The best Redundancy Insurance for when you need it most
Frequently Asked Questions
1. What is the purpose of redundancy protection insurance?
2. Does this form of unemployment insurance only cover me if I have a mortgage, loan or credit card?
3. Is it possible to take out joint cover?
4. What kinds of cover can I receive as part of this unemployment insurance?
6. How much of my monthly income can I insure with this type of unemployment insurance?
7. How long am I covered for under this insurance?
8. How long does this insurance lasts?
9. What are the eligibility requirements to receive benefit under this insurance?
11. When am I unable to claim for accident and sickness benefits?
12. When can I begin a claim for unemployment insurance benefits?
13. When am I unable to claim for unemployment insurance benefits?
14. When am I able to claim for carer benefit?
15. When am I unable to claim for carer benefit?
16. How long do I need to wait before I am covered for unemployment or carer benefit?
18. How can I change my cover and/or monthly benefit?
19. What if my circumstances change once I am insured?
20. How can I cancel my payment protection insurance?
21. What is the complaints process?
22. What methods can I use to pay for my unemployment insurance?
23. Where can I find the important definitions?
24. Where can I find information about the unemployment insurance contract?
25. Does this insurance provide back to work assistance?
26. Who underwrites this insurance?
27. Who administers this insurance?
It is your responsibility to ensure that Best Insurance Protection is suitable to meet your needs. Accordingly, it is very important that you carefully read and understand both these frequently asked questions and the Policy Wording, to enable you to make an informed decision before you make an application.
1. What is the purpose of redundancy protection insurance?
Best Insurance Protection enables you to better manage your monthly expenses by providing you an income through a redundancy protection policy. In the event that you are made involuntarily redundant or cannot work due to an accident or illness you would receive a monthly benefit paid out under the terms of this unemployment insurance. This income can then be used to deal with you financial obligations such as your mortgage, monthly bills, credit card or loan repayments.
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2. Does this form of unemployment insurance only cover me if I have a mortgage, loan or credit card?
Best Insurance redundancy protection is designed to provide you an alternative income should you find yourself involuntarily unemployed. You do not need to have a mortgage or other debt obligations in order to be eligible for unemployment cover. The redundancy protection policies will be subject to certain eligibility criteria but the main criteria is that you receive a regular, monthly, taxable income.
Please Note: Should you make a successful claim with Best Insurance and choose to have the money from your unemployment insurance pay your mortgage or loan repayments, money will be paid directly to your mortgage or loan provider. As a result of this you will be seen as receiving a monthly income through your unemployment cover and this may affect your eligibility to receive “means tested” benefits from the government such as Income Support.
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3. Is it possible to take out joint cover?
Joint cover is not offered by Best Insurance for unemployment insurance and each policy for redundancy protection is specific only to the individual policy holder.
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4. What kinds of cover can I receive as part of this unemployment insurance?
Best Insurance Protection offers the following three cover options:
- Accident, sickness and unemployment cover
- Accident and sickness only cover
- Unemployment only cover
5. How long do I need to wait after being unemployed to receive my monthly unemployment insurance benefits?
You will start to receive benefits from your Best insurance redundancy protection policy after 30 consecutive days after becoming involuntarily unemployed through redundancy, accident, illness or leaving your employment to become a carer. You can find more details about the schedule for receiving payments from Best Insurance Protection in Section 5,6 and 7 of the Policy Wording.
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6. How much of my monthly income can I insure with this type of unemployment insurance?
Best Insurance will allow you to cover up to 50% of your gross monthly income, or £1,500 whichever is the least amount. More details about the amount of income that can be insured with redundancy protection can be found in Section 1 of the Policy Wording.
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7. How long am I covered for under this insurance?
You will receive monthly benefits from your Best Insurance payment protection insurance policy for up to 12 months. You can read more information about the length of cover available in sections 5 and 6 of the Policy Wording.
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8. How long does this insurance last?
Best Insurance will provide unemployment cover on a month by month rolling contract basis. Each month that the premium is paid you will receive cover from your unemployment insurance policy. Termination of the cover will occur should you retire, reach the age of 65 or should you decide to cancel your policy for payment protection insurance. Further details can be found about the end date of your policy in section 9 of the Policy Wording.
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9. What are the eligibility requirements to receive benefits under this insurance?
There are certain requirements you will need to meet in order to receive benefits from your Best Insurance redundancy protection policy. You must be confident that the following criteria applies to you when applying for this type of cover:
I am permanently living in the UK, Channel Islands or Isle of Man and actively working a for a least 16 hours per week.
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My work is not: temporary, casual, seasonal, irregular, a period of training/apprenticeship or for a specific task.
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I have worked continuously for the past six months and if not, I am aware that I will need to have done so before I can claim for benefits through unemployment insurance.
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I am aware that I will not be covered for any accident or sickness that occurred before the start date of my unemployment insurance policy, or for any chronic or continuing medical condition that I already have.
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If I am a contract worker (as defined by this insurance), I am aware of the additional requirements I will need to meet to support a claim beyond the natural expiry of my fixed term contract.
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If I am self-employed (as defined by this insurance) I am aware of the additional requirements I will need to meet to support a claim.
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I am aware of the 120 day initial exclusion period for Unemployment or Carer Benefit.
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I am aware that I will not be eligible for unemployment cover against unemployment which arises from any programme of job losses, any departmental or company restructure or merger with another company, announced by my employer before the start date of my policy, or within 120 days after the start date of my policy.
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The sum insured under Best Insurance Protection redundancy protection does not exceed 50% of my monthly earned income before Tax and I am aware that if I over-insure under this and similar Accident, Sickness and Unemployment policies my benefit will be reduced.
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10. When can I begin a claim to receive benefits for accident or sickness through my unemployment insurance?
After 30 consecutive days of being unable to work due to an accident or sickness, you are then eligible to make a claim to receive benefits for this. You can find more details about when to begin your claim for accident and sickness benefit through your unemployment cover in section 5 of the Policy Wording.
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11. When am I unable to claim for accident and sickness benefits?
As with all unemployment insurance policies that cover accident and sickness there are certain exclusions which would mean you would not be able to make a successful claim. For details about when you can and cannot make a claim under an accident and sickness unemployment insurance policy can be found in section 5 of the Policy Wording.
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12. When can I begin a claim for unemployment insurance benefits?
After 30 consecutive days of being unable to work through unemployment you are eligible to begin your claim for benefits through your unemployment cover. More details about when you can make your claim for unemployment benefits can be found in section 6 of the Policy Wording.
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13. When am I unable to claim for unemployment insurance benefits?
As with all unemployment protection policies that cover the eventuality of unemployment, there are certain exclusions which would prevent you from making a successful claim as part of your unemployment cover. For more details about the circumstances which would stop you claiming unemployment benefit please see section 6 of the Policy Wording.
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14. When am I able to claim for carer benefit?
After 30 consecutive days of unemployment due to leaving work to become a carer, you can then start your claim with Best Insurance as part of your unemployment insurance. For more information about making a claim for carer benefit, please read section 7 of the Policy Wording.
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15. When am I unable to claim for carer benefit?
As with all unemployment protection carer policies, there are certain exclusions within the unemployment insurance carer policies which would stop you making a valid claim for carer benefit. To find more information about such exclusions which would prevent you from making a successful claim through your payment protection insurance, please see section 7 of the Policy Wording.
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16. How long Do I need to wait before I am covered for unemployment or carer benefit?
Best insurance follows all other similar accident, sickness and unemployment insurance policies with a 120 day “initial exclusion period”. That means that you are not able to make a claim for unemployment or carer benefits until 120 days has passed from the start date of your unemployment protection policy. For more details about this initial exclusion period and for other details that might stop you from making a claim for unemployment or carer benefit as part of your unemployment cover, see section 6 and 7 of the Policy Wording.
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17. What if my circumstances change once I am insured?
As with any insurance policy, it is important that you notify your provider should you experience a change in your circumstances from when you took out the redundancy protection policy. Should you experience any changes to your personal circumstances such as your employment status, you need to inform FirstAssist. Should you fail to do so and then try to make a claim under your unemployment insurance you could find your claim invalidated. For more details about what to do should you experience a change in your personal circumstances please see section 10 of the Policy Wording.
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18. What is the complaints process?
Should the unlikely event occur where you wish to make a complaint about Best Insurance or about the service that you have received in relation to taking our unemployment cover, FirstAssist will endeavour to take measures to correct this for you. For more details about submitting a complaint please read section 12 on the Policy Wording.
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19. What methods can I use to pay for my unemployment insurance?
The only method accepted is by setting up a monthly direct debit to pay for your Best insurance unemployment insurance policy. For further details about payment of your unemployment insurance policy or for more information about the redundancy protection contract in general, please see section 3 of the Policy Wording.
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20. Where can I find the important definitions?
As with all similar redundancy protection insurance policies, Best insurance makes use of certain words and phrases which have important meanings as assigned to them in the Policy Wording. More details about these words and their definitions can be found in section 1 of the Policy Wording.
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21. Where can I find information about the unemployment insurance contract?
Details about the unemployment insurance contract can be found within section 3 of the Policy Wording.
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22. Does this insurance provide back to work assistance?
In addition to the many benefits offered by redundancy protection policies with Best Insurance, you can also receive unemployment assistance via telephone. It is a completely free and confidential service and is coordinated by a team of independent and expert advisors. More details about Back To Work Assistance can be found in section 8 of the Policy Wording.
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It is your responsibility to ensure that Best Insurance Protection is suitable for your needs. It is therefore very important that you read all policy documentation carefully, to enable you to make an informed decision about its suitability to meet your needs.