My good lady works for the NHS, and is more than a little worried about her job. She wants to take out an income protection policy, and as usual has asked me to look into it. Has anyone got any recommendations? Looking at the usual comparison sites throws up insurers I've never heard of (no doubt specialists in their field) so it would be nice to hear if anyone has any real experience. TIA 🙂

My advice would be to look into it quick. If big cuts are announced soon then its likely the premium will be upped. Got a Pru policy which paid out for the missus for a few months, dunno if I would recommend it as they totally messed up the claim and took about 3 months to sort it. But I think thats probably par for the course these days.

I looked at a few policies last night, and it does seem to be the norm to review the policy monthly meaning that the payments could escalate pretty much as and when they want 😥

The policy I've got is ancient 8 years plus. Its fixed premium. Looked at changing it but the quotes I get now are more than double the premium I'm paying now !

She is paying to insure money…

Normally these policies make sense when, for example, you are self-employed and want cover for illness, a professional sportsperson etc.

In her case she'd be better saving the money, therefore not paying a middleman.

And if she's doing a 'proper' job she'll have no worries, as either the NHS or a 3rd party will want her anyway.

I've said the same things br, but I know better than to try and change her mind! She's a senior physiotherapist, but a self confessed interview bottler and so petrified that if she loses her job or has to re-interview for it, she'll fail miserably.

if she's a senior physio will she get a good redundancy package ? How long would you be able to live off of that and do you think it will be enough time for her to get back into work?

If you think there will be enough time then income protection might not be worth your while.

Don't know j_me. Given that the NHS need to save money, I can't imagine they'll be overly generous in their redundancy payout. The spanner in the works is that she's currently on maternity leave and won't be back at work until July next year. She's thinking that she needs to get something in place before any cuts are announced, but I'm not convinced it's necessary. We've got savings, but it would be nice not to have to dip into them should the worse happen!

Might be worth checking that out. Maybe speak to a Financial Adviser.
Congratulations BTW

Physio is a frontline service so therefore should theoretically be relatively safe, alot of the job losses in the NHS will predominantly be in the back office, or services that have been proven to not have much clinical effectiveness.

She might well find that she ends up working for a different organisation to her current one, or even a community enterprise (privatisation by the backdoor)

Our local PCT is brining in tougher guidlines on whether folk get a knee or hip op which I guess would have a knock on effect on physio…

As to income protection… be very very careful, read ALL the small print, not just what the bank or FI tell you. Many have so many clauses in them around redundancy that you cant end up claiming anything off them!

When I've heard of redundancies in the NHS the current packages seem to have been quite generous, however that can & probably will all change.

I wouldn't be so confident in senior clinical posts not being reviewed, already my trust has sent out paperwork to all clinical nurse specialists which in effect has started a review of roles, paygrades etc. I've been off sick for a while, and someone a band lower has done my job while I've been off, so I'm fairly certain that I'll get reviewed and re-banded at some point in the not so distant future.

[edit] When we had a mortgage, we did have income protection insurance, can't remember the company but it wasn't a mainstream company, it was one that was suggested by the FA we used.

The spanner in the works is that she's currently on maternity leave and won't be back at work until July next year.

Thats not a 'spanner' but a good thing when cuts are in the air:

http://www.muckle-llp.com/F808C46D4/What-do-I-need-to-know-about-making-someone-redundant-during-pregnancy-or-maternity-leave.html

To quote:

What do I need to know about making someone redundant during pregnancy or maternity leave?

Avoid it if you can. Unless you are closing down a whole site, or a whole section, you may find it difficult to rebut the suspicion that you have selected this employee for redundancy because she is pregnant, which could leave you open to penalties for unfair dismissal and sex discrimination.