Income Protection Insurance

No one can guarantee that they will not be the victim of an unfortunate accident or be diagnosed with a serious illness. Income protection insurance can cover a substantial portion of your income during any periods that you’re off work due to sickness or injury. It can protect your savings, financial plans and loved ones when you’re too sick to work.

Keep your finances healthy as you recover from illness or injury:

• Income protection insurance replaces part of your income if you become ill or disabled
• It pays out until you can start working again, or until you retire, die or at the end of the policy term – whichever is sooner
• There’s a waiting period before the payments start, so you generally set payments to start after your sick pay ends, or after any other insurance stops covering you. The longer you wait, the lower the monthly payments
• It covers most illnesses that leave you unable to work, either in the short or long term (depending on the type of policy and its definition of incapacity)
• You can claim as many times as you need to while the policy is in force

Here are some of the things you might want to consider:

• What would happen if you became ill and couldn’t afford to pay the bills?
• If you’re employed, do you have sick pay to fall back on and how long is this paid for?
• If you’re self-employed, what would you do if you couldn’t work for any reason?
• Do you have enough savings to cover any personal loan or debt repayments?
• Do you have any dependents, and will you have enough savings to cover you and your dependents if you cannot work?

The cost of an income protection insurance product will be determined by the type of policy you want to buy, and your individual circumstances.

Factors that affect the amount you pay are:

• Type of job
• Your age
• The percentage of income you want to be covered
• Your health, including any pre-existing conditions
• When you want your policy to end

Generous sickness benefits

Some people receive generous sickness benefits through their workplace, and these can extend right up until the date upon which they had intended to retire. Some employees with long-term health problems could, on the other hand, find themselves having to rely on the state, which is likely to prove hard. Check with your employer about what workplace benefits are available to you.