Sarah Mitchell

Sarah had built her childminding business over six years. With 8 regular families relying on her, she was the backbone of her community — and the sole earner in her household.

It happened on an ordinary Tuesday morning. Sarah was lifting a buggy into her hallway when she felt something give way in her lower back. By that afternoon, she couldn't stand up straight. The diagnosis came a week later: a herniated disc pressing on her sciatic nerve.

"The pain was unlike anything I'd experienced," she says. "But what scared me more was the thought of losing everything I'd worked for. I'm self-employed — there's no sick pay, no employer to catch you if you fall."

Sarah had taken out income protection 18 months earlier after a friend had recommended speaking to a protection adviser. At the time, she'd been sceptical. "I remember thinking, I'm young and healthy, nothing's going to happen to me. But my adviser walked me through exactly what being off work would mean financially, and the penny dropped."

After a 3-month deferral period, her policy began paying £1,200 per month directly into her account. For nine months, it covered her mortgage, her household bills, and gave her the breathing room to focus entirely on her recovery — physiotherapy, rest, and eventually a gradual return to work.

"I was able to get better without the financial panic. I didn't have to go back before I was ready. That policy quite literally protected my life as I knew it."

Sarah returned to work nine months later, fully recovered and with all eight of her original families still waiting for her. Her business is now busier than ever.

"I didn't have to go back to work before I was ready. That policy protected my life as I knew it."

Sarah, 34 — returned to work after 9 months