Why we are thinking more about income protection than ever before?

Amid the global coronavirus crisis many Australians are finding their personal finances are continuing to take a hit as redundancies and business closures increase daily.  

Many people are beginning to find the pandemic is impacting their financial futures, and the future of their families. With this is mind, many are starting to revaluate their financial thinking and looking towards ways to secure a safer financial future. 

New Research from MetLife Australia has found that Australian consumers are taking a more active interest in insurance and superannuation, since the beginning of the pandemic. 

The research is telling us that we are starting to think more about income protection than ever before. The uncertainty of our current situation has triggered this need for assurance in our futures. 

Young Australians in particular were largely impacted by the downfall of our economy and when it comes to job security and financial wellbeing, this age group are the most concerned.  However, as mentioned they are thinking about their insurance options more than ever and since May, 40% of 18-34-year-old have undertaken some form of investigation or purchasing of insurance products. 

While it’s incredibly encouraging to see so many young Australians taking active steps in understanding and protecting their financial futures, if you aren’t thinking and learning about income protection insurance right now, then you should be. 

Why? It’s pretty simple, because even though we are talking about it more than ever, many consumers still don’t fully understand what is and isn’t covered by basic Accident and Health insurance products. 

The global pandemic has been a great example of how many people don’t fully understand income protection insurance, including those who have already purchased income protection insurance products. 

For example, when the pandemic began to impact the daily lives of Australians, many people were made redundant and were also shocked to discover that their income protection insurance didn’t actually protect them against redundancy – which is what many have been worried about since the enforcement of COVID-19 restrictions – but in fact only does protect against illness or injury, that leaves you unable to work. 

It is always better for any consumer that is considering income protection insurance to start thinking about it and purchase it sooner rather than later. However, we should not only be thinking about income protection insurance, but we also need to understand what it does properly before purchasing. 

For those who are unaware, Income protection insurance is designed to cover up to 85% of your income if you are unable to work due to injury or illness. This does not include cover for redundancies or being fired from your job. It is only in the instance that an illness or injury means you cannot return to your regular occupation. For example, if a tradesman was to break his leg on the weekend while playing on a trampoline, then he would be likely to be covered by his income protection insurance, until his leg has healed, and he can return to work. 

Once you understand exactly what income protection insurance can provide, you can then search for the right protection for you and your family. With so much uncertainty in the world at the moment, it is great that Australians are thinking about their financial futures and income protection insurance more than ever before. However, if you aren’t, you should be. 

Income protection insurance is a great first step to making your financial future more secure. Especially in the current circumstances of the world, the last thing you need is an illness or injury preventing you from working, amongst everything else.