Mama Life || Collaborative Post
Now more than ever we are realising the importance of back up plans, especially when it comes to supporting our families financially. Life throws a lot at us and in times of need, the last things we want to be worrying about are money, paying bills and having the stress that comes with dwindling finances. State benefits can be over complicated and for most of us, we wouldn't qualify, so having something like income protection to fall back on in the likely event you could be sick off work in the future can make all the difference. Income protection isn't just for people with children or family to support, but for anyone that will struggle to pay their bills if they got sick. The worry of not being able to put food on the table or risk losing our homes is just not worth it, especially when there are options available to us for just a small amount each month.
Having something like this in place is a reassuring asset should the worst happen, relieving you of any doubt with being eligible for benefits or company sick pay. Completely tailored to your situation and needs, income protection will give you the safety net you need to focus purely on your health and getting better for returning to work. Just be sure to choose the best policy that covers your for as many likely events as possible.
The most important thing for us when we are off sick is to be able to pay our rent or mortgage and income protection will let you do just this, for as long as you need until we get better. The cost of this varies depending on your health currently, as well as other aspects such as your job, age and lifestyle.
If you're employed
If you're in formal employment, make sure you familiarise yourself with your contract, especially parts relating to sickness and what you'll receive while on sick leave. You may be entitled to full sick pay for a certain length of time, or statutory sick pay, but it's possible that your company won't pay out for some issues of leave at all. This is why having some kind of insurance in place to keep you covered is so important. According to the ABI (Association of British Insurers) around one million people a year find themselves unable to work due to a injury or illness and subsequently have to leave work for some time. Income Protection is simply there to offer a pay out in the event that something should arise and put you in a position where you're unable to go to work or work from home.
If you're self employed
Self employment is wonderful, but also comes with many more worries than being employed elsewhere, we really pay for that freedom especially if we get sick, injured or are unable to run our businesses for any reason. Having something in place to support you through hard times is essential if you rely on your self employment earnings to get you through. If you're self employed, there is the option of ESA from the government, but this is often a very low amount and may not give you what you need, or it can even take a while to come through. Getting the right income protection can provide much better support during sickness, providing 50-70% of your normal earnings. When starting a new business, income protection is a great addition to your plans to make sure you are covered should illness or injury occur at any point.
With the current virus putting most of us in worry about managing financially, it's really important to think to the future and make sure we are fully prepared for any illness in the future that affects our working life.
Do you have any kind of income protection in place right now?
