Friendly Shield

Unique protection for you – simple, affordable and quick

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What is Friendly Shield?

Friendly Shield provides short-term essential protection against unexpected accidents, and has a popular option to cover sickness, too.  

It is designed to provide a number of valuable protection benefits including an income benefit, fracture cover, and both natural and accidental death benefit, plus a rehabilitation benefit to help you get back to work sooner following an accident. It also provides access to a doctor or dentist through its free Friendly GP+ and Friendly Dentist+ services. 

Benefits kick in after only 14 days – making the policy accessible far sooner to help meet your needs.

Friendly Shield is simpler than other protection products on the market. It’s quick to apply for and quick to benefit from.  

Get a quote

NEW Friendly Dentist+ Service

In response to customer research about access to dental services, we’ve optimised our Friendly Shield product to now include Friendly Dentist+ as a benefit! 
 
By integrating Friendly Dentist+ into Friendly Shield, you aren't just getting basic cover, but a more holistic protection. Take your dental care to the next level, now included in Friendly Shield policies from 15 July 2025.  
 
Key features include:

  • Unlimited around the clock access to a dental chat helpline: connect with qualified dentists for trusted advice and guidance. By uploading photos and videos, seek a second opinion and personalised diagnosis and prescription (at an additional cost) within 24 hours.
  • Expert-led videos on dental health: Tips and best practices to keep your smile healthy, from brushing techniques to lifestyle tips for oral care.
  • Smart educational articles: Easy-to-read articles written by dental experts, designed to give you practical advice on maintaining your oral health.
  • Emergency online dental appointments: fast virtual support when urgent issues arise.
  • Help finding in-person emergency treatment: our dentists assist with local clinic sourcing*.
  • Symptom checker tool: you can check issues and get guided next steps.
  • Video call examination: the option to pay for a video examination using any smartphone camera to detect dental issues and problems.
  • 10% discount on cosmetic dental treatments: such as teeth whitening, straightening and at-home oral care kits.
Find out more about Friendly Dentist + today!

Award Winning Cover!

Friendly Shield won Highly Commended in the Best New Product/Enhancement category at the Protection Review Awards 2024!
This award celebrates our commitment to innovation and enhancing protection cover for our members.

Protection Review Awards 2024:

Best New Product / Enhancement (Highly Commended)

Let's set the scene: How Friendly Shield works

  • Simon has a Gold Friendly Shield policy. He is a self-employed painter and decorator.
  • He is in a car crash and suffers 3 broken ribs, and breaks his arm and knee.
    Friendly Shield pays £3,000 in fracture cover.
  • He is unable to work for just over 2 months due to his injuries.
    Friendly Shield pays £4,500 in income benefit.
  • He needs to see a GP as his pain medication gives him heartburn.
    Friendly Shield provides 24/7 access to a GP.
  • He damages a tooth in the accident and needs to seek an emergency dental appointment.
    Friendly Shield finds an emergency dentist for him to speak with through Friendly Dentist+
  • He needs physiotherapy to help his knee recover.
    Friendly Shield pays £1,000 in rehabilitation benefit.
  • Friendly Shield pays Simon £8,500 during his two months of recovery and provides GP and dentist access.

*This example is based on a Friendly Shield Gold example that has been in place for 15 days

Key features of Friendly Shield

  • Our Friendly Shield plan: available for UK residents aged 18 – 60. You can choose from 3 levels of cover from just 33p a day!

  • Income benefit: short term accident only income protection up to £2,250 per month for up to 3 months (and sickness if selected).

  • Fracture cover: a lump sum benefit for fractures of bones up to £3,000

  • Accidental death benefit: a cash lump sum payable of up to £85,000 on accidental death

  • Natural death benefit: a cash lump sum payable on death of £2,500 after your policy has been in place for 2 years

  • Rehabilitation benefit: a payment of up to £1,000 providing access to private facilities covering physical therapies i.e. acupuncture, physiotherapy, osteopathy and chiropractic treatment, follow-up scans and tests and consultations.

  • Friendly GP+: 24/7 access to a virtual GP for the whole family as standard and a wellbeing hub which includes confidential support for personal and work issues.

  • Friendly Dentist+: In-app access to a dentist for the policyholder. 

  • Optional cover for spouse and children.

*Policy Summary and Conditions are for policies starting from 15 July 2025*

Choose your level

Bronze Silver Gold

Income benefit - for up to 3 months

 £750 £1,500 £2,250
Fracture cover £1,000 £2,000 £3,000
Accidental death £45,000 £85,000 £85,000
Natural death £2,500

Additional sickness benefit

Adds income benefit for sickness
Rehabilitation benefit Up to £1,000 in any policy year for all levels

Friendly GP+ for the whole family

 Included as part of core cover from policy opening
Access to a Private GP any time day or night

Friendly Dentist+

Dental care at your fingertips

Your questions answered

To apply for a policy, you must be:

  • Aged between 18 and 60 when the policy starts
  • Working and living in the UK (this doesn’t include the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man)
  • Working at least 16 hours a week
  • Able to pay for the policy from a UK bank account
  • Registered with a UK doctor with access to at least the last 2 years of their medical records

No, we won’t ask any medical or health related questions, which makes your application quick and simple, and acceptance is guaranteed regardless of your medical history.

If you choose to add sickness cover to your policy, you won’t be able to claim income benefit for any conditions you have been treated for in the past 18 months.

The different types of benefit have different waiting periods. Please see the Policy Conditions or Policy Summary for more details.

We cover a wide list of occupations however unfortunately there are some we aren’t able to cover for.

To find out if we’ll be above to provide cover, please use our online quote tool or call our UK Friendly Customer Service team on 0333 014 6244 or request a call back.

You and your family, has free access to our virtual GP service. It’s called Friendly GP+ and it can be accessed over the phone or online 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. 
 
The policyholder will also have access to Friendly Dentist+, our dental helpline service that provides a dental chat helpline, emergency appointments, online check-up service and prescriptions. 
 
We’ll give the full details on how you can access the services when you take out a policy or you can go to our Existing Members page to find out more.

If you cancel your policy, you won’t be able to take another one for 2 years.

You can decrease your cover level from Gold to Silver or Gold to Bronze, and from Silver to Bronze, but you cannot increase your cover. 

Free access to Friendly GP+

Our virtual GP service, Friendly GP+, is a free added benefit to your Private Medical Insurance policy. It can be accessed over the phone or online 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

This means your client's always have easy access to a doctor when they need their help.

Find out more about Friendly GP and Friendly GP+.

Friendly GP+ access is included immediately for members and their families (living at the same address). Members will have access to:

Friendly GP

Friendly GP access is included immediately for members and their families (living at the same address) with the following policies:

If the GP decides your condition requires further investigation or treatment, they can issue an open private referral letter to enable you to access the health care you need.

You can conveniently book an appointment with a practising GP at a day and time that suits you. You can book digitally via The Friendly GP web app, or via the 24/7 telephone help

Appointments are available 24/7. You can book either a telephone or video consultation and choose whether to speak with a male or female doctor.

Should the GP feel you would benefit from prescription medication, the medication can be delivered to you at any UK address or to a nominated pharmacy of your choice. You will need to cover the costs of prescriptions.

The GP can also issue fit notes if necessary.  You will need to cover the costs of the medication and delivery fees.

Aches and Pains helpline. Physiotherapists help restore movement and function in patients that have been affected by injury, illness or disability. They will do this by delivering personalised exercise plans and supporting you to be able to safely and independently complete a home exercise programme with verbal prompts and guidance.

Available from 8am – 8pm Monday Friday (excluding bank holidays)

Friendly GP+

Free Friendly GP+ access is included for members and their families (living at the same address) immediately with the following policies:

Provides information and guidance on legal matters such as consumer rights, property, landlord/tenant, family and motoring law.

Support with advice for managers who are assisting their teams through any difficulties.

Guidance with money matters, including managing creditors, budgeting and debt management plans.

Provides information on a wide range of mental health and wellbeing related topics such as sleep, diet or exercise so you can start to improve your day to day life.

The Wellbeing Hub is a confidential and secure online resource available 24 hours a day to help you look after your mental health.  With access to monthly newsletters, insightful articles and short videos, there are lots of ideas on ways to improve your day to day wellbeing.

How our members rate Friendly GP+

Our Friendly GP+ service provides you with peace of mind that you can access a GP for you and your family at any time, day or night.

Our members have rated the service:

Overall satisfaction

100%

for the overall experience you received as excellent, very good or good.

Recommended

100%

agreed you would recommend Friendly GP+ to a friend or colleague.

GP helpline star rating

100%

rated the helpline as 5 stars or 4 stars.

Data taken from reviews between January and May 2024.

Any other questions?

Don’t delay – find out how Friendly Shield can protect you and your family today!

If you need help or have any questions, please contact our friendly UK based team today on 0333 014 6244 or request a call back 

Calls are recorded for training and quality purposes.
Calls from UK landlines and mobiles cost no more than a call to a 01 or 02 number and will count towards any inclusive minutes.

Request a callback

How to apply

Apply online today

Applying is quick and easy. 

Get a quote

Request a call back

Our friendly team can talk you through your options to help you to decide what level of cover is best for you.

Request a callback

0333 014 6244

Monday to Friday / 8am - 6pm

Important Information

  • You won’t be covered for unemployment or during qualifying or waiting periods.
  • To be covered, accidents have to result in an impact injury.
  • Every 3 years we will review your premium and could change the cost of your cover.
  • Sickness Cover add-on: Pre-existing medical conditions won't be covered under income benefit until an 18 month symptom-free period has passed.
  • *Our dental team will make reasonable efforts to help you find and arrange an appointment with a local clinic for in-person care. However, we cannot guarantee appointment availability, timing, or acceptance, as these depend on 3rd party clinic capacity and discretion.
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