How Does Income Protection Insurance Help You?

Being sick or suffering an injury is a stressful situation considering the pain and the cost of treatment. Add losing out on income due to the injury or illness into the mix, and the stress goes to a whole new level.

The best way of ensuring that the disruption of your everyday life resulting from an injury stays at the minimum is by carrying an income protection cover. If you are unsure how insurance protection cover can help you, this post is for you.

What Is Income Protection Insurance?

Your capacity to work is your ultimate asset. Like other insurable assets, you can insure your ability to earn a living through income protection insurance. This cover offers a form of continuity in earnings when rendered unable to work due to an injury or illness.

Income benefits can vary from provider to provider, with the average being 70% of income based on your salary in the months before the illness or injury. Choosing an income insurance provider can be overwhelming, given the many in the market.

But there is an easy way out. Online insurance comparison tools like iSelect do the heavy lifting, allowing you to compare the most competitive providers in the market and ensure you get the best deal.

Why Do You Need Income Protection Cover?

The main reason for having income protection insurance is to ensure continuity of a stream of income even after an accident or injury that renders you unable to earn a living. If this is not reason enough, maybe some additional benefits will make you want to have one. Here are some of them.

It Is Customizable

If you purchase your cover from an insurance provider instead of covers provided by super funds, you may have the option of customizing it to fit your circumstances.

For example, you can choose to have your policy start paying benefits as early as two weeks after a successful claim for a higher premium or set a longer waiting period for a lower premium. Some companies allow up to two years delay before starting receiving compensation.

You can also choose the length of time your benefits run or go for one that runs your entire productive life, ending at 65 years.

There is also an option of choosing benefits that increase with age as your salary would over the years. This customization ensures that everyone gets a cover that fits their budget and serves their purpose.

You Can Use Your Cover to Care for a Sick Child

Besides customization, you can also opt for additional features on your cover, such as a family care cover.

A family care feature allows a parent to step off from work to care for a sick or injured child without worrying about lost wages because the cover can still pay them a fraction of their income for the time they are out of work.

However, this benefit is only applicable if the child is too ill to attend school or childcare. Also, waiting periods and the period the cover has runs apply.

The Claims Process Is Straightforward

The mention of insurance claims brings to mind lengthy and complicated procedures that nobody wishes to find themselves in. But this is not the case with income protection insurance. Most providers try to make the claims process as straightforward as possible.

If a disease or injury renders you unable to work, you only need to file a report with your insurer and provide them with your doctor’s paperwork and income information.

After a claim is approved based on the doctor’s report, you will start receiving compensation depending on the waiting period set in your policy document.