Long Term Insurance

It is a sad fact that life isn't ‘fair'. You could be enjoying your life and career one minute and then the next be unable to work due to illness or an accident. If that happens, you could find yourself very quickly in a financial crisis - this is what our long term income protection insurance seeks to help you avoid.

Losing your income

For most of us, sickness and accidents may prove traumatic. Bad as the trauma may be, there is a risk that, in addition, you may be faced with major worries about how you'll cope financially.

If you're employed, your employer may have a sickness benefit scheme in line with statutory requirements but that may be unlikely to last long. If you are unable to quickly recover your health and find replacement income, then once your sickness entitlement is used up, you'll probably need to start dipping into any savings you have - and they may not last long either.

Your outgoings

Most of us have regular monthly outgoings on things such as mortgage repayments, credit card repayments, HP agreements or car loans etc. That, of course, says nothing about things such as food, utility bills, clothes and so on.

If you've lost your income, it is highly unlikely that any of these things will just ‘go away', much as you may wish they would.

Some of the lenders you owe money to may be understanding and offer some very short term support. Some may not be able to offer anything other than sympathy for your predicament. You may very quickly start to see arrears building up and even pressure of repossession and recovery action if you are unable to maintain your payments.

Social aid

You may be eligible for some forms of social benefit in such circumstances - notably help with your mortgage. This help is limited however and will only apply if you have savings below a relatively modest level - if not you will be expected to use them to help you survive.

All in all, you may find it difficult to survive on state aid alone.

Long-term income protection insurance

This policy aims to help you in such circumstances. If you have purchased a long term income protection insurance policy, we will pay you a regular monthly income until such time as you are fit and well and able to resume work, subject to you meeting the terms and conditions of the policy.

The benefits payable could make a big difference to you in terms of preventing significant financial detriment. We will pay benefits of up to 65% of your annual taxable income, for income up to £60,000, and then 40% of any earnings above that level. There are some situations where you may not be covered by your accident or illness policy, such as medical conditions you were aware of before you took out the policy.

Points to note

It is important to note that this cover does not include involuntary redundancy protection. We do offer a policy that offers shorter term cover for a loss of income due to redundancy and you can combine that cover with this long term policy.

As with all insurance policies, significant exclusions and limitations apply and it is important that you read the terms and conditions of this policy to determine if these apply to you and for full details of the cover. This will also help you understand the level of protection that this product provides.

Full details are contained in the ‘further information' sections of our ‘income protection' policy detail.

Summary

Long term income protection may offer you and your family a real financial lifeline should the misfortune of ill health or an accident strike. More details on this product are available on our site. Purchasing such cover could be a very important decision, so if you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact us.