Sorry youv'e been poorly, hope youre feeling better.
The kind of insurance youre looking for is Income Replacement Cover, Business Interuption and Critical Illness is also available. I've had most of these policys in the past, never claimed on them though. However I had a friend who tried to claim on the Income replacement policy they had (same one I did) and didnt get a bean, the exclusions are numerous and vague enough to not pay for most things, when I looked at it properly it wasn't worth anything, just the £50 + a month it was costing.
I get my insurance through my bank so if you call yours they will point you in the right direction for a quote. I do have something now which is free with my personal account which pays out £150 a day when I'm in hosp with a room thrown in. I reckon this is great for nowt, as I wouldnt pay for a policy again far too exp, you will probably be better off putting the same amount away each month, as a just in case fund.
Also any payments you get apparently affect any benefits you may be entitled to if you are off sick, you will have a waiting period as well before the policy pays - if it does - and you will still have to pay the premiums as well, so unless your policy is for megga bucks, you may actually be worse off, as we were on our mortgage payment protection policy.
Oh yeah and the policy I was sold didnt actually cover s/employed people