Unemployment insurance

kinsae112

I can't see which is the appropriate forum to ask this; hope I've selected a suitable forum.

Appreciate a lot has changed in insurance since Covid.  But, is there such a thing as unemployment cover?  As in, if one was to loose a job, is there some sort of insurance once can take out to cover loss of income to cover the essential bills? 

Thank you

MovingForwards

kinsae112 said:

I can't see which is the appropriate forum to ask this; hope I've selected a suitable forum.

Appreciate a lot has changed in insurance since Covid.  But, is there such a thing as unemployment cover?  As in, if one was to loose a job, is there some sort of insurance once can take out to cover loss of income to cover the essential bills? 

Thank you

Better off asking on the insurance board:
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/categories/insurance-life-assurance

Undervalued

Cover is certainly available for it you are unable to work long term due to sickness or injury, although even that can be expensive unless you are willing to accept a significant deferment period before it starts to pay out.

I would have though pure redundancy cover would be prohibitively expensive, particularly if you work for a smaller company, as from the insurance company's point of view it is very difficult to assess the risk.

Easier said than done but I think you really need to cover yourself by trying to build up some savings of at least three months take home pay.

Andy_L

https://www.comparethemarket.com/unemployment-insurance/

kinsae112

Andy_L said:

https://www.comparethemarket.com/unemployment-insurance/

checked here in the first instance and didnt help

Andy_L

kinsae112 said:

Andy_L said:

https://www.comparethemarket.com/unemployment-insurance/

checked here in the first instance and didnt help

What is it you actually want to know as it does seem to answer the question "But, is there such a thing as unemployment cover?  As in, if one was to loose a job, is there some sort of insurance once can take out to cover loss of income to cover the essential bills? "

Sandtree

Undervalued said:

I would have though pure redundancy cover would be prohibitively expensive, particularly if you work for a smaller company, as from the insurance company's point of view it is very difficult to assess the risk.

ASU is underwritten at point of claim not point of sale... the size of the employer will not impact the premiums. T&Cs however will say that unemployment section only responds if...  Can't say I've ever seen one that states anything about employer size, its normally much more focused on the duration of your tenure and the reason for you no longer being employed.

The ASU (aka PPI) product is a short term insurance policy, during covid many pulled the product completely and everyone stopped selling new ASU cover... a small minority continued to sell AS. The last time I checked there was a single provider that has re-entered the market offering ASU but inevitably with no competition you can imagine how their pricing is.

I believe at least one PHI provider (which is the full fat income protection product covering illness/injury) did offer an unemployment bolt on but have no idea what happened to that. The price for PHI is much higher than AS though given its average claim payout is circa 8 years whereas most AS policies cease to payout at 12 months even if you are still ill etc.

Savvy_Sue

As always with 'niche' areas, I'd find a broker and ask there. 

kinsae112

Sandtree said:

Undervalued said:

I would have though pure redundancy cover would be prohibitively expensive, particularly if you work for a smaller company, as from the insurance company's point of view it is very difficult to assess the risk.

ASU is underwritten at point of claim not point of sale... the size of the employer will not impact the premiums. T&Cs however will say that unemployment section only responds if...  Can't say I've ever seen one that states anything about employer size, its normally much more focused on the duration of your tenure and the reason for you no longer being employed.

The ASU (aka PPI) product is a short term insurance policy, during covid many pulled the product completely and everyone stopped selling new ASU cover... a small minority continued to sell AS. The last time I checked there was a single provider that has re-entered the market offering ASU but inevitably with no competition you can imagine how their pricing is.

I believe at least one PHI provider (which is the full fat income protection product covering illness/injury) did offer an unemployment bolt on but have no idea what happened to that. The price for PHI is much higher than AS though given its average claim payout is circa 8 years whereas most AS policies cease to payout at 12 months even if you are still ill etc.

Thanks for this.  it does seem like you say Unemployment cover has been pulled from market as I was so certain it was a 'thing' you could get years ago. I never did one myself but I was almost certain it did exist when I had my first mortgage and was worried about what would happen if out of work.

As an earlier poster suggested, may be cheaper or better to be more disciplined to set income aside as savings. We don't have a great deal of disposable income but little better than nothing 

kinsae112

Undervalued said:

Cover is certainly available for it you are unable to work long term due to sickness or injury, although even that can be expensive unless you are willing to accept a significant deferment period before it starts to pay out.

I would have though pure redundancy cover would be prohibitively expensive, particularly if you work for a smaller company, as from the insurance company's point of view it is very difficult to assess the risk.

Easier said than done but I think you really need to cover yourself by trying to build up some savings of at least three months take home pay.

Might have to be more disciplined and start saving a bit more. There isn't a great deal of spare disposable income to build up months of both our salaries quick enough with rising living costs but hopefully it doesn't get to that and we''ll get by.

Sandtree

kinsae112 said:

Sandtree said:

Undervalued said:

I would have though pure redundancy cover would be prohibitively expensive, particularly if you work for a smaller company, as from the insurance company's point of view it is very difficult to assess the risk.

ASU is underwritten at point of claim not point of sale... the size of the employer will not impact the premiums. T&Cs however will say that unemployment section only responds if...  Can't say I've ever seen one that states anything about employer size, its normally much more focused on the duration of your tenure and the reason for you no longer being employed.

The ASU (aka PPI) product is a short term insurance policy, during covid many pulled the product completely and everyone stopped selling new ASU cover... a small minority continued to sell AS. The last time I checked there was a single provider that has re-entered the market offering ASU but inevitably with no competition you can imagine how their pricing is.

I believe at least one PHI provider (which is the full fat income protection product covering illness/injury) did offer an unemployment bolt on but have no idea what happened to that. The price for PHI is much higher than AS though given its average claim payout is circa 8 years whereas most AS policies cease to payout at 12 months even if you are still ill etc.

Thanks for this.  it does seem like you say Unemployment cover has been pulled from market as I was so certain it was a 'thing' you could get years ago. I never did one myself but I was almost certain it did exist when I had my first mortgage and was worried about what would happen if out of work.

As an earlier poster suggested, may be cheaper or better to be more disciplined to set income aside as savings. We don't have a great deal of disposable income but little better than nothing 

It was fully pulled for new business... some insurers pulled it for existing customers too, others just increased the price four fold. There were a lot of posts on the Insurance section of this site at the time as people didn't realise they were just buying an annual policy such that the insurer could either not offer a renewal or massively increase the cost when suddenly there is a massive spike in unemployment. 

There is now one player back in the market but there is a cautionary tale there if your concern is another pandemic type situation rather than a more personal one.