Income Insurance refuses to pay

Manchester1980

Long time lurker 1st time poster so please be kind.

Sadly I was made redundant on 31st January, paid in lieu until 28th February. Fortunately I took an income protection policy back in April 2014 so it was active when I received the bad news.

I've managed to find another job and start on Monday 31st March, I called to confirm this with the insurance company today and my heart sank when they advised the claim was therefore not valid. In their words, as the period between 28th Feb to 31st March is within the 30 days waiting period then the claim is not valid.

Obviously I'm extremely stressed at this news. I'm relying on these funds to move for the new job as its in another part of the country. I don't normally post on the internet but I really don't know what to do. I've asked them for options and they confirmed they would refer it to the underwriters.

I might not be able to afford to move for the new job if I don't receive this payment. I need to pay for both the deposit and 1st months rent before I can move. I'll be receiving the deposit back on my current flat but that could take a few weeks.

Any advise would be greatly appreciated.

roonaldo

Like any insurance this has an excess.

You can get policies that although you still have to wait 30 days it will pay back to the first day of unemployment.

magpiecottage

Leaving aside that your post says you took out your policy next month(!), your redundancy only becomes effective on the day your notice period expires - that is why they have to pay you for the notice period.

The waiting period then starts. Although you will have had 30 complete days from ending one job to starting the next so you may be entitled to to a payment depending on the actual policy. If it backdates to day one then you might have an entitllement but you would need to check your policy.

Manchester1980

Thanks for the responses, it is indeed a "back to day" 1 policy and apologies it should be start date April 2013.

In your opinion does Feb 28th to March 31st cover the 30 day waiting period?

Extracted from the policy document:
Back To Day One Cover - this cover option is designed to pay your claim back to the first day (of a claim), once you have been unemployed or unable to work due to an accident or sickness for longer than your waiting period. After this time it will continue to pay your claim at a daily rate, payable monthly in arrears, until you are no longer entitled to receive any benefit.

For Back To Day One Cover there is a 30 day waiting period.

vaio

Using normal counting the 30 days is complete on the 30th so you should be covered.

But....what does your policy say? Is it 30 *working* days? ie excludes weekends

Note that in the absence of anything specific in the T&C you get the benefit of the doubt

Manchester1980

In the definitions section:

‘Waiting period’ means the number of days at the beginning of a claim, specified in your Schedule, for which you are not eligible for any benefit.

I cant post links or images so I'll try and detail the diagram

Back to Day 1 Cover
Day 1
30 Days
Day 31 FULL MONTHLY BENEFIT PAID
30 Days
Day 61 FULL MONTHLY BENEFIT PAID
25 Days
Day 86 Return to Work 25/30th BENEFIT PAID

vaio

if it doesn't define "day" as a working day anywhere in the policy then you should be OK

Manchester1980

Thanks vaio, I hope that's the case. I didn't even know about the waiting period before today.

The policy was the best one I could find, "back to day 1" and 12 months cover. I thought they would be glad I wouldn't be a long term claimant.