Short-Term Income Protection: The Solution To A Modern Problem

Medical researchers warn that sedentary jobs and unhealthy lifestyles are a risk to your health. Health practitioners are calling sitting a “disease”.

Moreover, the stress associated with modern living is causing a high number of illnesses including heart disease, cancer and depression; the three leading causes of death in the UK. 

It’s not a coincidence that the number of people taking out short-term income protection (STIP) is also increasing.

What Is Short-Term Income Protection Insurance? 

There are generally three types of protection insurance policies; life insurance, critical illness and income protection.

All three policies provide your family with financial protection if you were to meet with an untimely death, fall ill with a critical illness or suffer a loss in wages because you are unable to work. 

STIP is essentially accident and sickness insurance. It should be noted that short-term income protection insurance does not cover unemployment. 

Therefore, if you lose your job because the company you work for is making redundancies or goes out of business, a short-term insurance policy will not cover you.

How Does Short-Term Income Protection Provide A Safety Net?

STIP provides you and your family with financial support if you are not available for work due to illness or injury. 

Under the terms of your policy, you will receive monthly payments to cover your mortgage and other general expenses such as utility bills and food shopping. Healthcare costs are also covered.

Payments start once you activate the policy. STIPs are typically activated once your statutory sick pay ends after six months (or 12 months for some employees). 

The amount you will be paid depends on the company and the policy you have. With Bettersafe, a short-term income protection policy assures you of at least 65% of your salary, or £2000, whichever is lower. 

Payments are made until the term stipulated in the STIP policy expires; i.e 1-year, 2-years, 3-years etc. 

However, if you return to work on reduced hours before your policy runs out, you will still be entitled to the monthly payments - providing the number of hours you work is no more than 75% of the hours you usually work each month.

How Much Does Short-Term Insurance Protection Cost?

Most STIP policies are offered for a standard term of two years, but you have the choice to reduce it to one year or extend it to three or even five years.

The cost of an accident and illness STIP depends on the insurance company you use and the qualifying criteria they use. According to money.co.uk, some short term insurance policies are as little as £10 whilst others are over £80.

The amount you will pay per month will be determined by: 

• Age
• Current earnings – the more you earn the higher the cost of STIP
• Your existing health, weight, and hereditary medical history
• Whether you have previously been employed in jobs where you were exposed to dust or chemicals
• Whether you smoke, previously smoked 
• The amount of cover you take short term protection out for marital status
  

For more information about the short-term income protection policies, we offer at Bettersafe, contact a member of our knowledgeable team today.