Aviva have recently announced that they have launched a new income protection product to the market. In a move that can only be considered good news for the consumer there are now four main players in the market (New Ireland, Friends First, Irish Life and now Aviva)
Income Protection is a product that is so important but is often overlooked by individuals. Only between 12% and 15% of the working population have Income Protection Cover. Not to be confused with redundancy cover, Income Protection (also known as PHI) provides an Income if you cannot work due to illness or injury.
While some employers may pay sick pay for up to six months (after that you’re on your own), in a lot of cases employees who find themselves unable to work have to survive on the state benefit of €10,192. If you are self employed that reduces to nil. Even the civil service are not safe, for example HSE employees only receive full sick pay for six months if they cannot work due to illness or injury.
Income Protection is relatively cheap for most types of employment. For example a 35 year old office based worker, male can protect an Income of €40k of annual income for circa €35 per month (assuming tax relief at 49%, 26 week deferred period) to age 65. SmartQuotes.ie offer Income Protection from all four market providers. Income Protection has a number of variables which can be difficult to make sense of such as terms such as deferred period, indexation, occupation etc. Why not go online and get a quote in a few easy step and one of our team will call you back to go through the quote over the phone.