Archive for the ‘Accident Sickness Insurance’

As if worrying about the possible meltdown of the entire global banking system, the rising tide of unemployment, or ever escalating prices weren’t enough, there is the ever-present risk of losing a month or two of income simply by being unable to work because of an accident or illness. That, of course, is when accident sickness insurance comes into its own.

However much the world around us is being buffeted by one economic crisis after another, there are some things that continue to be governed by the fickle hand of chance. Accidental injury, for example, is defined by its sudden unexpectedness. No one knows when an accident might happen. But if injuries are sustained and there is a need to take time off work to recover from them, the potential loss of income can bring still further difficulties in its train. All the routine, household bills, of course, still need to be paid – somehow.

Similarly, an unexpected and obstinate illness can be dealt to anyone, regardless of the care they take. Once again, it can lead to a month or two off work and the kind of disruption to a steady income stream that can easily throw into complete disarray the most carefully planned domestic budget.

Accident and sickness, therefore, are the most common types of misfortune keeping a very significant number of people off work every year. Although some employers might have seemingly quite generous sick-pay packages, the restrictions and conditions can leave some employees less well-off than they thought they might be. Furthermore, as the current recession bites into the business performance of an increasing number of employers, those sick-pay packages look set to become less and less generous than once they might have been.

Accident sickness insurance, therefore, is designed to allow the employee to take matters into his or her own hands when it comes to protecting an income when random misfortune strikes. Provided the incapacity is such that absence from work is needed for longer than a given “qualifying period” (which can range from 30 to 60 days, depending on the particular insurance policy), the insurance pays out a regular monthly benefit.

The benefit can take the form of a general income replacement or be used to cover a known commitment to loan repayments and is typically subject, depending on the insurer, to maximum cover that is typically equal to 50% of the policy holder’s regular earned income or £1,000, whichever is less.

Alternatively, the cover can be used for the specific protection of most people’s most critical monthly obligation, the repayment of the mortgage. In this case, the maximum amount of cover is generally higher and can typically cover (again, depending on the particular policy) up to 75% of the normal monthly income or as much as £3,000, whichever is the lower figure.

An expert in the field of accident sickness insurance, Simon Burgess of British Insurance, comments: “the completely random and unexpected nature of this kind of incapacity is often overlooked and many of us think we’ll be immune – until the accident happens or we succumb to illness. Accident and sickness insurance is something to be seriously considered by any working person”.

As the name suggests, accident sickness insurance is a type of cover that will pay you a monthly cash benefit if you are off work due to an accident or sickness. Some providers may allow you to add on redundancy cover if you are interested in that element.

The cash benefit is tax free and the payment can last up to 12-24 months depending on the provider.

The amount you receive as a benefit is restricted by the maximum level of the provider and is based on your income. You will not receive the full salaried income you had while working, instead a percentage of your gross salaried income will be paid as a benefit.

Some providers are very flexible in that they allow you to choose how long you want your benefits paid for (within the maximum period). You may also be able to choose between the involuntary unemployment events such as sickness only.

If your circumstances change e.g. if you were to switch to part time employment, then the terms of the policy and the benefits may change so it is important to keep the provider updated.

Most, if not all, accident sickness insurance policies carry exclusions which can prevent you making a claim on the cover and you should find out what these are before signing up for your policy. You need to evaluate your circumstances against the policy terms and conditions and decide if the cover is right for you.

When deciding on a provider, getting value for money is always a good thing. If you choose a high street provider or take the policy provided by your loan or mortgage company, you may not achieve that balance.

If you were to obtain a standalone quote from an independent provider, you will in most cases save on premiums.

One such independent provider is British Insurance. Managing Director
Simon Burgess is passionate about providing value for money. He says ‘British Insurance is committed to providing quality protection products at very competitive premiums’. As a result obtaining a quote from this company could save you up to 80% on loan insurance.

With the money box checked, you should also look at the value you’ll receive. The terms of the policy will give you an indication of what is covered, and how much can be paid out, how long you’ll have to wait before making a claim etc.

Once you are aware of all the terms and conditions and you have chosen the best provider, accident sickness insurance can be very beneficial. Having protection in place allows you to maintain your lifestyle while you are recovering from illness.

You won’t have to worry about creditors knocking at your door, repossession orders, bailiffs or ruining your credit rating. Thanks to the monthly tax free benefit, you will be able to keep on top of your bills.

Accident sickness insurance is designed to give you peace of mind and you can’t place a monetary value on that.

You can consider accident sickness insurance to protect the monthly repayments of your mortgage, loan or essential outgoings. If you have mortgage repayments to make each month then consider taking out mortgage insurance. Loan repayments can be protected with loan payment protection and essential outgoings with income cover. All types of payment protection work out cheaper if you choose to look around with standalone protection providers.

You would insure a portion of your income, mortgage or loan repayments against the possibility that you might lose your income to accident or sickness. This amount would be pre-agreed at the time of taking the policy and this would be the amount you would receive back if you were claim on the insurance.

You would have so many days before you can make a claim and the protection would payout for so long before it would cease. If you chose to take out protection with specialist protection provider British Insurance there is a waiting period of 30 days before claiming. The benefit would be dated back to the first day of you being incapacitated and then it would continue paying out for as long as a maximum of 12-24 months. If you search with other providers you could find that they will pay for just 12 months, however you need to read the terms of the cover of the policy. You also have to find out how long you would have to wait before claiming as there are providers that will ask you wait for 90 days at least. You should also read the conditions of the protection for exclusions. There are exclusions in all protection although ethical specialists British Insurance put in the basic few. They also provide you with the information needed to check suitability against your circumstances.

Mortgage insurance is a very valuable source of accident sickness insurance. It is essential that you keep on top of your mortgage repayments as failure to do so can lead to repossession of your property. However the majority of lenders will allow you to make an agreement with them to catch up on your arrears but if you have not got an income coming into your home you would not be able to do this and they would start court proceedings against you.

Loan payment protection provides an income towards maintaining loan payments to stop you falling behind and this also maintains your credit score. Income cover taken out in the form of accident sickness insurance would provide an income towards you maintaining your essential outgoings which could be any bills that come into your home. With protection there would be no having to juggle bills around or make drastic lifestyle changes to stay on top of things.

It’s bad news when an accident or illness keeps you off work. It’s even worse news if the time at home has you worrying not only about recovering from injuries or sickness but also about how the bills are going to get paid. For many people, of course, such time off work means time off without pay – and it is then that accident sickness insurance can come to the rescue.

The statistics are really quite sobering. According to a survey published in an on-line finance blog dated 18 August 2008, an eighth of the population evidently suffered a loss of earned income by having to take time off work because of an illness or injury. They sustained losses of an average £5,320 per person, with 34% taking off more than a week, 58% more than a month and 17% still off work after a year.

In the same survey, respondents were asked where they would find the money to pay the bills if nothing was forthcoming from their employer during their time off. 23% replied that they would borrow the money from friends or family; 11% said they would need to arrange a loan; 5% replied that they would simply put off making large repayments like the mortgage; and only 8% revealed that they had taken the precaution of arranging accident sickness insurance.

Those that confessed that they would probably default on their mortgage repayments are of course storing up serious problems for the future. Missed mortgage payments have an immediate and profound on the individual’s credit rating, making future borrowing both more difficult and expensive, and can ultimately lead to the mortgage lender repossessing the home. Those who borrow the money – even on an interest-free basis from friends or family – will still need to repay it when they finally return to work and with an average of £5,320 borrowed, this is clearly a mammoth burden.

How much more peace of mind will be enjoyed, therefore, by the prudent 8% who had the foresight to arrange accident sickness insurance. This modestly-priced insurance provides a replacement monthly income in the event of time off work through accident or illness that lasts longer than an agreed “qualifying period” – with the best forms of cover (that offered by independent insurance specialists British Insurance, for example) this can be as short a period as 30 days, but with other policies might be as long as 90 days. The benefits are then paid directly to the policy holder each month and can be used to ensure that none of the bills goes unpaid.

The amount of accident sickness insurance cover needed will, of course, depend on the individual’s personal circumstances, but the maximum available is typically 50% of the policy holder’s normal, earned income or £1,000, whichever is the lower figure. Once again, however, these limits will vary from insurer to insurer.

Life can be very uncertain. You can never tell if or when you could lose your job and most of us rely on a salaried income to survive. If you were to suddenly lose your main source of income how will you manage financially? An accident sickness insurance policy will be exactly what you need in such a situation.

This policy will pay you a monthly income if you are faced with involuntary unemployment such as accident, sickness and redundancy.

If you are unfortunate enough to lose your job due to one of the above incidents then the policy will pay you a tax free income to do with as you like. This way you won’t have to give up the lifestyle you love and the period between jobs will be much easier.

What Does An Accident Sickness Insurance Policy Provide?

• Firstly…peace of mind. When you own this policy, you can rest assured that if the worse were to happen you’ll be able to maintain your monthly payments and keep a roof over your head.
• You will have the reassurance that you won’t fall into bad debt or develop a bad credit profile because your bills will be paid

Features of The Policy

• While the policy pays an income, it will not totally replace your salaried income
• There are maximum benefit levels so make sure you choose a benefit amount that will meet your needs
• The policy does not pay out forever. The maximum payment period is 24 months
• Some providers may allow you to make multiple claims
• The cost of the premium is usually directly linked to the level of benefit you chose

Choosing Your Policy

If you have a mortgage or loan with a high street lender, they will try to convince you to take their protection product, but you don’t have to. In fact if you were to obtain a quote from both a high street lender and an independent provider you will often find the latter has much lower premiums.

One such company is protection specialists - British Insurance. This company has been known to provide savings on premiums.

There is no need to pay more for the same level of benefits, so why not obtain a standalone quote and see the difference yourself.

Summary

If you want to enjoy the peace of mind that comes with owning an accident sickness insurance policy, there is no reason to delay. You should take out your policy while you are employed and can afford to pay the low premiums.

Accident sickness insurance (also known as ASU for short) can be taken out to insure up to a pre-agreed amount of your monthly loan or mortgage repayments or a portion of your income against the chance that you might suffer an accident or illness that lead to a loss of income. The sum of money you insured would be the income that you received back, tax-free, if you had to make a claim and would go towards you maintaining your repayments.

If you had chosen to take out mortgage payment protection insurance as accident sickness insurance the sum you received back would go towards you being able to service the repayments of the mortgage. It is essential that you do not fall into arrears with the mortgage repayments as this could lead to repossession by the lender. Your mortgage cover would go a long way towards ensuring that this would not happen.

The income received back from loan payment protection insurance would go towards you being able to keep any loan repayments going. This will ensure that you would not fall behind on the payments and have your credit rating affected. If this happens you would have a hard time getting approval for any type of credit in the future. You would of course also have to pay back the lender somehow and if you cannot they could start proceedings to take you to court.

If you had insured your income with income payment protection, the sum you received back from the policy would go towards you being able to maintain all the outgoings that came into the home. You would not have to make lifestyle changes in order to meet the bills that came into the home or have to juggle bills around.

You could take out accident sickness insurance with standalone payment protection provider British Insurance. If you did you would save as much as 80% on loan cover and 40% on mortgage payment protection, you could also get competitive premiums for income payment protection. Cover with British Insurance would begin to provide the policy holder with an income after day 30 of being incapacitated and would then continue to payout for up to 12 months. If you chose to search and compare with other providers you could find some might ask that you wait for up to 90 days before you put in a claim so you would also need to check the small print. You would also need to check it to find out how long the policy would continue to provide you with an income as some providers could offer cover that would continue to payout for up to 24 months.

Accident sickness insurance (also known as ASU for short) can be taken to protect the repayments of your loans, mortgage or essential repayments in the event that you lost your income due to one of these events. Mortgage payment protection would cover up to a certain amount of your mortgage repayments; loan insurance would help towards your loan repayments; and income protection would provide a portion of your income.

You would take out the protection by insuring up to a pre-agreed amount of your mortgage or loan repayments or a portion of your income and then receive this sum of money back, tax-free if you needed to make a claim. The money would go a long way towards ensuring that you did not fall behind with the repayments you insured against and would allow you time to recover from incapacity and get back to work.

If you had taken out accident sickness insurance to protect your mortgage repayments then the income you received back would go a long way towards you keeping out of mortgage arrears. Mortgage arrears must be steered clear of as they can lead to you losing your home to the lender. Even just a couple of months of arrears would be enough to have the lender start court proceedings if you were unable to make an agreement to catch up.

Loan cover would allow you to keep your credit rating intact and this is essential if you want to borrow again sometime in the near future. It would also stop the lender from taking you to court to claim back what you owe and in the case of a secured loan it would stop the lender from repossessing your home.

Income cover would be there to go towards all of the essential outgoings that come into the home each month. You would not have to worry about making cutbacks in order to be able to stop on top of the bills, not have to worry about pushing some bills to one side with the hope of being able to catch up on them.

All forms of accident sickness insurance can be taken at a low cost if you choose an ethical standalone provider. British Insurance is one of the most ethical independent payment protection providers who would save you as much as 40% on the cost of mortgage cover premiums and 80% on loan protection premiums. They would payout on their protection once you had been unable to work for a period of 30 days. They would also back pay to the first day that you became incapacitated and would then continue paying for as long as 12 months. Some providers could offer different terms for their protection so you would need to check out the terms of the cover. Some might offer to payout for up to 24 months on their protection. You would also need to check when the cover would begin to provide you with your income as with some you might have to wait for as long as the 90th day of suffering from accident or sickness.

If you are worried about the financial ramifications of becoming unable to work due to incapacity, then why not consider accident sickness insurance? Accident sickness insurance can be taken out in the form of three different policies based on what you have to pay out each month. You could take out loan, mortgage or income payment protection insurance and all three would allow you to protect up to a certain amount of your repayments or income which would be pre-agreed at the time of taking out the cover.

If you lost your income due to suffering from accident or illness you would then  make a claim against the policy and be given a tax-free income each month for up to a certain period of time. The money you claimed back would go towards the repayments that you insured against and would go a long way towards helping you financially and giving you peace of mind which would allow you to concentrate on recovering.

All forms of  accident sickness insurance would typically begin to provide you with an income between the 30th and the 90th day after the event based on the provider’s terms. Your cover will continue to provide an income for between 12 months and 24 months again depending on the provider’s terms. If you choose to take out protection with ethical payment protection specialist British Insurance you able to claim from day 30 and they would back pay on the policy to day one of you being unable to work. They would then continue to payout for 12 months and then the cover would cease.

If you wanted to ensure that you had the income to continue meeting the demands of your mortgage each month you need to look at taking out mortgage payment protection. A policy can help you to keep your head above water with the mortgage repayments and not get into arrears. You would not have to miss a repayments and so not have the worry of the lender taking repossession proceedings.

Loan repayments can be covered up to a certain amount with loan payment protection. This would help to stop you from falling behind on the payments and so you would not get into debt which would affect your credit rating.

You could cover a portion of your own income as then use this towards being able to keep on top of all your essential outgoings. This would ensure that you did not fall into debt and could keep the home running smoothly as you are able to use the income to cover any bills that needed to be paid.

All forms of accident sickness insurance can be taken with independent specialist British Insurance. You could save 40% on mortgage cover and as much as 80% on loan cover.

Accident sickness insurance is also known as payment protection insurance (PPI) and there are three forms you can choose from depending on your circumstances and what you have to pay out each month. All forms of protection would pay out a tax free amount if you lost your income as a result of suffering an accident or if you should fall ill. You can insure a pre-agreed sum and this money would then be paid back if and when you put in a claim. It would help towards you being able to meet your outgoings each month and so give peace of mind.

Accident sickness insurance can be taken when you take out a loan or mortgage with the lender on the high street. Many times loan payment protection is added into the loan at the time of borrowing and in some cases it is included before interest is calculated. This can boost up the cost of borrowing by almost half again as you are paying interest for the payment protection. Loan payment protection would help to cover the repayments of any loans or mortgages that you have to pay each month. This would ensure that you would not get into debt with missed payments. If you did get behind on the payments the lender would start court proceedings. If the loan was secured on your home you are at risk of repossession it. All types of missed payments would also mean your credit rating would see a decline and means that your chances of getting credit anytime in the future are very slim.

Mortgage payment protection would go towards the repayments of the mortgage each month. With a policy behind you it would help to keep you out of mortgage arrears. If you were to fall behind on your mortgage payments you would have to make an agreement with the lender to catch up on what you owe and without an income this would be impossible. If you were unable to make an agreement the lender would have no option but to start repossession proceedings in court and this would mean you could be evicted and have to move out on or before the given date.

If you wanted to protect your essential outgoings in general then you could consider taking out income payment protection. You would receive a tax-free income towards all of your essential outgoings which come into the home each month. This can be anything from your utility bills to grocery bills. In fact you would be able to use the income for anything. This would stop you having to make changes to your lifestyle and juggle bills around with the hope of being able to catch up on them in the future.

If you chose to take your accident sickness insurance from standalone payment protection provider British Insurance you can save as much as 40% on mortgage payment protection and up to as much as 80% on loan payment protection. You would get your first payment once you had been incapacitated for at least 30 days and British Insurance would backdate the benefit to day one of you being unable to work.

There are three types of accident sickness insurance that you could consider taking out depending on your needs and circumstances. Which type of protection that would be the most suitable would depend largely on what outgoings that you have to pay out for.

For instance if you have the commitment of a loan then you need to consider taking out loan payment protection insurance. This type of policy not only covers your loan outgoings each month but would also help you to keep on top of your credit card outgoings. As the majority of people rely heavily on credit cards as a way of making ends meet and some use them to pay bills on a regular basis being able to pay what you owe is essential. Falling behind on loans repayments could mean the lender would take you to court. It would also see your credit rating being affected and this can make borrowing in the future very hard.

Mortgage commitments are the worry of the majority of homeowners. If you fail to keep up the payments then of course you are at risk of losing your home to repossession. Lenders will offer to make an agreement giving you time to catch up but without an income coming into the home this would be impossible. Mortgage payment protection would allow you to insurance a certain amount of your mortgage repayment so that you would not fall into arrears.

If you want to protect your income in general then consider covering a portion of it with income payment protection. This would provide you with the income to be able to service all of your essential outgoings each month. You would insure up to so much, defined by the provider and this goes towards determining the premium along with your age.

All forms of accident sickness insurance can be taken out with an independent payment protection provider for much cheaper premiums than you would get on the high street. If you choose to take payment protection form ethical British Insurance you could save up to 40% on the cost of mortgage cover and as much as 80% on your loan payment protection. You would begin to get a payment that came tax-free from British Insurance from the 30th date of you being unable to work due to accident or sickness. They would also back pay on the benefit to day one of you being unable to work and would then carry on providing for you for up to 12 months if necessary. With cheap premiums and a quality product with age based premiums that you could fall back on, there is no reason why anyone should have to struggle to find their outgoings if they become unable to work due to no fault of their own.