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MNHQ

NOW CLOSED: Talk to Unum about "The Right Time to Talk About a Back Up Plan" - you could win a £250 Amazon voucher

4 replies

AnnMumsnet · 24/09/2012 09:41

Following on from the challenge Unum set MNers earlier this year we've now been asked by them to ask your opinions on "The Right Time to Talk about a Back Up Plan".

A Back Up Plan is all about knowing what you'd be entitled to from:

a) your employer
b) any protection policies you have and/or
c) the state (existing benefits you may receive and also any you'd be entitled to due to the change in circumstance)

... should you or your partner be unexpectedly unable to do paid work due to illness or injury.

Unum say "Most of us manage to get by on our monthly wage with some savings for a rainy day, but what would you do if you became ill or were injured and had to stay off work for a long period of time? We know it might be a bit daunting to think about this. But we want to get Mumsnetters talking about Back Up Plans, like income protection - and how and when is the best time to ask about this and start to put something into place".

Unum have produced a guide for helping create a Back Up Plan - please take a few minutes to look at the information on this from Unum and let us know what you think.

~ Have you had this discussion with your workplace? Has your DP/DH?
~ At what point would/did you negotiate your benefits at work - was it when you started, or maybe when you returned to work after maternity leave? Or have you - or would you - raise it at an appraisal?
~ Have you thought about or considered what benefits you or your family would be entitled to should you have to be off work sick, or if your DP was off sick? What do you think you'd get and how would you find out about it?
~ What impact does the recession have on your views of this?
~ If you've successfully asked your employer about this what tips would you pass on?
~ If you're an employer yourself what do you think about this?

For more information on Unum please click here
We have some MN bloggers working on this too and you can read their blogs here and here

Any other comments welcome. If you have questions for Unum please visit twitter.com/askunum

Everyone who adds their comments and experiences to this thread will be entered into a prize draw where one winner will get a £250 Amazon voucher.

Thanks and good luck
MNHQ

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MNHQ

AnnMumsnet · 24/09/2012 13:37

Thanks for responses so far...Unum asked me to post the below to those with queries/ questions about Unum:

"Unum only provides Income Protection cover to employers. This means they are able to protect their employees' salary if they are unable to work through long term illness or injury. In most instances, it is the employer who pays for the policy, not the employees. This is the same as other benefits you might get through work, such as life insurance. Until March 2012, a small part of Uunum's business was selling to individuals, but this has been closed to focus on the workplace, which Unum believe is the best place to get Income Protection.
Besides costs there are several other reasons why it is better for you to get Income Protection through work. A scheme through work insures a group of people, rather than looking at individuals. This means that, if you're at work when the policy starts, you'll likely to get cover, even if you've had illnesses or other conditions before. If you try to get an individual policy, you probably won't get the same cover. Your company is also likely to have an financial adviser, who will be able to advise on the most suitable scheme - many people don't have an IFA to turn to. Your HR team or the person who looks after your benefits at work is also likely to have had previous experience of buying similar products.

Unum is a completely separate company to Atos, who run the Work Capability Assessment (WCA) for the Employee and Support Allowance (ESA) state benefit. Unum has no involvement with, or visability of, the running of this system. For answers to more questions you might have about Income Protection or Unum or to ask your own question go to blog.unum.co.uk/your-questions/

Unum work hard to protect the incomes of more than 1.9 million people in the UK and in 2011 we paid out more than £5 million a week as payments to our customers".

MNHQ

AnnMumsnet · 26/09/2012 13:55

Some more feedback from Unum for you: "Thank you for your comments so far, we'd like to set the record straight about a few of things mentioned on this thread. Unum has been established in the UK for more than 40 years and insures almost half of the FTSE 100. We specialise in financial protection - Income Protection, life insurance and critical illness - sold exclusively to employers to protect their employers. We have never sold private medical insurance and have nothing whatsoever to do with NHS reforms. The reality is that - especially for those in the 'squeezed middle', earning £25-50,000 - if you needed to rely on state benefits if you were off work through illness or injury, these would represent a significant drop in salary for a lot of people, Income Protection provides a safety net for employees in this situation".

MNHQ

AnnMumsnet · 26/09/2012 18:25

Leithlurker - just to clarify - I've posted for Unum because we at the towers normally prefer to do it this way round.

MNHQ

AnnMumsnet · 02/10/2012 19:26

Thanks for all the comments. The name out of the hat was mrsbunnyw and she wins the £250 Amazon voucher - well done.

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