Tradies often think about themselves last, especially when they’re shopping around for business insurance quotes. Family and friends first, job second, then little old me, third. What a selfless lot you are!
The problem is, what happens to that first couple of priorities if you get injured or fall ill? Who will look after your family or do your job if you can’t?
While we all like to think we’re invincible, and nothing is likely to happen, unfortunately, chances are something at some point will go wrong. Especially for tradies, who complete manual work, often in high-risk locations.
For this reason, it’s important tradies have safeguards in place to protect their income should they be off work for an extended period due to injury or illness. There are 2 options for protecting your income:
- Income Protection Insurance
- Injury & Illness Insurance
Both covers work in a similar fashion, with some distinct differences. Income protection for tradies offers a broad level of cover, with variable waiting periods, higher levels of cover, and stepped or level premium options. They are also guaranteed renewable. This makes income protection for tradies an excellent choice for long-term protection.
The downside to income protection for tradies is the application required to get the coverage in place. While this can be a lengthy process at first, it pays off in the long run, as once it’s done, you can rest easy knowing you’ve got accepted coverage in place, and all you need to worry about is updating your sum insured.
Injury & illness insurance is an alternative to income protection for tradies.
It operates in a similar fashion, but without the bells and whistles of income protection. It’s easy to set up over the phone with a few basic questions, and you can have cover in place within minutes.
While that sounds great, it comes with the downside of being an annually renewable cover, meaning you have to advise the insurer of any changes in your medical history throughout the policy period. This means the insurer can exclude certain covers upon renewal, or even decline to offer you cover altogether.
For this reason, Injury & Illness Insurance works better as a short-term, basic or budget-friendly choice for tradies.
Here at imar, we offer both covers through our specialised trades team and our financial services team. So when you’re reviewing those business insurance quotes, give yourself a thought next time, and call us for an obligation-free quotation.
