Most people never take out Income Protection Insurance, overlooking the simple fact that if they ever needed to cover their wage while they were sick or injured, without Income Protection they could not do it. Even a relatively minor incident, such as a trip in the street, could leave you with a broken ankle, or even a broken leg, which could leave you out of work for many months. How would you cope during this period? If you don’t know the answer straight away, then you should consider looking into taking out an Income Protection insurance policy.

Everyone needs Income Protection, whether they are self employed, married, or with a family. Evidence suggests that more than one million Australians needed to take a substantial amount of time off of work, or even go into hospital, due to the nature of their illness or injuries. Most people hurt themselves outside of the working environment, so this means that they will not be covered by worker’s compensation, and they may also not be eligible for other kinds of disability benefit. This is where the threat of financial hardship can start to prey on your mind, and without Income protection, you could risk losing your home, falling into debt, and struggling to make ends meet.

Many people do not take out Income Protection Insurance because they consider it to be a complete waste of time. Why would they chose to pay out for a policy which they may never need?

However, the facts of the matter are quite different. It is estimated that only around 30% of people will never take a day off sick, meaning that over two thirds of people of working age suffer some illness which means they have to take time off of work. Although no-sick-days are something that everyone should aspire to, for the majority it is not possible, and when that is the case you could need financial help to cover you when sickness benefit ends.