To not bother with income protection in my circumstances?

[Mashmishmosh]

I’m a single woman buying a flat and have been offered income protection insurance.

My company pay me sick pay for a year so I wouldn’t need any insurance for the first year of illness.

However, I can’t help but think if I STILL can’t work after a year, surely I’d be in a pretty terrible way and would rather just sell up and move back in with my parents? For physical assistance and to keep my spirits up!

Forgive my ignorance but I can’t see what sort of illness would keep me off work for more than year but at the same time, be minor enough for me to happily carry on living unaided!! (Appreciate I am lucky for having parents who’d look after me!)

I actually had a defered start on mine (so kicked in when pay dropped to half at six months). It was an absolute godsend (single parent) when I had a routine operation that went wrong. I became disabled and lost my job, had to claim ill health retirement and benefits (in my 30s). It was a difficult time because applying for these things can take a long time and the income protection kept the roof over our head literally. I think it depends on how much savings you have too, what your outgoings are and what would happen at the year point.

IP is usually a fairly cost effective insurance to have for the unpredictable - which you are trying to predict.

appreciate you mention returning to your parents in worst case, but a) is that fair and b) what if you need carers, medical equipment at home etc. who will pay for that?

IP doesn’t last forever though either there is usually a cap, but in the event that the worst happens, you can find getting yourself set up with what you need before you live a life on benefits.

And remember to include mental health in your list of ‘illnesses’ that could render you unable to work.

I'm also single, and didn't bother getting it either when I bought my house.

I've never bothered with income protection or life insurance. Like you I'm single, no kids or other dependants. I have enough savings to cover me for 2 years out of work, don't feel the need for anything else.

You can’t predict the future.
In 35 years of working and some quite serious illnesses, I’ve only slipped into 1/2 pay once and that was for one month only.
My former company paid full pay for 6 months and 1/2 pay for 6 months.
Where I work now is full pay for 6 months then SSP, where I successfully managed cancer treatment, 4 ops and chemotherapy and never went unpaid in full.
I’ve never had IP, and been a sole earner since 1999 and own my own home.

Would you be well enough to sell up?

I can't vote whether you YABU or YANBU as it's a personal choice, however I took it out after losing my best friend to cancer. I'm post 50, and have lost around 5 social acquaintances and her, to this Godawful disease, all between 40-50. The treatment can be brutal, and go on for more than a year.

Any health insurance you have to weigh up the benefits vs risks.

If you can choose a one year deferral period to kick in only after your company sick pay ends for an affordable cost, then why not.

It may work out cheaper than a critical illness cover that covers only specific conditions and pays out a lump sum instead of a monthly benefit. Check what conditions it cover as it might be broader.

Other people prefer to choose a health plan like Benenden or Bupa.

Or none

Only you can decide what is right and affordable for you.

How would OP this? I had cancer and was never too ill to work. Yes I had the usual 6 weeks off sick post surgery to recover but was straight back to my desk after.

I do spend the money for income protection: I got it because for the job I do, I need to be completely cognitively with it, and I see many people every day who have had things like head injuries or strokes where the person is back on their feet quite quickly for the basics, but they then require extended rehab and possibly a change of work because they can no longer do complex verbally based work. At the time I took it out I was also the breadwinner of the family (and was so stressed I had symptoms I thought were early MS, but I didn’t dare go to the doctor until I had the insurance in place). I also cycled to work, and again saw a lot of people with injuries from bike accidents which needed months off but who would eventually be ok

If I didnt do the job I do, and if I’d been single, I might not have spent the money. I still spend it now because I’m doing the same job and because it seems silly to cancel it for the last few years of my career. It was a lot to me when I took it out, but is ok now. I wouldn’t rule it out - why lose your home if you don’t have to? What if your parents aren’t around? But ultimately you can’t control the future.

Glad it was that way for you but DH was terminal from the outset and through his treatment there were definitely times he wouldn't have been well enough to manage a house sale on top of everything else. Then he had a massive stroke that robbed him of just about everything including cognition he absolutely couldn't have sold a property.

I only started taking income protection when I got married and had children. Before that, I could save enough, and there is only a very low probability you'll ever need it.