Unemployment insurance (ASU)

martyp

Hi all,

Not sure how many others had or have ASU cover but I've always had it and was paying about £15 a month up until Covid hit when my insurer contacted me to say they were cancelling my policy as the underwriters had gone bust and would try and find another. They then came back saying they had found a new underwriter but they could only do unemployment cover and weren't able to cover accident and sickness. The policy was also jumping to £27.50 a month just for unemployment.

It seems that with the current situation the comparison sites can only quote for accident and sickness and not unemployment but I seem to have found possibly one or two still claiming to offer the full ASU.

Has anyone else managed to find anywhere offering full ASU cover? I had a quote for under £20 from one so am haggling with my current insurer about it.

Sandtree

Very few uk based insurers go bust, looking at overseas crews like Gibraltar and its a different matter, but many have pulled out of the market because of adverse claims developments. 

Is the AS or U the main point of interest for you? ASU/PPI is a fairly budget product and you will always be at risk of inflating premiums over time or insurers withdrawing just after you've a diagnosis that could lead to a future claim. It may be worth considering Income Protection/Permanent Health Insurance which covers similar to AS but rather than paying for a year or so it will pay until your retirement age plus its a long term policy so can have guaranteed rates for the full duration. You can then get a standalone unemployment policy if you want to top up for that risk.

martyp

Thanks Sandtree, I'm just looking at the letter and it advises who the new insurer is and they're in Liechtenstein but still regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. I've focussed more on the U to be honest but wanted to have all 3 to cover all options if I can.

I wasn't too sure of the key differences between ASU or AS and income protection before.

Thanks for the suggestion about Income Protection or Permanent Health Insurance, it sounds a better product definitely. I'll do some quotes and see what comes back.

Sandtree

Just be aware that some ASU providers also call their product "income protection" hence using the technical name for the full fat product... its almost exclusively available via advisory brokers/IFAs etc and not on comparison sites etc.