Income Protection Insurance is one of many types of insurance policies available in the UK.
Income Protection Insurance is also known as Permanent Health Insurance or Income Replacement Cover.
This type of policy comes in many variances but in its simplest form it is a policy that pays out an income in the event of the insured being unable to work through accident or illness.
Income Protection Insurance is available in the UK from many insurance companies to both the employed and self employed. Such a policy pays out part of your income in the event of you being unable to work through accident or illness after a waiting period until you either go back to work, die or retire.
Income Protection Insurance is different to Critical Illness Insurance as the latter normally pays out a lump sum in the event of you being diagnosed with a specific critical illness.
Income Protection Insurance is particularly beneficial to the self employed as, in the event of them being unable to work through accident or illness, their income will often cease immediateley whereas an employed person will often be paid by their employer for several weeks/months in such an event. Therefore an employed person would not need the policy to pay out until they stop being paid by their employer but the self employed would often need the policy to pay out more quickly. The quicker you need to receive the income from an Income Protection Insurance policy in the UK the more expensive the policy costs.
If you require Income Protection Insurance to pay out until say age sixty five rather than to age sixty then the cost would be greater.
What you do for a living will affect the cost of an Income Protection Insurance policy in the UK- ie an electrician is statistically more likely to suffer an accident than say an accountant and therefore the former will pay a higher premium.
Obviously the level of income that the policy pays out will affect the premium of an Income Protection Insurance policy- the greater the income the higher the premium. There are limits on the percentage of your income you can insure.
There are a number of other options often available that need to be considered -ie are the premiums guaranteed throughout the term of the policy or reviewable after a number of years. Are there any exclusions from the policy paying out-ie due to self inflicated injuries.
Having Income Protection Insurance in the UK or not having such insurance could provide the difference between having a reasonable standard of living or struggling on benefits in the event of you suffering an accident or illness.
As with many insurances- the choice is yours as to whether you arrange such cover!
