Income Protection
At SMH Financial Services, we understand that your income is your livelihood, and protecting it should be a top priority. That’s why we offer a comprehensive income protection service to help you safeguard your financial future.
What is Income Protection?
Income protection is a type of insurance that provides a regular income if you are unable to work due to illness or injury. It helps you to cover your bills and maintain your standard of living while you focus on recovering and returning to work. It pays out until you can start working again or until you retire or the end of the policy term whichever is sooner.
What does income protection insurance cover?
It covers most illnesses that leave you unable to work – but whether that means ‘unable to work at your current job’ (perhaps due to work-related stress) or ‘unable to work at all’ (perhaps due to a serious heart condition) depends on the type of policy you choose and the definition of incapacity in your policy.
There are three definitions of incapacity, which form the three basic levels of cover you can get.
Always check the policy and make sure you understand all the definitions before you buy.
How much will you receive?
The amount of income you are allowed to claim will not replace the exact amount of money you were earning before you had to stop work. You can expect to receive about a half to two-thirds of your earnings before tax from your normal job.
When will you receive it?
Income protection policies pay out only once a pre-agreed period has passed, generally ranging from one to 12 months after you were taken ill. The longer the ‘deferral’ period you choose, the lower your premiums. The default deferral period tends to be 13 or 26 weeks, but it can be as low as four weeks.
How an income protection insurer defines your inability to work will also influence if, and when, your income protection policy pays out:
If you would like to arrange an initial meeting with one of our financial advisers, please contact the SMH Financial Services team on info@smh.group or 0114 266 4432.
Financial protection policies typically have no cash in value at any time and cover will cease at the end of the term. If premiums stop, then cover will lapse.