Royal London has introduced a series of enhancements to its income protection proposition, adding new features designed to provide broader support for customers through significant life events beyond traditional incapacity claims.

The mutual said the changes are built around three priorities: supporting families, demonstrating clearer value and improving financial resilience. Developed with adviser input, the enhancements are intended to help advisers have more relevant protection conversations while making cover easier for customers to understand.

New features include support for serious child illness, bereavement and hospitalisation, a 3-month post-redundancy grace period, sabbatical cover, a protected benefit promise of up to 10% and a fixed death benefit. Royal London said the changes are designed to provide targeted support during major life events that may not meet the criteria for a traditional income protection claim but can still have a significant financial impact.

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.”

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Jo Miller, managing director of the 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 key additions is the Child Illness and Loss Benefit, which Royal London said is intended to reflect the wider financial impact a child’s serious illness can have on a family.

Paul Roberts, propositions & distribution director at 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.”