Cheap income protection can be found
- 1ST OCTOBER 2007
If you want cheap income protection while getting a quality policy then you have to go with the standalone specialist provider. There have been many problems with the payment protection insurance (PPI) sector since the first investigation into the sector began in 2005 when the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) received a super complaint from the Citizens Advice. The Financial Services Authority subsequently fined several high street names before the OFT referred the sector to the Competition Commission. One of the problems among many was the high premiums that were being charged for the cover along with adding the income protection insurance cost onto the loan without the consumer being aware of the total cost of the cover.
One standalone specialist is British Insurance. Headed by the very outspoken Simon Burgess, they provide cheap income protection insurance. Simon comments: “The high street lender more often than not rips off the consumer by charging extortionate premiums for policies that are inferior in comparison to those that a specialist provider charges. Cheap income protection can be a valuable asset to have but it has to be bought correctly with your circumstances in mind because there are exclusions which could stop it from being suitable for your circumstances. Common exclusions include being in part time work, suffering from a pre-existing medical condition or being of retirement age.”
Simon explains that if the cheap income protection cover is suitable for your circumstances then it would begin to payout once you had been out of work for a defined period of time which can be from the 31st day with British Insurance but some providers ask that you wait up to the 90th day. Once the cover has started to payout it would continue to give you a replacement income which covers up to a certain amount of your lost income each month for up to 12 months and with some providers for up to 24 months.
He summaries: “Shop around for cheap income protection and get several quotes from standalone specialist providers and ensure you read the small print thoroughly before signing on the dotted line.”
