Tom Bradshaw

Tom started his own building business at 26. Three years in, he had steady work, a small van, and a one-bedroom flat he was renting with plans to buy. He was doing everything right.

The accident happened on a Wednesday in February. Tom was working on a loft conversion when he lost his footing on a ladder and put his right hand out to break the fall. The crack was audible. Two fractures in his wrist, surgery required.

"The surgeon told me six to eight weeks at best, more likely four months before I could use it properly. For most people that's inconvenient. For a self-employed builder, it's catastrophic. You can't hold a drill. You can't earn."

Tom had taken out income protection the previous year, partly at his accountant's suggestion and partly because he'd seen a friend struggle badly after a knee injury with no cover in place.

"I'd set up a one-month deferral period to keep the premium down. So after four weeks, the policy kicked in and I got £1,800 a month. That covered my rent, my van finance, my tools insurance — everything."

He was off for five months in total — longer than anticipated due to a post-surgery complication. But because his policy paid for the duration, he came back without debt, without having had to ask family for help, and without having burned through savings he didn't have.

"People think these policies are for older people or office workers. I'm 29, fit as anything, and I needed it. Trades are actually the people who need it most — because there is literally nothing else there if you can't work."

"Trades are the people who need it most — because there is literally nothing else there if you can't work."

Tom, 29 — back on site after 5 months