Give Income Protection its rightful place

People are sometimes funny. We often ‘put the cart before the horse’ but expect the horse to continue plodding along as normal. The French writer Voltaire put it best when he said, “Common sense is not so common”. A classic example of this would be Insurance. It seems barely a year passes that a new form of insurance pops up in the marketplace. The vast majority of us have Car Insurance, by law. We may have health insurance and/or Life insurance provided through our employment or set up individually, but many of us also have Pet, gadget and bike insurance to name a few. Yet in all this far fewer people have Income Insurance, known as Income Protection. This is particularly odd when you consider that, without an income, you cannot pay the premiums on any of the above mentioned insurance types. In fact, without an income, you’re unlikely to have a driveway to park that car you insure or to feed your beloved pet.

Income Protection claims in figures

Irish Life, Irelands biggest provider of protection products, recently released their 2020 annual claims report, and while the impact of Covid on claims was noticeable, the claims data on Income Protection policies uncovered some very telling information of its own. Here is a quick summary of the claims reported:  

• The average age of a person claiming Income Protection is 51 years old.    
• Just over 60% of claims in 2020 were for women.
• Women claimed on average four years earlier than men, aged 49 vs 53 for men. 
• Injuries / fractures made up just over 10% of the claims. 
• Mental Health, like 2019, was the main reason for claims, at 22% for both years.
• The number of claims paid out in 2020 by Irish Life was 3,120
• The average annual claim amount paid out was €20,310

What the data tells us

Interestingly, while a claim can occur at any point in your working life, it often takes place in the middle of a career, with an average age of 51 testifying to this fact. The reason for claiming also varies widely. While Income protection claims are often associated with physical injury, mental health and issues relating to stress now make up the majority of Income Protection claims with Cancer (17%) and Musculoskeletal (16%) making up 2^nd and 3^rd.

The average claim amount paid out was €20,310 but it is worth noting that Income protection covers up to 75% of your total earnings less any benefits from the State or other income protection plans with Irish Life so the pay-out sum could be substantially higher depending upon your own salary level. Despite men making up the majority of the workforce 2/3^rds of all claims are made by women and this trend has held for a number of years.

Give income protection its rightful place

If you are in the position today where your life’s ‘gadgets’ are insured but your income is not, it is time to give income protection its rightful place of priority in your life as your income is the very reason for the life you enjoy currently as you ponder this insight.

It may be that you have Income protection already but your family, financial or career circumstances have changed and your protection levels in place require a review. In both circumstances Aspire Wealth Management can help you to safeguard you and your family’s future, yes, even your beloved pet.  

Call us today on 01-8455827 or schedule a call back or Zoom meeting on us through our website www.aspire-wealth.com to discuss your Income Protection needs in more detail.