Living abroad, perhaps in a country with less social security protection than Europe for example, brings many financial uncertainties. One of them is the financial loss should you, due to illness or an accident, be unable to attend work for a certain period of time. In many cases, companies won’t care and will not pay as long as you can’t fulfill your contractual obligation. It may happen mostly at smaller businesses, because they simply cannot afford it and probably have no additional insurance in place.
Such a situation won’t befall most people, but what will you do if it does? An Income Protection Insurance can help to reduce this potential financial burden significantly. There are many kinds of Income Protection type insurances. The most common is where the insurer pays a monthly income replacement in case you have fallen ill for a longer period of time for whichever reason (accident or illness for example) – sickness benefit / allowance.
Apart from sickness allowance other kind of Income Protection are known such as hospital daily benefits (pays out only if admitted to the hospital), accident daily benefits (pays only after an accident), unemployment benefits (usually only available within a social security scheme) and last but not least allowance for permanent disability (in case long term care is needed).
Such insurances have usually a deferment or waiting period of 90 or 180 days, which can be chosen voluntary and affects the insurance premium significantly. If you want to learn more about Income Protection insurances, get in touch!
