The gender of the bread winner is irrelevant, when their income is lost

The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) absence management annual survey report recently highlighted that stress is the second biggest cause of short term absences and one of the leading causes of all long-term absences for non-manual workers.

It also highlighted a perhaps previously unknown fact that women are nearly three times more likely to take stress-related absence than men, according to new research.

Analysis using Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) statistics has shown that 74% of stress-related absences were made by women, with only 26% of absences being taken by men.(Absence data from October to December 2010 showed that 31,000 women took sick days citing stress, depression or anxiety, compared to 11,000 men.)

But putting gender comparison to one side,  if stress is one of the leading causes of long-term absence  - what happens if  the condition takes a bread winner beyond the point where company sick pay concludes and their income changes to state benefit?

Would c. £90 pw be enough to cover the costs of running your home ? ………Mortgage , Council Tax , Electricity , Gas , Water , Food , Phone , Internet , Satellite TV, train travel , fuel for car , tax for the car , insurance for the car….it all adds up…..dare one say on the basis of this,  is £90pw enough to ensure that you KEEP your home ?

But what if you could ensure that for the equivalent cost of a shop bought coffee each day , all of the above items would be met ?

Many people do not realise that Income Protection Policies do recognise stress as a condition that would enable a claim to be made – in fact the average claim period for income protection policies is 7 years.

There is flexibility on both the periods before pay outs happen (to take account of sick pay periods) and the length of time they pay out for (end of the policy term for full income protection and two years for budget income protection (approx 50% lower cost).

Think it wont happen to you ? …..life cover more important than protecting income? I leave you with this thought…..

Income protection policies are only held by 4% of the nation…..and yet income protection policy claims currently outweigh life insurance claims 4 to 1.

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Interested in finding out more ? ……then please drop me a line at mark@themortgagemonkey.co.uk