The working world has changed dramatically in recent years. A
lot of us are working harder and longer hours and there are fewer
jobs for life. One thing, however, remains constant and that's
the fact that most of us need to work to pay the bills and to
enjoy all the nice things in life like holidays, cars and Christmas
presents. Bills don't stop arriving - even if we are very sick.
Without a regular income, most of us would struggle to get by.
Even those of us who have savings or investments would struggle,
as they won't last long when surviving on government benefits.
That's where Income Cover for Sickness comes in. Income Cover
for Sickness pays out an income if you're unable to work because
of illness or injury.
You can choose to cover up to 50% of your gross salary to a maximum
of £12,500 a month. And if you make a claim under this
cover and then return to work, your cover remains in force in
case you should ever need it again.
Your choices
Of course the choices you make will depend
on your own particular circumstances.
When you make a claim you can choose to have Income Cover for Sickness paid in any of the following ways:
• A level monthly income
• An increasing monthly income (there's an extra cost for this option)
Choose either:
• A fixed rate between 2% and 5% a year, or
• A rate based on the change in Retail Price Index (between 2% and 10%).
You can choose Income Cover for Sickness on a single life basis.
Single life can cover
• Just yourself
• Just your partner
• Both you and your partner (two potential payouts)
You can choose how soon after becoming ill your payments will start. We call this option a deferred period. You can choose either:
• 4 weeks
• 13 weeks
• 26 weeks or
• 52 weeks
The longer you wait for payments to start the cheaper your monthly plan payment will be.
The longer you want us to make payments, the more expensive your plan will be. You can choose to be paid either:
• Up to 1 year
• Up to 2 years
• To the end of the cover term.
How sick do I have to be before I make a claim?
This will depend on the definition of incapacity on your plan. We will decide which definition applies to you when you take out your plan and we will confirm this on the cover summary we send you when your plan starts.
The definition of incapacity we give you will depend on your health, whether you are working and if so, your occupation. The definition will be either:
Own occupation
This means that we will pay out your cover if an illness or injury prevents you from doing the essential duties of your occupation.
Working tasks
Sometimes we cannot give you an own occupation definition. This might be because of the type of work that you do or because you are not working. We may then offer you a definition which will pay out depending on whether you are able to carry out specific work-related tasks. We call these 'working tasks' and if this definition applies to you we will pay out your cover if an illness or injury prevents you from doing at least 2 out of the 6 working tasks shown below:
Working tasks - walking; lifting; using a pen, pencil or keyboard; hearing; speech; vision.
You can also add other covers to your plan to give you the right
amount and type of cover for your own circumstances.