Formerly known as permanent health insurance, income protection is an insurance policy that pays out if you’re unable to work because of injury or illness.
Income protection usually pays out until retirement, death or your return to work, although short-term income protection policies, which last for one or two years, are also available at a lower cost.
Neither income protection or short-term income protection pays out if you’re made redundant – but they will often provide ‘back to work’ help if you’re off sick. Income protection is different from critical illness insurance, which pays out a lump sum if you fall seriously ill.
There are a number things to consider when comparing and purchasing income protection insurance, these include:
- The sum insured amount
- The waiting period
- The benefit period
- Partial disability cover
Understanding these terms should allow you to better assess which policy may be right for you.
How to claim
We require notification of death within 90 (ninety) days of it happening. If we are not informed within that time, the claim could be repudiated.
For your claim to be paid we require:
- That your premiums are up to date
- Correct and completed claims documents.
Disputed Claims:
- We allow 90 (ninety) days from the date of the communication of our decision for your beneficiary or estate to question our decision on a claim.
- Should we repudiate the claim again and they wish to start a legal process or log a complaint with the Long-term Insurance Ombud, they will have an additional 180 days, after the 90-day period, to do so.