Can you afford not to?

A recent report from Aviva says that the average age for claiming on Aviva's income protection plans was just 44 years old last year, and it shows it paid out on 91% of income protection claims in 2011.

Income protection insurance provides a replacement income if the policyholder is unable to work due to accident or injury. Like critical illness cover, it is often sold as an adjunct to life insurance .

Aviva says the most common reason for claims is psychiatric conditions, accounting for 28% of all claims, followed by orthopaedic conditions (21%) and neurological (18%). The longest-lasting claim has been in payment for 36 years, from someone who had to give up work as a fitter due to an orthopaedic condition.

It paid out £29.5 million to 2,500 policyholders last year. The average age for a claim is 45 for men and 43 for women and 45% of those with individual policies have been getting monthly income for more than ten years.

Payouts include those to a nurse who stopped work at 35 due to a psychiatric condition and has been receiving a monthly benefit of £574.78 for eleven years (total payout £219,727) after she took the policy out five months before illness made her stop work.

A builder who stopped work at the age of 47 due to cancer has received a monthly payout of £1,957 (total £320,948) for eight years - he took out the policy 13 years before he claimed.

Will Kentish, head of income protection at Aviva, UK Health, said: "We want to help customers understand the importance and real benefit of protecting their income by releasing this data.

"The figures show just how young the typical age can be for loss of income due to injury or illness, and just how long this can last."

If you don’t have an income protection policy in place, then please contact us for an independent quote, it will probably be a lot cheaper than you think! We can also tailor the benefit to suit the premium you can afford, because it is better to have some cover than no cover at all.

Remember, Statutory Sick Pay is only £81.60 per week, and is only paid for a maximum of 28 weeks, so surely it’s worth paying about 1% of your monthly income to ensure that the other 99% never stops?