When you are sick or injured, worrying about your finances will only add more stress during a difficult time. You don’t want to put yourself in a position where you have to start working again while you’re still recovering just so you can pay your bills on time. Or even worse — not take any time off entirely because you can’t afford it.
This does not constitute advice and advice should be sought in all instances before acting on it.
That might seem like an outlandish notion — that one would forego recovery for an income — but a survey conducted by Censuswide in February of 2022 revealed that 59% of respondents who are self-employed or receive Statutory Sick Pay had gone to work when ill or injured. When it comes down to it, many avoid even going to the doctor for confirmation of an illness because they are scared that the results will mean they can no longer work.
Furthermore, three in ten people don’t have any financial protection, so if they become sick or get hurt, they have nothing to fall back on, especially the 27% of respondents who reported they couldn’t even last a month without their regular income.
Effect on your wellbeing
Despite the fact that worrying about your finances will certainly impact your mental health as well as physical health while you’re not working, many people aren’t even aware that there are insurance policies available to help this very scenario. Less than one-third of people in the Censuswide survey have an income protection policy, while nearly two-thirds of respondents reported worrying about how they would cope financially if they needed to take a month off from work.
While 30% of people have no plan for how to handle a sudden loss of income, a similar amount (29%) would rely exclusively on Statutory Sick Pay, which was less than £100 per week for up to 28 weeks, as of the 2022/23 tax year. In a healthy economy, that would be difficult to live on, but with the current cost of living crisis, this income alone simply won’t be enough. Undoubtedly, this would cause you to eat into your savings, borrow money from loved ones, rack up credit card debt, or in extreme cases, reduce or miss regular payments. With many people having to resort to these measures already during the pandemic, another period with reduced or no income could be detrimental to their finances.
You can easily see how the lack of a plan for how to protect your family financially could negatively impact your wellbeing.
Long-term implications
After the pandemic depleted many people’s emergency savings, just over half (55%) of respondents could only survive for three months.
If put under financial strain, many people would have to start prioritising their expenses. You may face the tough decision of choosing to pay your mortgage/rent, having heating, reducing your food bill, or cutting back on internet/television, or even insurance policies. Of course, this short-sightedness could have long-term implications such as ruined credit rating or even the loss of your home or business.
Get protected
If you have questions about what kind of wealth protection policy is right for you, or if you need help finding the right coverage, get in contact with the experts at Dental & Medical Financial Services today.