The maximum length of time an income protection policy pays per claim.
On a short-term policy the benefit period is a fixed run of months per claim — typically one, two or five years. On a long-term policy payments can continue until you recover or the policy reaches its end age, often your planned retirement age. The benefit period, not the monthly amount, is the real dividing line between short-term and long-term cover, and the main driver of the price difference between them.