Safe Workplaces and Income Protection Insurance

One of the questions we encounter frequently, regarding income protection insurance, is the one as to whether people who operate in safe workplaces really need such insurance. To make sense of this question, you need to appreciate the main reason as to why people take income protection insurance. As it turns out, the main reason as to why people take income protection insurance is to ensure that they have a steady income (paid to them by the insurance company) in case they lose their ability to work for quite some time, following an injury or some sort of debilitating illness. Against that background, people who do relatively safe jobs in safe workplaces reckon that they don’t need income protection insurance. Their argument is usually something to the effect that, given the nature of their jobs and the relative safety of their workplaces, they are unlikely to suffer injuries that would put them out of work. So they reckon that they don’t need income protection insurance.
The truth of the matter
The truth of the matter is, indeed, that some jobs are more dangerous than others. Some industries are also more dangerous than in others. Thus, some people are more likely to suffer debilitating injuries at work than others. Having said that, we are also of the opinion that everybody, including those holding on to relatively safe jobs in relatively safe workplaces needs income protection insurance. We will be shortly looking at the reasons as to why we make that assertion.
In order to understand why pretty much everybody needs income protection insurance, we need to appreciate the fact that the benefits from such insurance would accrue, regardless of whether the debilitating injury (or illness) is suffered at the workplace or outside the workplace. The truth of the matter is that everyone is prone to such injuries or illnesses (especially the ones outside the workplace), regardless of the job he or she does, and regardless of the industry he or she is operating in. Anybody – regardless of the job he or she holds, and regardless of the industry — can, for instance, be involved in a road accident, resulting in injuries that make it impossible for him to work for many months. Anybody, again, regardless of the job description or industry, can get ill to a level where he or she simply can’t work. In all these situations, the person in question could quite easily end up desperate.
The good thing
The good thing with income protection insurance is that it is very affordable, in terms of premiums. The premiums you have to pay (say, on a monthly basis) are the sorts of money that you’d otherwise have spent mindlessly. You simply don’t feel the pinch. Yet, in case of income loss due to injury or illness, the insurance can come in handy, providing you with up to 75% of your usual income, for a duration of time that is long enough to facilitate total recovery. True, in case you don’t suffer such injury or illness, you’d have lost the money used in buying the insurance. But in exchange for that, you’d still have gotten peace of mind, for the duration of time when you have the coverage. When all is said and done, peace of mind is the most important thing. It is something worth spending money on.
About the author:
Article by John P. John is the freelancer for australian life insurance and income protection website www.lifedeal.com.au