A survey of 2,000 people carried out for the friendly society in October found that just 14% of UK adults who are working full time have IP. Those aged 25-34 are most likely to have cover at 20%, closely followed by 35-44-year-olds at 18%. Some 14% of 18-24-year-olds have IP, but this falls to 10% in the 45-54 age group. Just 7% of those aged 55-64 have a policy in place.

Worryingly, the survey found many of these workers are unaware of what other financial support is available if they become unable to work due to illness or injury. Some 69% of full-time workers reported they did not know how much statutory sick pay was, and when told the current amount is £118.75 per week for a maximum of 28 weeks, more than a quarter (27%) said this was less than they had thought.

Further, while 45% of employees said their employer offers sick pay beyond the statutory minimum, more than a third (34%) said theirs does not, while 21% don’t know what they are entitled to.

This is despite the fact almost a quarter of workers (22%) have at some point been too ill or injured to work and didn’t receive their usual earnings during that period. For 41% of those, the drop in income lasted between one and three months, though for 10% this stretched to between three and six months.

Phil Nash, Chief Sales Officer at Shepherds Friendly, said: “It’s well-known that Income Protection is underutilised, but it is concerning that so many workers are uninformed about the other financial safety nets available if they are unable to work, whether from the government or their employer.

“Those who’ve experienced a drop in earnings will know how devastating this can be to their finances and the effects can be much longer lasting than the illness or injury itself.”

The survey also found that those most likely to need IP are among the least protected. Workers in high-risk occupations, such as physically demanding work (athletes, dancers, etc.) and manual jobs (labourers, warehouse workers, etc.) have some of the lowest levels of coverage.

Relatively few workers in other jobs requiring a physical presence have IP, for example, skilled trades and healthcare and emergency services workers. Those in office-based roles (and therefore more likely to be able to work from home, even if temporarily) tend to have much higher levels of coverage.

Nash added: “It’s concerning that the occupations where people are most likely to have to take time off if they are ill or injured seem to be those where people are least protected. Businesses that want to improve the financial resilience of their employees would do well to consider providing some type of education on the benefits Income Protection can provide. Some may even want to consider adding it to their employee benefits package as the peace of mind this provides employees can be priceless.”