Your Needs
Have you ever thought how you would look after yourself and your family if you were to have an accident or become ill?
We know it's a subject that no-one likes to think about, and we always assume it will never happen to us, but please spare just a couple of minutes thinking seriously about what would happen should you be unable to work due to an accident or illness......
- If you're self employed and don't have income protection insurance, State Benefit (see below) is usually all you could rely on.
- If you own a pharmacy, although you may keep it running, you will have the additional cost of a Locum or equivalent.
- If you are financially secure enough for that not to matter in the short term, what about long term?
For most of us, it could be a very real problem. With this in mind and particularly to look after pharmacists' needs, Pharmaceutical & General Provident Society (PG), a Mutual Friendly Society, was founded in 1928 to offer insurance to address these issues. Our Plan is designed to provide cover to age 65 against loss of income caused by incapacity as a result of accident or sickness1.
Don't wait until it's too late - act now to ensure you're covered for the future.
Respected opinion recommends Income protection to cover the State Benefit shortfall...
|
Most employers will pay full wages to someone who is unable to work because of accident or illness for 19 weeks, then a reduced amount for 13 weeks... After that you have to rely on the state - but this is likely to leave a big shortfall. Incapacity benefit for people of working age is a maximum of just over £70 a week and long term incapacity benefit is just £59.20 a week - or £256.53 a calendar month. Linton Penman, a spokesman for insurance firm Unum commented: "...even those on the national average wage of £25,272 a year could see their net incomes fall by around 70pc if they only had the State to fall back on." Worse still, you may not be eligible. Of the 2.44m people currently trying to claim incapacity benefit, just 1.45m are receiving it - leaving two out of five with nothing. And .... the rules are to be tightened still further. Interestingly over half of those trying to claim incapacity benefit have been off work for five years or more, showing how important it is to have long-term income protection rather than the short term cover provided by payment protection type insurances usually sold to cover loans, mortgages and credit card debts. Despite compelling reasons for having income protection insurance it is estimated that only one in eight of the working population has it.' Stephen Ellis Daily Telegraph: ‘Your Money' section Saturday 11 August, 2007 |
A few minutes of your time invested now could pay dividends in the future - so give yourself peace of mind with PG...
We understand that you are busy with work matters, which is why it is valuable for you to have cover in place should you become ill or have an accident. Below is a summary of some of the benefits our policy offers:
- Option of cover from day 1 of accident or illness
- Builds an investment fund for your future1
- All premiums and Benefits tax free (subject to a member's individual circumstances)2
- Mutual Society which returns any profits to members3
- Option of Reducing or Level Benefits4
We are here to answer any questions you may have, so if you are interested in finding out more about our Income Protection policy and how we can tailor it to suit your specific needs, call us today for free on 0800 146 307.
If you would prefer to speak to someone face to face we are able to offer a free, no obligation visit from one of our friendly team to your home or place of work, to discuss the various options available to you.
...and look after your key staff
You may want to help secure the long term loyalty and future of your key staff. If you purchase a policy on their behalf, you not only grant them a significant benefit but it can help you by reducing the costs of sick pay for your employees. It will also allow you to budget for these costs and take an element of risk out of your business.
As a result of feedback from employers in the pharmacy community, we offer a range of options which work in exactly the same way as the insurance cover we provide the self employed, but with variations on how long you choose to have before your benefit starts. It is designed to have a greater emphasis on Income Protection rather than the Investment side, with consequent savings in the cost. For example, if your company offers staff 14 days' paid sickness leave, then you could choose for cover to ‘wrap around' that by starting from day 15. The longer this period of Claim Deferment, the lower the cost of subscriptions.
You could pay it yourself, or offer it to your staff for them to consider taking out a policy at their own cost, whilst also building up their own tax free2 investment for the future1.
Either way can you afford not to call us?
1 Subject to PG's terms & conditions.
2 Provided the Benefit does not exceed your post-tax earnings and based on our understanding of current legislation and HMRC practice. If in doubt, you should seek financial advice; PG accepts no responsibility for a member's tax arrangements.
3 Other than funds kept in reserve to meet anticipated future claims.
4 Reducing Benefits are 100% for first two years of a claim, then 50% of the Benefit for the third year and then 30% thereafter. Level Benefits remain at 100% throughout.