, a dedicated claims manager will make the process as stress-free as possible
Frequently Asked Questions
Income protection insurance pays a monthly, ongoing benefit in accordance with your policy’s waiting period and benefit period, while life insurance pays a lump sum payment if you pass away or are diagnosed with a terminal illness. The main purpose of income protection is to insure your income, not your life. Also, unlike life insurance, the cost of income protection insurance is generally tax deductible when taken out outside of superannuation, meaning you can claim the cost of the policy each year at tax time.
According to the Australian Tax Office (ATO), you may be able claim the cost of the premiums that you pay for your income protection insurance against the loss of your income. You also need to include payments you receive through your income protection insurance as income.
If you are considering the tax implication of purchasing and receiving benefits under Suncorp Income Protection, it is important you seek independent, professional taxation advice.
Most superannuation funds offer a range of insurance policies including life, total and permanent disability (TPD) and income protection insurance for their members. When you purchase an income protection policy through your super fund, you’re limited to the options your fund has made available (e.g. their specific waiting periods, benefit periods and age restrictions). Policies purchased through a super fund are also generally not tax deductible against your income.
You can have both workers compensation and income protection, however, if you receive a workers compensation benefit, this may reduce your income protection insurance benefit. This is because Income protection is designed to help cover your loss of income, but if you’re already being compensated for the loss of that income from somewhere else, such as workers compensation, this will be factored in and generally your Income Protection benefit will be reduced accordingly.
Yes, you are eligible to apply for income protection insurance if you’re self-employed. In calculating your benefit amount, your business expenses are excluded from your pre-tax earnings to calculate your personal income. Note that income paid from rental income, investment income, other disability income policies, retirement plans or lump sum disability payments are some examples of income we would generally not consider to be part of earnings. Please refer to the Product Disclosure Statement (PDS) for further information.
Income protection insurance is designed to provide cover against illness or injury that affects your ability to earn an income. A redundancy is a difficult time, but it is not related to your personal health. Suncorp income protection Insurance won’t cover you if you’ve been made redundant or lose your job due to unforeseen circumstances.
Our claims specialists will help you understand the claims process, explain what to expect for the assessment of your claim, and make the claim process as easy as possible for you. We require you to fill out a claim form and provide documentation in support of your benefit entitlement. Please contact us on 1300 618 255 as soon as you know you will be out of action for longer than your claim waiting period, to avoid delays in processing your claim.
When assessing your application, we consider various personal and lifestyle factors, including the sports and hazardous activities you engage in, and whether they are for recreation or performed professionally. Certain recreational sports and activities, such as soccer or football, may be covered without amendment or may require a higher premium rate (called a 'premium loading') to be charged. Alternatively, we might apply a longer waiting period on your policy for claims from injuries sustained while participating in that specific sport or activity. We will inform you of any loadings or amendments before you decide to purchase cover, and the impact these options have on your premium.
Insights and stories
How to apply for Income Protection Cover
Call the Suncorp Life Team
For help with a quote, contact the Suncorp Life team about Income Protection Insurance today.
Suncorp Life’s Commitment to the Life Insurance Code of Practice
Suncorp Life Insurance policies are issued by TAL, who played a key role in creating the Life Insurance Code of Practice. Suncorp Life is committed to delivering the best possible customer service standards. Suncorp Life will continue to look for ways to raise the standards of customer service now and over the years to come. Read more.
At TAL, we are committed to supporting our customers who may be experiencing vulnerability or have unique needs. Contact us or see how we can help if you are experiencing financial hardship or domestic and family violence.
1Cover for Mental Health Related Conditions commences 6 months after the Cover Issue Date, and no Benefit is payable for such conditions if they occur during the first 6 months of the cover issue date. Mental health claims are limited to a maximum of 2 years over the life of the policy or the policy’s claim benefit period, whichever is shorter.
^The ‘up to 10% discount’ offer is only available to customers who take out a quote and new Suncorp Income Protection or Life Insurance policy between 1st of April and 31st of July 2025. All eligible customers will receive a 5% discount automatically applied to their Suncorp Income Protection or Life Insurance premium for the life of the policy. Where an eligible customer is also an existing Suncorp customer who holds any other Suncorp branded insurance policy/ies such as home or car insurance, the 5% discount on premiums for Income Protection or Life Insurance will be automatically applied in addition to the standard 5% Existing Customer discount offered on Income Protection or Life Insurance. The two discounts combined amount to a total of 10% off Income Protection or Life Insurance premiums for the life of the policy.
Sickness or injury
Sickness: means an illness or disease that first manifests itself or is first suffered by the life insured after the cover commencement date or in the case of an increase to a benefit, after the commencement of the increase, and which is diagnosed by a medical practitioner. Injury: means an accidental bodily injury suffered by the life insured after the cover commencement date or in the case of an increase to a benefit or the addition of a benefit, after the commencement of the increase or benefit addition.
Out of action
Out of action: means the life insured is solely as a result of sickness or injury, as diagnosed by a medical practitioner and on his/her advice and in our opinion is: — unable to attend or engage in his/her usual occupation; — not working in or performing any occupation, whether income generating or not; and — under the regular care of and following the advice of a medical practitioner, including recommended courses of treatment
Australian residents
Australian residents aged 18 to 60 working 20 or more hours a week.
Waiting period
Operating Hours
Quotes and sales: Mon-Fri 8am-7pm, Sat 9am-4pm (AEST)
Customer service: Mon-Fri 8am-6pm (AEST)
Claims: Mon-Fri 8am-5:30pm (AEST)