Income Protection Insurance

Can anyone apply for Income Protection Insurance?

Yes, anyone can apply for Income Protection Insurance, providing you are:

• over 18 and under 65 years of age;
• in full time employment or self-employed and have been for at least 12 consecutive months immediately prior to the start date;
• working and living in the United Kingdom, the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man.

You may also be eligible for continued cover if you worked and lived in the United Kingdom, the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man at the start date and you are subsequently posted to work outside the United Kingdom, the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man for:

• the British Armed Forces or as a civil servant in a British Embassy or Consulate; or
• your employer is a United Kingdom registered company and you are assigned to work within the European Union.

Is there a 'wait' period before I can claim?

The 'wait' period before you can claim will depend on the type of cover you select. The longer the wait period, the lower your monthly premiums will be. helpucovers Income Protection Insurance offers a range of wait periods for you to choose:

• 'Back to Day One' (30 day wait period)
• 30 day wait period
• 60 day wait period
• 90 day wait period
• 180 day wait period

You can start claiming on your Income Protection Insurance after the wait period you have selected is over, for sickness or accident as certified by your doctor. For an unemployment claim, you cannot claim within the first 120 days of the start date of your policy, but after that period you can also claim after the wait period you have selected has expired.

How long can I claim for?

When applying for cover you can choose to receive benefit payments for either 6 months or 12 months depending on your circumstances.

Is there a maximum monthly benefit limit?

Yes, the monthly benefit chosen must not exceed £2,000 or 50% of your gross monthly income, whichever is less.

How do I claim?

Claiming is simple and straightforward. You can contact helpucover and request a claim form by calling
0845 121 2435.

How much monthly benefit could I expect?

Standard Cover
You will be entitled to an amount equal to 1/30th of the monthly benefit for each continuous day you are unable to work as a result of an accident, sickness or involuntary unemployment (if unemployment cover is selected) following the initial wait period of 30, 60, 90 or 180 days, (during which no benefit will be payable) that you choose. Payments will be monthly in arrears.

'Back to Day One' cover
After the initial wait period (30 days) you will be paid your full monthly benefit. Thereafter, you will be paid 1/30th of the monthly benefit for each continuous day you remain unable to work due to accident, sickness or involuntary unemployment (if unemployment cover is selected). Payments will be monthly in arrears.

Is there anything Income Protection Insurance won't cover?

The main instances when you will not be covered are:

• any condition, injury, illness, disease, sickness or related condition and/or associated symptoms whether specifically diagnosed or not, which you knew about (or ought reasonably to have known about) at the policy start date; or, for which you sought or received advice, treatment or counseling from any doctor during the 12 months immediately before the policy start date;
  
  This exclusion does not apply if you have been continuously insured and you have been symptom free and have not consulted a doctor or received treatment for the condition in the 12 months immediately prior to your claim.
• a self-inflicted injury, being under the influence of, alcohol or drugs;
• any condition of a mental or nervous origin including stress, anxiety, depression and postnatal depression unless certified and under the continuing care of a consultant psychiatrist;
• backache or related conditions unless there is supporting medical evidence. Such evidence may be a report from an appropriate consultant or from your doctor. In either case an MRI, CT scan or equivalent, may be required;
• ionising radiation or radioactive contamination from nuclear fuel, waste or equipment;
• In addition, in the case of a disability claim you must:
  • be under the regular care and attendance of your doctor; and
  • be prevented from working only as a result of the disability.
• If you have also selected unemployment cover the main instances when you will not be covered are:
  • if at the start date you knew you would become unemployed or you had reason to believe that you might become unemployed;
  • if you are made unemployed or are told that you will be made unemployed within 120 days of the start date;
  • if your work was seasonal, casual or temporary or unemployment is a regular feature of your work;
  • you finish the job you were specifically employed to do, or you come to the end of a fixed-term contract;
  • if you resign or you accept voluntary unemployment;
  • if you lose your job because of misconduct, fraud, dishonesty or any act you carried out;
  • you are made unemployed because of any strike which you took part in or any lock out by your employer;
  • you fail to actively seek re-employment;
  • unemployment resulting from any condition excluded under the disability exclusions;

A full list of exclusions is provided in the policy.

Our Customer Service

We take great pride in the quality of service that we deliver but things can go wrong. It is important that you contact us if you are unhappy with any aspect of your experience with helpucover in order that we can look into it for you.

Once you have we will try to respond and resolve your concerns within 24 hours. Where that is not possible then we will write to you acknowledging your complaint. That letter will contain

We will always ensure that you receive an explanation for our actions and that any solution we suggest is a fair one, taking account of all of the circumstances. Occasionally this will mean our investigations will take longer than we would like.

If that is the case we will

The Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) are an independent organisation that can consider your complaint if you are unhappy with our final response. Once you receive our final decision letter or the letter advising you that you can approach FOS you can contact them at

Telephone 0800 0 234 567 (free if calling from a fixed line) or 0300 123 9 123 (free for mobile phone users paying a monthly charge for calls to 01 or 02 numbers).

A leaflet setting out full details of the Financial Ombudsman Service will be provided to you at the appropriate time.

Contacting Us

We want our customers to be happy with our policies and will welcome any feedback you have. To ensure everybody can contact us in the way that they feel most comfortable you can raise your complaint in the following ways

Whatever way you decide to contact us, we would ask that you have a policy or claim number available in order that we can locate your details as quickly as possible.

When writing could you also please ensure you include a description of your concerns, copies of any relevant documents and tell us what you feel is needed to put things right. If you would like one of our Customer Relations team to call you please mention this in your letter/e-mail.

The parties to this contract are free to choose the law applicable to it. If you live in Scotland, Northern Ireland, the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man you may choose to commence legal proceedings in your local courts. In any other cases unless there is agreement to the contrary English law will apply.

The helpucover plan is underwritten by Pinnacle Insurance plc.

This policy is available to UK, Isle of Man or Channel Island residents only.