Unum is to leave the individual protection market from 2 March.
The provider said it wants to focus its offering on the group market, specifically its employer paid income protection (IP) products.
It also intends to partner IFAs who have clients already on its Executive product in an attempt to spread its workforce penetration.
Existing individual policyholders will continue to be supported but from 2 March the Personal, Primary and Essential Ability Cover IP products will no longer be offered to new members.
However, Unum will honour all valid quotations previously issued provided the completed application is received by 30 March.
The insurer has been heavily promoting its workplace offering with a range of TV adverts since the autumn and left the individual critical illness market in May last year.
This left its IP products as the only ones available on an individual basis.
The move is likely to disappoint protection advisers who had recently been buoyed by Scottish Widows announcement that it was considering re-entering the market.
Marco Forato, chief marketing officer at Unum, said the insurer believed the workplace was the best place for workers to get income protection.
"It makes cover more affordable and also enables individuals with pre-existing conditions or high risk people to get cover they may not be approved for with an individual policy," he said.
"While some advisers do specialise in the SME segment, there are over 150,000 companies in the UK with less than 50 employees and more often than not they don't get the expert support they need.
"Through their existing relationships with small business owners and directors, who already understand the value of workplace IP through their own Executive policy, IFAs could easily step in and fill this gap," he added.
Forato also said with the introduction of the retail distribution review and auto-enrolment he believed the employer-paid market was a real growth opportunity for advisers.
"We will partner with advisers who have relationships with small business decision makers through our Executive product, helping them bring group income protection into their discussions."
