Self-employed people don’t have the luxury of an employer’s safety net. Full-time and part-time employees? They get sick pay, death in service benefits and a workplace pension.
But independent professionals? The vast majority get no such protection, leaving them and their dependants vulnerable.
Work from home freelancers, contractors and umbrella workers all share this one same trait. If they don’t safeguard their own future, no one else will.
The cover services we provide can help you to protect you and your family in times of need. What’s more, we’ve done the heavy lifting and made taking out contractor cover simple.
Taking out adequate cover is your responsibility, no one else’s
When we set up in business, the last thing we foresee is suffering a debilitating illness. Death is even further from our minds.
But the only thing we can guarantee in this life is that one day we’ll die. None of us know what fate has in store for us.
Critical illness can strike anyone. Fatal accidents happen every week. As a business owner and breadwinner, you need to prepare yourself for the worst. Here are the different ways you can do just that.
Relevant Life Insurance – Life Cover Designed With Contractors In Mind
The most important cover self-employed individuals should think about is life insurance. That’s because a contractor is, more often than not, a home’s main breadwinner.
We’ve chosen Relevant Life as the key policy we offer for contractor life cover. Relevant Life is an insurance policy that encapsulates all a contractor’s needs:
- pay premiums through your limited company from gross, untaxed income;
- no need to be in a group scheme; the policy works for independent contractors;
- as the premiums go into a trust, the lump sum payout is free from inheritance tax;
- you decide the amount you insure your life for and the term over which you want the cover to last;
You get total peace of mind with cover like this in place.
Standard life insurance
If Relevant Life cover isn’t for you, we have other options. Our standard life insurance policies for contractors include:
- Whole of Life cover;
- Term cover (level and decreasing);
- Family Income Benefit Plan.
The reasons we offer an alternative to Relevant Life are many. No two contractors are the same. The way they work, home life, length of time contracting – these are all variables.
Some may want cover and premiums to decrease in line with the amount they owe on their mortgage.
Others may want cover for their entire life. Yet others may choose not to have their benefit pay a lump sum, but pay out over time.
The options available are many.
Critical illness cover
There’s been a sizeable shift in thinking about the causes of critical illness. More and more studies show stress as a major contributory factor.
But stress is not only the cause of critical illness that’s the problem here. New studies show that it also affects function of vital organs in the recovery process.
As a contractor, you’re the breadwinner, financial controller and marketer of your business. That’s before you even begin to work; as such, you’re at the mercy of stress more than most.
Contractor critical illness cover isn’t only about maintaining your lifestyle. It’s about giving you the best chance to recover, too.
Income Protection
Contractor income protection works in a similar way to Critical Illness. But there’s a specific reason many contractors take a separate policy.
A run of the mill income protection plan will pay benefit while you’re unable to work. Great. Isn’t that what it’s for? Well, not exactly.
As a contractor, you’ve built a business and reputation on your expertise. Your livelihood depends on you earning what your skills allow you to.
But what if ‘fit for work’ meant that an insurance company could ask you to take on any role? Far-fetched? Hell, no.
You may be on the road to recovery, but not quite ready to take up your contracting role. But you may be fit enough for a less challenging job.
Fancy shelf-stacking instead of working in IT or offshore? Thought not. Find out how you can make sure you only return to work, your work, when you’re ready.
