People in employment may want to cover themselves against possible redundancy and loss of income following revelations that a good percentage of their employers risk succumbing to the recession due to the way they operate.
Research from Scottish Widows has revealed that many businesses in the UK are not doing enough to shield themselves from the unexpected, which underscores the need for people to put in place their own protection mechanisms.
Such mechanisms include taking out products such as income protection insurance or accident sickness and unemployment cover, which can come in handy should a person lose their source of income in the event of a company going into administration.
According to the research, despite the fact that three in five UK businesses admit that they would not be able to survive if they were to lose a key employee, four in five (81 per cent) depend on such important persons.
More worryingly, 67 per cent of businesses do not have any key employee insured with life cover or critical illness protection, which could leave them badly exposed if the person was to be taken ill or die. These findings highlight the importance of people having their own fallback plans, which can guarantee some continuity in earnings.
There are now some providers of income protection and life insurance policies that offer unemployment cover as an add on benefit. An advisor at a leading online comparison site points out that although you must have a small amount of life cover with the policy if you do not require income protection cover that their premiums were still highly competitive.
Where can I find out more about unemployment cover?
Many online comparison websites allow you to compare premiums on the standard accident sickness and unemployment cover providers. However none of these sites currently have the facility to offer quotes on life insurance or income protection cover providers who offer unemployment as a rider benefit.
To obtain quotations on polices that offer unemployment benefit as a rider benefit you could also contact an independent financial advisor. Most financial advisors do not charge a fee and have access to all the major insurance companies. The will review your complete financial situation and make a recommendation to suit your circumstances and budget. With all financial advice you are not obliged to take the policy they recommend and you are free to shop around for a more competitive premium if you so wish.
Jason Haines is a protection and mortgage advisor at godirect.co.uk, one of the UK’s most trusted information site about personal finance. The have details on the latest income protection cover and offer free independent income protection quotes with their new interactive quote system.