The women who need protection
THE DAILY MAIL - 11TH NOVEMBER 2002
Government plans to make swingeing cuts in the state’s £7.6billion incapacity benefit bill mean that more people will have to rely on disability insurance.
Women often have to pay 50 pc to 70 pc more for this kind of cover, but a new generation of health insurance plans makes it easier for working women to guard against financial difficulty if they become too ill or disabled to work.
Burgesses’ Incomesafe policy offers unisex premiums staring at £10 a month. An office worker taking out this policy would pay £20 a month in order to get a £1,000-a-month disability income pay-out.
The plan covers every occupation and virtually every disability. It pays after four weeks’ incapacity – a valuable option for self-employed people who can’t turn to an employer in times of ill health.
One limitation is the maximum pay-out period of two years – although most people do in fact recover within that time. Under longer benefit period policies, a woman in an office job – depending on her age – could pay up to £202 to insure her income for £1,000 a month.
Unum’s new Essential Ability Cover policy caters for a wide range of people who can find it difficult to get insurance – housewives (or husbands), the newly self0employed and people who change jobs frequently.
Under this plan, a 35-year-old woman would pay £17.43 a month to insure an income of £1,000 a month. Payments would begin after 13 weeks of continuous disability, usually up to a maximum period of two years.
It pays if you ‘pass’ three out of 11 simple ‘functional assessment’ test – such as being unable to stand for more than ten minutes – or if you’re mentally ill.
These plans are not perfect safety nets but they do offer simpler, low-cost options to more than 90 pc of woman who have no insurance at all.
Self0employed women could, for example, combine on year’s cover under Incomesafe with a long-term benefit plan having a one-year ‘waiting period’, and enjoy overall savings.
Because the risks of disability to women are fairly high – higher than for men – getting protection is wise. Statistics show that a 35-year-old woman has a more than one-in-three chance of being off work for longer than three months before reaching 65.
Growing causes of disability, according to Unum, include mental and psychological incapacity, ME (chronic fatigue), bad backs and Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI), now know as Occupational Overuse Syndrome.
The maximum state incapacity benefit at the moment is only £64.70 per week, excluding supplements for spouses and children. To qualify you have to show you can’t perform any job, not just your own job.
The Government wants people to rely more on private insurance. But choosing a disability policy can be complex, so it is sensible to take Independent financial advice.
