Hi all,
I’d be most grateful if anyone out there could recommend the best income protection policy. I realize this is subject to personal scenarios. I’m single, non smoker, no major operations, I work in intellectual/psych disability, etc. Think of ‘George Costanza’ from ‘Seinfield’ minus the weight and baldness and that’s where I’m at. Replies are most appreciated.
Serenity now and many thanks,
Gatsby.Gatsby,
Not sure *where* to get it from, but I thought I’d let you in on a little anecdote. One of my colleague’s daughters went to get income protection insurance and disclosed that she had some depression issues. She got knocked back from that form of insurance and was VERY upset (and no doubt embarrassed). Food for thought.
kay henry
Hi Kay,
Love those policy fineprints – make sure you tell us everything of relevance and when you do – sorry too big a risk.
Derek
[email protected]Property Investment Support Available. Ongoing and never stopping. PM welcome.
I suggest you shop around
they do vary
and get what you want in a policy, you know they are pretty expensive and if you have some super cover, you may find you have some cover like trauma, accident,or er death, depends on the funds.Income protection is one thing, but they usually have the clauses and charges befitting the time frames, eg three months wait to be paid or for the benefit to kick in can save you a lot of dollars on the premium.
as with any insurance shop around.
I dont have income protection. I have trauma and a death benefit.
I do have a good super fund though, which will also pay death, and other benefits if something happens to me.I have have a current will!
There is no simple answer, but on the whole if you are female, and a non smoker you will be better off. Weight will cause problems, if you are over wieght for height with many. (depends on policy)
so do some research, you can check many online, try some bank ones for starters, but they are expensive and usually commission driven, whihc is what you really dont want…..well I dont anyway
” a blind man may see what a sighted man may not”
Hi Gatsby,
My advice is to shop around and read the fine print very carefully. Most reputable insurance companies offer income protection insurance of some sort. Premiums will vary considerally depending on the level of cover you want. Be honest with your medical history or you will be caught out if you ever claim.I had a policy with a large company ( can’t name names for obvious reasons ) and had an accident and damaged my back. I lodged a claim and they contacted my doctor and asked for my records for the last 20 years. Because i had forgotten to list a back complaint about 10 years before they rejected my claim. The only good thing to come of it was they refunded all my policy contributions, then cancelled my policy.It is much like property investing, do your due dillegence.Foston
Many thanks for the replies,
Kaye also thanks but also think from ‘Eillen to Newman’ (George just seemed to CREATE problems and then find solutions to them) but the clause is a good one to keep in mind. Anymore suggestions or good experiences much appreciated.
Many thanks,
Gatsby.I’m single, non smoker, no major operations, I work in intellectual/psych disability, etc. Think of ‘George Costanza’ from ‘Seinfield’ minus the weight and baldness and that’s where I’m at.Even as a Seinfield fan, I don’t really understand where you are at.
Income protection is not life/permanent disability insurance, and looks at your employment history as well as health.
You say you work, they will ask how long, how secure your job, how good is your health. If your have a basic salary plus overtime, they have all sorts of ways to pay you only the basic salary and for a relatively short period. They will factor in your right to receive unemployment, factor in your partners income, investment income, the ways for them not to pay or pay too little too late are far too many.
In addition, the rates are relatively high in comparison to the benefit. I cannot say they are not worth it, but you must shop around.
If I was determined to have such insurance, I would go through a broker to have it all explained in fine detail, I would only believe half of what I see printed and nothing that is told to me.
May God bless you
and prosper you.
MarcHI George, er Gatsby,
I’m in the same boat, just signed up a policy for my hubby. Actually hasn’t been approved yet…waiting on doctor’s report.
Some points my accountant advised me to look for:
(These may only be relevant to us)* Go for the level premiun, not the increasing.
A level premium basically locks you in at the age you are now, with generally only CPI increases. It starts off more expensive, but for us it was the better option.
The increasing premium, starts off cheaper, but the older you get, the more expensive it becomes.* Check if the policy insures you for your specific occupation. Many policies will only pay you if you are unable to do ANY type of work. The policy we have taken is occupation specific, which is important if you are trained in a specific area.
* Also check what income sources the insurer will deduct from your payments. Some consider all income, some don’t. Check how they deal with lump sums from othe sources, eg TAC. I think one company took the lump sum as income, worked out how many weeks it was worth and wouldn’t pay you until that time was up. Others take the sum,divide it over a number of years eg 10yrs, then reduce you monthly benefits by that amount.
Hope it helps a little,
Sue [biggrin]“Be careful not to step on the flowers when you’re reaching for the stars”
Gatsby,
It might be worthwhile negotiating this type of insurance with your employer as part of your package. It would be more worthwhile in the long run that having those other things like car lease etc (not good value, in my opinion). We get IPI as a condition of employment. I’d rather it than life insurance (although we get that too in our super). Being dead is not gonna help sustain my lifestyle, but income protection is. Having said that, one can probably only get about 70% of former wages anyway on IPI (can anyone confirm what you actually get and for how long?) so I think the aim would be to get another job pretty much straight away anyway.
kay henry
Interesting posts and something i was considering also when the baby arrives and we go to one income ..
Keep the replies coming, be interesting to find out more information on the subject..
REDWING
“Money is a currency, like electricity and it requires momentum to make it Effective”
Count The Currency With This Online Positive Cashflow CalculatorDear Kaye, Elves, Derik, Foston, Marc 1, Sue, et al. Many thanks for all your advice and important suggestions and experiences shared. WOW! I’m starting to wonder if income protection is worth it??? I’m not interested in Life insurance, Death (that’s already insured to happen!). I just want to cover my income for cashflow. I’ll do some more research bearing all your suggestions and Seinfield re-runs in mind. Thanks again.
Cheers,
Gatsby.Hi Kaye and all,
How long you get paid for, is how long you insure for….i.e you can get policies that pay you benefits for 2 yrs, 5 yrs or age sixtyfive. We;re going with the to 65 policy.
The maximum you can get is 75% of your current wage, as far as I could tell anyway. And you have to prove it when you claim, which could be really hard for us as we are self employed.
I couldn’t understand why you can’t insure for a set income. For example, insure yourself for $1000 per week, if you are willing to pay the premium, why can’t you do it? Do they think we are going to injure ourselves to get an income insurance payout?
You can insure your life for a million dollars and no-one says you can’t do that, you’re not worth that much……[biggrin]
Am I missing a major difference here?
Cheers,
Sue [blink]“Be careful not to step on the flowers when you’re reaching for the stars”
The best income protection scheme is a portfolio of positively geared property with a few negatively geared ones plus a healthy share portfolio & some direct business investments.
Any other form of insurance comes with so many caveats & is operated by companies who have an interest in not paying you.
Put your money where it will do the most good.
Cheers,
Aceyducey
Marc 1,
from your response I’m assuming that you don’t have or believe in income protection. Forgive me if I’m wrong but after reading a few other replies I get the feeling that there are mixed opinions on this issue favouring against the income protection on a cost vs benefit ratio which I’m also leaning towards. I apologize if the George ‘where I’m at’ may have confused people as to ‘where I’m at’ as to my position in this property game. Take your pick. my prefence is George, as he was always getting into a problem but somehow always found an answer (solution), just like the philosophy of finding success in positive cashflow properties. I’m more than happy to exchange this for Elaine or Newman. I’d even go as far as Mr Peterson but I draw the line as ‘Soup Nazi’ (Banya is RIGHT OUT!).
Cheers,
Kramer. (Giddy Up!!)Gatsby,
As another “exit strategy” from work, you might also think about getting your redundancy payments negotiated to a worthwhile amount. That in itself, is a form of insurance, and can tide you over until your next choice of work. It’s a nice way to get up a few immediate deposits too if yer lucky!
kay henry
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