Income Protection...

[JillyC8]

Could anyone tell me their experiences/thoughts on income protection and whether it's worth it? I'm a single parent of teenagers and I work full time. I'm quite anxious about what would happen if I lost my job or was ill long term etc, but not sure if I'm over-worrying.
I almost took out cover but backed out at the last minute as I thought it was expensive and I read a few horror stories about people having difficulty getting pay outs. I'm over 50 so the premiums wouldn't be the cheapest.
Whilst the children are under 18 I'd be entitled to help to some degree through benefits, if the worse happened, and I also receive maintenance, so am I better off waiting till all that stops then take it out later? Thoughts/experiences appreciated.
I only have about a month's savings as I don't have a lot left over at the end of the month.

Some questions to consider....

Have you considered critical illness insurance? The premiums are often cheaper. You probably know this would give you a lump sum rather than indefinite term income. But, generally, speaking you either get better from an illness, (or, sadly die, in which case, other things pay out like pensions and life insurance and death inservice). I know that’s not the case for all illnesses so you may wish to go for th to income protection.

How much sick pay are you entitled to though work?

If you’re getting maintenance, would you exP be in a position to help out with DC costs if you got ill?

Overall, I think income protection is an expensive product and at my place of work we tend to sell more critical illness policies, especially to those in your situation (ie with DC).

Hi, thanks for your reply ... I'm just as concerned about unemployment to be honest, and although my ex might help a bit more, it would probably be minimal. Maybe I could get just mortgage payment protection? Im paranoid about not being able to pay the mortgage. Sick pay at work is for around five/six weeks so I kind of feel ok with that ...

I’ve had it and claimed on it for unemployment. No-one argued my claim - I had to prove I was job hunting, but those requirements weren’t onerous.

IMO, you need to think about how quickly you’d likely get a new job. Premiums are sky high if you want it to kick in immediately, but lower dramatically if you can wait two or three months. But of course, if you’ve found a new job in that time, it never pays out... You also need to keep on paying premiums whilst you’re claiming, so you’d need to be able to afford those.