payment protection for self employed

skint69

i recently had 10 days off through sickness-i covered all my bills as i have savings-but if i get a longer time off im thinking of getting payment protection-this may not be the right cover but a monthly sum to cover earnings is what im after-any advice and recomendations?
thanks

dunstonh

do you want payment protection (PPI) or proper income protection (PHI - permanent health insurance). It sounds like PHI on your description but your thread title is PPI.

OshayAway

Do you have a mortgage? What is your occupation?

skint69

yup i did mean a health plan so phi would be the one...i have a mortgage and am self employed landscape gardener..

OshayAway

PHI 'trumps' PPI / AS cover in every aspect except (normally) price.

PHI is underwritten at application stage so there are few if any exclusions. PPI / AS cover is underwritten at claim, in almost all cases has stringent critera making claims on the most common conditions difficult at best. They also have blanket exclusions for pre-existing conditions.

PHI will payout until you are well enough to work, or if needs be until your chosen retirement age. PPI / AS cover will typically pay for a maximum of 12 months although some allow 24.

PHI is a permanent contract (Which is what the 'P' stands for) this means that although you are not tied in, the insurer cannot cancel your policy. PPI / AS cover can be cancelled by the insurer with 30 days notice.

PHI can be arranged with guaranteed premiums (or reviewable that can change at set periods e.g. 5 years but reviewed on specific criteria such as industry claims statistics) PPi / AS cover premiums can be changed to any figure with just 30 days notice. In the not to distant past there were many reports of premiums being doubled, trebled or even higher.

The possible 'fly in the ointment' can be cost. PHI premium is based on age, smoker status, gender (until 21/12/12) occupation and health. PPI / AS cover is almost always based on 'menu pricing'. So a young, healthy, non-smoking, admin assistant will pay considerably less for PHI than an older, obease, smoking builder. For PPI / AS cover, they would pay the same.

Hope that helps.

skint69

many thanks for your detailed reply:) -i will compare some prices and get cover sorted-

olly300

skint69 wrote: »

many thanks for your detailed reply:) -i will compare some prices and get cover sorted-

You should talk to a broker and see what they advise you to have, and not just take out a policy without advice.

weighty1_2

olly300 wrote: »

You should talk to a broker and see what they advise you to have, and not just take out a policy without advice.

This!!

You'll find that being a landscape gardener really limits your choice of provider due to the manual nature of your work. It's highly likely that a Friendly Society will be most suitable, however, these tend to have age-banded premiums which increase as you get older, due to you becoming a bigger risk. It's important that you are aware how much the premiums increase so that you don't become priced out of the cover just as you become more likely to need it.

Be careful to also ensure you get the best possible claims definition of "own occupation" cover.