by Mark White


Taking out insurance policies have become part of life. People insure their cars. People insure their houses. And people insure their lives. It can seem like an unnecessary expense until the day that your car is involved in an accident or your house happens to burn down. Or in the event of a persons death. If something like that happens you will be only too glad that you paid your installments regularly. Taking out income protection insurance can prove to be just as much of a lifesaver when tragedy strikes.

Income protection insurance does exactly what it says. It protects your income in the event that you as an individual are unable to continue to work. This may be due to an accident or an illness. It is important to note that income protection insurance does not apply when a person becomes unemployed.

Most employers do not offer this kind of coverage in their basic employment contract. Much like life insurance it will be for your own personal account. It is very possible that you will be able to ad it to an existing policy. In the event of an accident or illness the policy holder will receive the percentage of your salary that was agreed upon on a weekly or monthly basis.

Depending on the circumstances a person may only be unable to work for a number of months. If this is the case the policy will pay a certain amount for this period. If a person is not able to work ever again the policy will pay out until the policy holder is legally old enough to retire. Most of us have heard the saying prevention is better than cure and when it comes to insurance this is certainly true.

Fortunately the payment made to the policy holder will be tax free. It should be enough to cover the persons most vital expenses such as rent or a mortgage and groceries. The percentage depends on the policy itself but it is normally around 70 percent of your usual income.

Even though a persons salary is not something tangible that you can see, it is actually one of your biggest assets and therefore it makes financial sense to have it insured. You need to choose a policy that suits your own personal needs. The stipulations in your policy will depend on the kind of work you do.

In order for a person to claim from such a policy it must be impossible for said person to perform the duties they were hired for. There will most possibly be clauses that will prohibits one from claiming under certain circumstances. This might include abuse of alcohol or illegal drug or anything criminal. They often exclude being able to claim for pregnancy too.

If you need to make a claim towards your income insurance policy its important to realize that it can take some time before the payments are actually made. Insurance companies have the right to investigate any and all claims. To make sure that you get your payments in a timely fashion you should submit your claim as soon as possible.




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