| Do you have enough protection? | | | | another £250 of the leisure expenses. This |
| Of course you will say yes, everybody does, however | | | | means you have less than £750 of your |
| is this really true? Who are you trying to kid? | | | | savings left. |
| The facts are these; you won't have enough cover, | | | | Ok so it's now month four. Again, you will receive no |
| you won't have enough savings and you are only | | | | money from your employer. You will be paid a grand |
| kidding yourself! | | | | total of £342 in SSP benefits. This means you |
| Take a minute to ask yourself the following questions. | | | | will have had to use another £410 of your own |
| Write the answers down and you will be surprised by | | | | savings just to pay the essential bills. There is no |
| the outcome. | | | | money for leisure expenses. |
| 1. How much money do I bring home a month/week? | | | | The fifth month. Again you have received no money |
| 2. How much sick time do I get from work? | | | | from your employer, a grand total of £342 in |
| 3. Do I get full pay for this time? | | | | SSP and you have no savings! Where are you going |
| 4. How much savings do I have? | | | | to get your essential expenses from? It's this month |
| 5. After all essential expenses how much am I left with | | | | when you will probably miss your 1st mortgage |
| each month? | | | | payment. And of course you're unable to go out as |
| 6. What insurances do I have in place? | | | | you have now spent much of the leisure expenses. |
| 7. If I'm off work for 12 months could I still afford the | | | | This situation will be the same for the following six |
| mortgage? | | | | months! Until unfortunately around the 12 month period |
| Now let me guess the answers. Ok, so I won't know | | | | your property has been repossessed, you have to |
| your income so I'll use an average to fill the gaps. | | | | move into rented accommodation you are unable to |
| 1. £1,000 after tax | | | | afford, and who knows where you will be from then. |
| 2. 1 month full pay 1 month ½ pay | | | | So you can see that just having a small amount of |
| 3. No, only basic salary which is £795 overtime | | | | time off work can have a huge impact on your |
| is not included | | | | lifestyle, all because you didn't want to pay £30 |
| 4. I have around £2,000 and it took 4 years to | | | | a month for income protection. |
| save for that special purpose | | | | OK, point taken,you say. But it will never happen to me. |
| 5. Between £200 and £250. Essential bills | | | | I'm as fit as a fiddle. Yes, this may be true. However, |
| cost me around £750 a month | | | | you do not know what is around the corner. You may |
| 6. None. I'm OK. I don't need them, waste of money | | | | not have to claim for an illness. Maybe it will be an |
| 7. Yeah I would find a way | | | | accident. Maybe you catch a disease, swine flu for |
| OK so what were your results? Similar I presume or | | | | example. |
| maybe not, stay with me. Like I said you will be | | | | Some quick facts for you: |
| surprised with the end results. Let me explain further. | | | | Statistically you are 19 times more likely to be off ill for |
| Say you tripped and broke a bone in your neck and | | | | more than 6 months before the age of 65 than not! |
| you were unable to go back to work for 12 months | | | | Every year more than 150,000 people in the UK suffer |
| due to complications phsyio etc. Stay with me on this | | | | a stroke! That's one every 5 minutes. |
| one it could happen. | | | | Breast cancer is now the most common form of |
| Using the information you've written down, work | | | | cancer! |
| through the following calculation with me. So the first | | | | You have a 1 in 5 chance of being off ill with long term |
| month you would receive £795, which just | | | | sickness. |
| about covers your essential expenses. | | | | Did you know that Government figures released state |
| The second month you receive £397.50, which | | | | that as of August 2008 more than 1.2million people had |
| means you need to use £350 of your savings, | | | | been off work for more than 5 years due to illness! |
| just to pay the essential bills and £250 of | | | | Friends Provident's figures show that over 58% of |
| enjoyment expenses so you're already down to | | | | their current income protection claims, have been |
| £1400 in savings. And this is just the second | | | | claimed for more than 5 years |
| month! | | | | So you are starting to come around to the idea. It |
| The third month, you receive no money from your | | | | does make sense and until I became an adviser I |
| employer and you receive a £79.15 a week | | | | thought the same as you. Now I know different I have |
| SSP (statutory sick pay) which totals £342 a | | | | the cover and try to tell as many people as I can to |
| month. Therefore you need to use another £410 | | | | get cover because you never know when it will be |
| of your hard earned savings, just to pay the bills and | | | | too late. |