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Hiscox key man insurance, what it really is

Searching for Hiscox key man insurance, or key man insurance Hiscox sells?

Does Hiscox do key man insurance at all?

It uses the name, but its own glossary calls key person insurance a variant of personal accident insurance (Hiscox ↗).

That is not the life policy most people mean by key person cover.

Here is what Hiscox publishes, how it differs, and the life insurers' alternatives.

Every claim here is our summary of a named external source, linked beside it. Sources change: check the wording at the link before you rely on it.

What Hiscox covers ↓Compare insurers →
Hiscox logo

Hiscox

A personal accident variant

What Hiscox calls it
A variant of personal accident insurance (Hiscox ↗)
Cover value
£5,000 to £100,000 (Hiscox ↗)
Weekly payments
Up to £1,000 after two weeks off work (Hiscox ↗)
Tax
Not tax deductible, says Hiscox (Hiscox ↗)
Life insurance
None among the products on its UK site (Hiscox ↗)

Summarised from Hiscox's own documents. Check each at its link.

01 · The short answer

Does Hiscox do key man insurance?

Not as a life policy.

Hiscox uses the term, but its business insurance glossary defines key person insurance as a variant of personal accident insurance (Hiscox ↗).

So key man insurance from Hiscox means its personal accident cover, not the life policy most people mean by key person cover.

What is key person insurance? →Key person life insurance →
Hiscox business insurance glossary logoHiscox business insurance glossary
Key person insurance: “A variant of personal accident insurance, in which a lump sum is paid if someone who is vital to your business is unable to work as a result of illness or injury.”
Personal accident insurance: “Compensates your business if you or an employee suffers an injury that prevents you or them from working, either temporarily or permanently.”
Source: (Hiscox ↗)

Hiscox's UK site lists business, landlords, home, event and private client insurance; we found no life insurance among them (Hiscox ↗).

02 · What it pays

What Hiscox key person cover actually includes

Hiscox's glossary points to personal accident insurance, and the table sets out what its personal accident page lists that cover paying for (Hiscox ↗).

The list is built around accidents and injuries: the glossary definition mentions illness, but the personal accident page does not list illness among the things it pays for.

Check the policy wording with Hiscox before you rely on the cover for illness.

The page also lists exclusions, among them extreme sports and flying as a pilot or aircrew (Hiscox ↗).

As Hiscox lists it

Hiscox personal accident

Accidental death
Yes, at work or not (Hiscox ↗)
Permanent disablement
Yes, at work or not (Hiscox ↗)
Temporary disablement
Weekly payments up to £1,000 after two weeks off work (Hiscox ↗)
Other costs
Retraining, medical expenses, funeral and repatriation (Hiscox ↗)
Cover value
£5,000 to £100,000 (Hiscox ↗)
Who
Individuals, or a whole management team (Hiscox ↗)
Swipe to compare
03 · Side by side

Hiscox vs traditional key person insurance

The two products answer different risks.

Hiscox's cover pays for accidents and injuries, up to £100,000 (Hiscox ↗).

A key person life policy pays if the person insured passes away: Legal & General includes terminal illness, and critical illness if it is chosen at the outset for an extra cost (Legal & General ↗).

The amounts differ too.

Legal & General gives up to £10 million of key person life cover, subject to underwriting (Legal & General ↗), and its adviser guide says cover can often be up to 10 times the key person's earnings for life cover (Legal & General ↗).

Tax differs.

Hiscox says its personal accident insurance is not tax deductible (Hiscox ↗).

For key person life cover, HMRC allows a deduction only if the sole purpose is meeting a loss of trading income (HMRC ↗)and the policy is term insurance with no other benefits (HMRC ↗).

Hiscox

Hiscox personal accident

Example: Legal & General

Key person life insurance

Pays on
Accidental death, disablement, injury (Hiscox ↗)
Death and terminal illness; critical illness if chosen (Legal & General ↗)
Most cover
£100,000 (Hiscox ↗)
£10 million life, subject to underwriting (Legal & General ↗)
Weekly benefit
Up to £1,000 after two weeks (Hiscox ↗)
A separate Key Person Income Protection policy (Legal & General ↗)
Paid to
The business, for named individuals (Hiscox ↗)
The employer, which owns the policy (Legal & General ↗)
Tax
Not deductible, says Hiscox (Hiscox ↗)
Deductible only on HMRC's two conditions (HMRC ↗)
Swipe to compare

Legal & General is shown as one published example of a key person life policy, not a recommendation.

04 · The alternatives

Key man insurance: Hiscox, or a life insurer?

Start from the risk, as the table does.

Hiscox's personal accident cover pays for accidents and injuries (Hiscox ↗).

Key person life insurance is a life policy the employer owns, so any payout goes to the business (Legal & General ↗).

Key man insurance companies in the UK →
The risk

As its publisher describes it

The cover that answers it

An accident or injury
Hiscox personal accident, £5,000 to £100,000 (Hiscox ↗)
The key person passes away
A serious illness
Key person critical illness: cancer, heart attack and stroke at minimum (ABI ↗)
Months off work
Swipe to compare

What each publisher says its cover does. We do not say which a business should buy.

05 · Hiscox or Aviva

Hiscox vs Aviva for business protection

People comparing Hiscox with Aviva are usually comparing two different products, set out in the table.

Aviva's Business Life Insurance Options policy takes life cover up to age 77 (Aviva ↗).

We do not say which a business should buy; an FCA-authorised adviser can tell you what suits your circumstances.

Aviva key person insurance →

Hiscox

Aviva

Product
Personal accident insurance (Hiscox ↗)
Business life insurance (Aviva ↗)
Covers
Accidents and injuries (Hiscox ↗)
Life, or life and critical illness (Aviva ↗)
Amount
£5,000 to £100,000 (Hiscox ↗)
Free cover up to £1m while underwriting (Aviva ↗)
Available to
Freelancers and sole traders to listed companies (Hiscox ↗)
Companies, LLPs, partners, sole traders (Aviva ↗)
Swipe to compare
06 · Illness

If the risk is illness

Legal & General and Royal London both publish Key Person Income Protection, which pays the business a monthly benefit while the key person cannot work (Legal & General ↗) (Royal London ↗); life insurers can also add critical illness cover, as the table above shows.

Key person insurance tax →

Questions to put to Hiscox or an adviser

  • Does the policy pay if the key person cannot work because of illness, not an accident?
  • Is the lump sum enough to cover the profit the business would lose?
  • Do we also need key person life cover, which is not limited to accidents?
  • How will the premiums and any payout be taxed for our business?
07 · Other insurers

Compare your key person insurance options

Each page below sets out what one insurer publishes about its own key person cover, with a source beside every figure.

We do not rate or rank insurers.

The comparison puts the published terms side by side.

Key person insurance comparison →UK key person insurers →Key person insurance calculator →Business protection insurance →
08 · Sources

Check it for yourself

Every claim on this page is our summary of one of the documents listed here.

We last checked them against the live sources on 28 September 2026.

The documents are the authority, not this page.

Insurers and HMRC update them, so validate any figure or condition at its link before you rely on it.

Questions

Hiscox key man insurance, answered

Not as a life policy.

Hiscox’s glossary defines key person insurance as a variant of personal accident insurance, paying a lump sum if someone vital to the business cannot work through illness or injury.

Its personal accident cover can be set between £5,000 and £100,000.

Key man insurance that pays the business if the key person passes away is sold by life insurers. Hiscox glossary ↗

Hiscox’s glossary defines key person insurance as a variant of personal accident insurance, and its personal accident page lists cover for accidents and injuries.

Its UK site lists business, landlords, home, event and private client insurance, and we found no life insurance among them.

Key man life insurance, which pays the business if the key person passes away, is published by life insurers such as Legal & General, Aviva, Royal London and Zurich. Hiscox ↗

Hiscox lets you set personal accident cover at any value between £5,000 and £100,000.

Its page also lists weekly payments of up to £1,000 if an insured person cannot work for more than two weeks after an accident. Hiscox personal accident ↗

Hiscox says no: its personal accident insurance is not tax deductible and is not classed as a business expense, because it covers the business for named individuals.

Key person life insurance is different: HMRC allows a deduction only if the sole purpose is meeting a loss of trading income and, for life cover, the policy is term insurance with no other benefits. Hiscox FAQ ↗

We cannot tell you which to buy.

They publish different products: Hiscox a personal accident cover set between £5,000 and £100,000, and Aviva a business life policy with life cover, or life and critical illness cover.

An FCA-authorised adviser can tell you what suits your business. Aviva business protection ↗

No. Hiscox’s personal accident insurance sits in its business insurance range, and Hiscox says group cover can insure an entire management team.

For households, its UK site lists home insurance and private client cover.

We found no life insurance among its products. Hiscox ↗

Hiscox’s personal accident page offers an online quote.

Check first what it pays for: accidents and injuries, with cover set between £5,000 and £100,000.

For key person life or critical illness cover, the life insurers set out on our key man insurance companies page publish their terms.

The FCA tells consumers to use its Firm Checker before buying insurance. Hiscox personal accident ↗

Hiscox’s glossary definition mentions illness or injury, but its personal accident page lists accidents and injuries as the events it pays for, and does not list illness.

Check the policy wording with Hiscox before you rely on it.

For illness, life insurers publish key person critical illness cover. Hiscox personal accident ↗

Beta · information only

Size the cover first, then speak to an adviser.

The key person insurance calculator works through the earnings, profit and loan methods UK insurers publish, so you know the amount before you compare insurers.

01Earnings, profit and loan methods

02Insurers’ published multiples, with sources

03No email, no quote, no sales call

Information, not advice

We are not an insurer, broker or regulated adviser, and we do not give quotes or recommend a policy. For regulated advice, use an adviser authorised by the FCA.

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Not financial advice. This page is general information. Before buying insurance, the FCA tells consumers to check the firm on its Firm Checker (FCA ↗). For free guidance, see MoneyHelper.