Income Protection: FAQs

A team of insurance experts are here to answer all your income protection queries:

Q: What is Income Protection?

Income protection is a form of insurance that provides an income for you and your family should you be unable to work due to either ill health or unexpected unemployment for up to twelve months. This form of insurance is given many different names including income assurance and repayment protection.

Q: Do I need Income Protection?

Income protection is recommended for the self employed and for those who do not have any or receive only a small sickness benefit from their employer. With recent events in the economy, the large number of unemployed and workers facing redundancy, income protection has become a must have for many. Large purchases such as a new vehicle often include a similar type of protection but this just covers the finance itself, with income protection this covers your wage leaving you to spend the income amount as you please.

Q: Things to Look Out For?

The main area to look out for in this type of policy is the restrictions on the reasons for claims. These can vary between policies although most will cover sickness and unexpected unemployment.

Another item which may differ policy to policy is the length of the deferred period, this is the length of time between the first claim and payment and can be as much as ninety days on the cheaper policies.