Finder’s income protection insurance methodology

How we calculated our 2024 income protection awards.

What are the Finder income protection awards?

Finder's income protection awards is a ratings methodology that compares both price and features across 11 income protection policies. We got 170+ income protection quotes based on multiple profiles to determine the winners in 2024.

We use the final scores from our insurance awards to inform the top picks on our best income protection insurance page.

Finder's income protection awards criteria

The criteria for Finder's income protection awards was determined by our insights team and insurance experts.

Income protection eligibility criteria

  • It must be a direct income protection insurance policy (e.g. no broker is needed)
  • The provider must have offered the policy for 12 months or longer
  • Quotes must be available online or over the phone

Finder's income protection awards methodology

1. How we calculated our price score for income protection

To determine our income protection insurance award winners, we got prices across a total of 32 customer profiles varying in age, gender, occupation and smoking status:

AgeGenderSmokerOccupation
35FemaleNoBlue collar worker
45FemaleNoWhite collar worker
35FemaleNoBlue collar worker
45FemaleNoWhite collar worker
35FemaleYesBlue collar worker
45FemaleYesWhite collar worker
35FemaleYesBlue collar worker
45FemaleYesWhite collar worker
35MaleNoBlue collar worker
45MaleNoWhite collar worker
35MaleNoBlue collar worker
45MaleNoWhite collar worker
35MaleYesBlue collar worker
45MaleYesWhite collar worker
35MaleYesBlue collar worker
45MaleYesWhite collar worker

2. How we calculated our features score for income protection

The features score takes into account 8 different features commonly covered by an income protection policy. Features were scored and weighted as follows:

FeaturesWeighting
Death cover option4%
Highest benefit period7%
Max. entry age5%
Max. monthly benefit7%
Max. % of income covered7%
Minimum waiting period7%
Waiting period7%
Benefit period options7%
Non-smoker price15%
Smoker price10%
White collar price12%
Blue collar price12%

3. How we calculated our final scores for income protection

Frequently asked questions

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Journalist

Gary Ross Hunter has over 6 years of expertise writing about insurance, including life, health, home, and car insurance. Having reviewed hundreds of product disclosure statements and published over 800 articles, he loves simplifying complex insurance topics for everyday readers. Gary has contributed to major outlets like Yahoo Finance, The Sydney Morning Herald, and news.com.au, and holds a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in English Literature from the University of Glasgow, along with a Tier 2 General Advice certification, ensuring his work adheres to ASIC’s RG146 standards. See full bio

Gary Ross's expertise
Gary Ross has written 631 Finder guides across topics including:
  • Health, home, life, car, pet and travel insurance
  • Managing the cost of living

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