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What is Income Protection? Income Protection Insurance is an effective way to cover loss of income due to unemployment, accident and sickness.

You don't have to declare any of your expenses such as outgoings towards mortgages, loans or other commitments as income protection is purely income based.

There are several income protection insurance providers. Every insurer has a well-defined approach towards how much you can cover yourself for. Most insurers allow up to 50% of your gross monthly income as the maximum benefit amount, while some insurers allow up to 65% of your gross monthly income. Best Insurance offers you up to £5,000 of monthly benefit.

Income Protection Insurance can be divided broadly into two types – Short Term Income Protection Insurance and Long Term Income Protection Insurance.

With the short term policies, the cover options you have available are:

• Unemployment, Accident & Sickness
• Accident & Sickness only
• Unemployment only

Short Term and Long Term Income Protection Insurance With long term policies, the cover options you have available are "Accident & Sickness only". There are some insurers who offer medium term policies such as policies for 5 years and the type of cover you can choose will depend on the insurer.

You can buy income protection insurance regardless of your type of employment – employed, self-employed or contract employment. The eligibility criteria differs depending on your type of employment. With the short term policies, the maximum number of months you can seek a claim will be 12 to 18 months. With the long term policies, you can cover until your age of 65 years. It is important to note that if you are looking for unemployment only then the maximum you can cover will be only 12 to 18 months.

The other difference between short term and long term policies is the way they are underwritten. This is applicable for accident and sickness policies. The short term policies are usually underwritten only when a claim is made which means the insurer will offer you a policy without going into any details of your medical conditions and you can buy them immediately. The long term policies are underwritten before you buy them and you will have to go through a detailed medical interview.

Eligibility and Excess Periods It is important to note that income protection policies have well defined eligibility criteria and you have to ensure that you meet all of them, failure to do so can result in the insurer not paying your claim. You also have a choice in terms of excess days. Excess period is the number of days you will have to wait before you start accruing your claim. Best Insurance offers a wide range right from back to day 1 to excess of 120 days.

Speaking to an advisor helps you understand the policies better, exclusions, any special terms and conditions and the fine print! Call us on 0330 330 9465.

Eligibility Criteria for Income Protection Insurance While the exact eligibility will vary from insurer to insurer, cover type you select, your employment type and conditions, broadly speaking they are as follows:

1. You should be a permanent resident in the UK, Channel Islands or Isle of Man;

2. You should be employed, self-employed, or a contract worker, working for at least 16 hours a week within the UK, Channel Islands or Isle of Man; or working for at least 16 hours a week outside the UK, Channel Islands or Isle of Man for either:

a) Armed Forces, Civil Service; or b) a company registered in the UK, Channel Islands or Isle of Man and you are required to work within the European Union;

3. You're aged 18 or over but under 64 years old on the policy start date;

4. Immediately before the policy start date you've been working for a minimum of six consecutive months; and

5. You haven't been told by your employer, verbally or in writing, that you may lose your job or your employer hasn't formally announced a re-organisation, restructure or programme of redundancy which affects your role.

Eligibility for Unemployment Insurance With most insurers, for "unemployment" covers:

1. You will not be covered for unemployment which you've been told about, either verbally or in writing, or a re-organisation, restructure or programme of redundancy, affecting your role, which is formally announced by your employer before your unemployment cover starts.

2. You will not be covered for unemployment which you've been told about, either verbally or in writing, or a re-organisation, restructure or programme of redundancy, affecting your role, which is formally announced by your employer within the 60 days / 90 days qualifying period unless it is a policy transfer;

3. Not covered for voluntary unemployment, including resignation, or unemployment due to a disciplinary action by your employer. There are some insurers who do not exclude for disciplinary actions and will be considered on a case by case basis.

4. Not covered for unemployment caused by your employer terminating your contract within, or at the end of, your stated probationary period

Eligibility for Accident & Sickness Insurance With most insurers, for short term "Accident & Sickness" covers:

1. You will not be covered in the 12 months / 24 months from your policy start date, or the date you add accident and sickness cover to your policy, for any medical condition for which you've had symptoms, treatment or medical advice during the previous 12 months / 24 months;

2. Not covered for loss of income arising due to sickness related to normal pregnancy;

3. Not covered for medical conditions such as stress, anxiety, depression or any nervous disorder, back or back related conditions, unless your condition is confirmed by a suitably qualified consultant and you remain under the continuing care of a suitably qualified consultant, or your treatment is under the direction of a suitably qualified consultant; 4. Not covered for elective or cosmetic surgery, which isn't medically necessary.

IMPORTANT: The above points are just a generalised list to help you understand the type of qualifying criteria and do not replace the policy wordings that will be provided to you when you get a quote from us.

1. What types of covers can I get with your income protection insurance? You have 3 types of covers with short term income protection policies – unemployment only, accident & sickness only and the comprehensive unemployment, accident and sickness policy. With long term policies you will be able to get accident & sickness covers.

2. How long do I have to wait before my claim is paid out? You can choose how long you wish to wait. This term is referred to as "excess period". If you choose a back-to-day 1 cover, you will be covered from the very first date of your loss of income. If you choose 30 days excess, you are not covered for the first 30 days and will be covered from day 31 onwards and you will receive your first payment on day 61. With short term policies you should be signed off or be unemployed for 30 consecutive days before you can make a claim. With long term policies having lower excess periods such as 3 days, 1 week or 2 weeks, you can get your claim sooner.

3. Am I covered for my existing medical conditions? You will be excluded for your existing medical conditions and also any medical conditions you have had in the past 12 to 24 months from making a claim. With some insurers such as L&G, you will be allowed to make a claim after the first 12 months of your policy start date and with others, it can be 24 months or not at all. With long term policies, the insurer will explain your exclusions depending on the medical interview you will have to undergo before your policy is incepted.

4. How long should I be employed for before I can take your income protection insurance? You should be employed for a minimum of 6 months and should not be signed off sick when you are buying the policy. This can be slightly lower with some insurers and hence please speak to your advisor if you have not been employed for 6 consecutive months when you are buying your policy.

5. Can I transfer policies from other providers to you? Yes you can. With most policy transfers, the waiting period will be waived off. It is however dependant on how long your existing policy has been in force, benefit amount and whether you have made any claims on your current policy.

6. How can I make sure that all the terms and conditions are provided to me before I buy? Best Insurers advisors will give limited information and provide detailed quotes by email. You should ask for IPID documents and the full set of policy wordings, read them carefully before you decide to buy.

7. Can I take two or more income protection policies? Yes you can so long as the total benefit amount of such policies does not exceed the maximum benefit amount specified by the insurers.

8. With long term income protection policies, can my benefit amount increase linked to inflation? If you would like your benefit amount to rise in line with inflation, you must seek RPI index linked policies. Such policies can be more expensive but they will ensure that you do not lose your buying power over long periods of time.

9. How long will it take to incept a short term income protection policy? Short term policies can be incepted immediately. It should normally take about 15-20 minutes for the advisors to go through all the qualifying and underwriting questions. The policies will be in-force with immediate effect.

10. How long will it take to incept long term income protection policy? With the long term policies, the advisors will initially require about 15-20 minutes to go through all your qualifying questions. The insurer will then call you separately for an in-depth medical interview which can last for about 30-45 minutes. After the medical interview, the underwriters look into each case individually and give them acceptance or highlight exclusions. You will receive a detailed quote and based on your acceptance, the policy can go live.

11. Can Best Insurance provide me a comparison of quotes? Yes, Best Insurance can provide you a range of quotes. Best Insurance also provides various options on combining covers from various providers bespoke to your requirements. Your advisor will provide you with the options and also discuss the pros and cons of each one of them.

12. Can I cancel the policy if I don't need it after a few months? With most policies, you are not tied to the insurer with any long term contractual arrangements. You can cancel your policy at any time. With some insurers you may incur a small administration fee. Please read your terms and conditions of your policy.

13. Do I need to disclose my outgoings with your income protection insurance? With income protection insurance, you don't have to disclose any of your outgoings. The advisors will ask you some of your larger commitments such as monthly mortgage payments or loan payments as it will allow them to compare a wider range of insurers.

14. Why should I buy from Best Insurance? Best Insurance is one of the largest retailers of income protection insurance which means you are buying from the market leader. You get no-obligation quotes, free information, support in selecting an appropriate policy, market comparisons and explanation of policy conditions. This will ensure that you qualify fully. All these at the most competitive price.

15. Can I include my partner as a joint policy holder? Yes with some of the short term policies you can have joint cover holders. Speak to your advisor and they will clarify whether the insurer selected for you will allow joint policy holders or not.

IMPORTANT: PLEASE NOTE THAT THESE POLICIES ARE ACCURATE ON THE DATE THESE POLICIES WERE FIRST MADE AVAILABLE HERE. FOR LATEST VERSIONS, PLEASE SPEAK TO YOUR ADVISORS.

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