Best Insurance

100,000 people over 50 forced to retire early and jobless trebled in 18-24 years olds(28-Aug-2011)

The two ends of the spectrum of age group in the UK are the worse affected. In some of the worrying figures released by the Institute of Public Policy Research (IPPR), it is estimated that more than 100,000 people over the age of 50 have been unemployed for over two years and this means that the likelihood of they getting back into full time employment is becoming more unlikely. This would mean that more than 100,000 people will be forced to retire early. But the irony is that these people will be retiring without the necessary and appropriate retirement plan. This would mean that they would be retiring poorer and dependence on state pension will be the only means of survival for these people.

While the over 50s years old have serious unemployment problems, the situation for the age group of 18-24 years is not dissimilar. The IPPR estimates that the number of people jobless in the age group 18-24 years old has trebled in since 2008 increasing from 36,000 to 95,000. While it can be argued that younger people can be re-skilled easier than the over 50s, nevertheless the long duration of not being at work puts these people at the same danger of not being able to find any meaningful careers.

The only way people can meaningfully protect themselves is by investing in high quality income protection insurance. In one of the recent surveys carried out by Best Insurance, customers need more information than what some companies tend to share with them before buying an income protection policy. One of the most important factors is the difference in underwriting. Some of the factors that are seldom explained to the customers are the underwriting principle. Many insurers tend to sell their policies and underwrite only when a claim is made. While the income protection insurance from such insurers may be comparatively cheaper for obvious reasons, as such information is not disclosed at the point of sale, many people get misled thinking that they have got a bargain. It is important for customers to choose an income protection insurance that is underwritten at the point of sale rather than at the point of claim. Unfortunately not many customers are aware of this and hence the insurers should be all the more responsible in explaining this to the customers.

Best Insurance’s Income Protection Insurance is underwritten at the point of sale and hence customers can be assured that if they ever get into a situation of making a claim, it would be paid so long as they meet the qualifying factors in the policy and will not find themselves in a situation wherein they have paid for the income protection insurance for several months only to find that they do not qualify for a claim.