How can i insure my salary as my company has no sickness benefits?

Question

My company is introducing a policy where all employees are given the option of becoming salaried or staff,one option means that you lose staff benefits ie sick pay.I wiant to know if there is a insurance scheme which would cover my basic salary if sickness occurred

Answer 1

personal accident and sickness will not do the job long term.  You need an Income Protection Policy (IPI) this will pay out if you cannot work because of sickness or injury.  Accident sickness and unemployment will pay out for no more than 2 years where an ipi contract will pay until you retire, until you die or until you return to work.  It is allot cheaper than ASU and does a better job.  Speak to an in dependant financial adviser.

Good Luck

Answer 2

You won't be able to cover your full salary.

You can either take out an accident and sickness insurance policy which will pay you a weekly benefit for 12 months (sickness) or 24 months accident - usual maximum 75% of gross salary or an income protection policy that will pay you a monthly salary (usual maximum 50% of gross salary).

There are other schemes available to cover fixed expenses (e.g. mortgage repayments) at lower rates.

You could look at http://www.portwood.co.uk/asuone.htm for examples.

Answer 3

The sort of policy you would need is called Personal Accident & Sickness cover.  It would provide a weekly benefit (equivalent to a week's salary) for each week you are off sick.  It also covers you for accidents which require you  to take time off work.

Be aware that most of these policies will only pay out if you are off work for more than 7 consecutive days, but once this threshold has been reached, you will be paid for the full length of your sickness including the first 7 days (this threshold is known as a policy franchise).

Answer 4

Aflac can cover any gaps in your company's insurance.

Answer 5

you should see a mortgage advisor (if you have one), when i took out my mortgage i was offered cover to protect my wages if i became ill etc it cost £11 per month

Answer 6

There are actually two types of policies for this type of cover.  

The first type of policy is often taken along with a mortgage.  It is known as Accident, Sickness & Unemployment (ASU) but you do not have to take the unemployment element of the cover if you do not feel it necessary to insure against redundancy.  You can usually insure up to 125% of your mortgage and associated insurance costs which will be paid out in the event of you being unable to work due to illness or injury.  The benefits will pay out for either 12 or 24 months (depending on the policy) or until you return to work, whichever is sooner.

The more comprehensive form of cover is Permanent Health Insurance (also known as Income Protection) and will cover up to 65% of your salary.  The benefits will be paid out either until your set retirement age as specified on the policy or until you return to work, whichever is the sooner.  

Obviously Permanent Health Insurance (PHI) provides much greater cover as if you are unable to work again you have an income throughout your working life but this means that it is often far more expensive.  The other main difference between the policies is the application process.  Under ASU it is a simple application and the cost is the worked out per hundred pounds without any underwriting.  The underwriting is then done in the event of a claim.  However, PHI is underwritten upfront so the insurer will want full details of your health, employment and lifestyle and the premiums are set accordingly.  The higher risk you are the higher your premium will be.  

Hope this helps but if you need anything further please drop me an email.