One of the biggest steps you can take in your life is becoming self-employed. This is because self-employment allows you to enjoy many benefits such as flexibility, intellectual fulfillment, and freedom at work.
Additionally, you get to make more money, sometimes as much as you can, compared to the money that you would have made if you were employed. Despite all this, you should be prepared to handle the risks that come with self-employment.
If you look at the number of households in self-employment, a bigger percentage of them do not save enough money from their earnings. This leaves them at different risks, especially when something happens, and they are not able to make money.
For instance, when a person in self-employment is involved in an accident or falls ill, they are no longer making money compared to an employed person who can enjoy sick payments.
However, this is not meant to discourage people from getting into self-employment. No matter how tough it can be, you can make sure that you have set financial security to cover you when there is a financial gap due to illnesses or accidents.
What is Income Protection for Business Owners?
Income protection for business owners can be defined as a form of insurance that has been developed to replace the income of business owners if they are not able to work due to things like injuries and serious illnesses.
Business owners need to find the best income protection insurance that can replace up to seventy-five percent of their incomes. These payments are supposed to support the business owners as well as their families when they are not able to work.
The payments are made every month by the insurance company, or rather the insurer, to the business owner, the policyholder in this case. Business owners need to visit insurance companies to find out if they are eligible. Most insurance companies cover people between the ages of twenty and sixty years.
What Does Income Protection Cover?
As a business owner, you should know that things like serious illnesses and accidents are not the only things that might interfere with your work. Minor health issues such as flu might also interfere with your work.
The best income protection insurance covers different illnesses such as infections, stress, accidents, musculoskeletal problems, and flu, among others. They also cover different occupations.
Before starting your business, visit different insurers to see the kind of occupations they cover and understand the type of insurance you need.
Benefits of Income Protection Insurance
As discussed above, it is important for business owners to have income protection to ensure that they are covered when they are not able to work. Some benefits of income protection insurance include:
- Flexibility: The policies with income protection insurance are flexible. This means that they cover both short and long-term injuries and illnesses. No matter how long you are not working, you will still be covered.
- Reduces stress: Imagine a situation where you have a family where you are the breadwinner. You are expected to pay all the bills such as house rent and school fees for your children. If you get involved in an accident and are not able to work, you need to focus on how quickly you can recover instead of being stressed by things like how your bills will be paid. Income protection covers you for this, helping you avoid stress.
- It lacks limitations: Income protection does not limit you on the number of times you can make a claim. If you fall sick at the beginning of the year and are involved in an accident later the same year, you can make a claim at both times of the year.
- Protection is not limited to a timeline: Depending on the injuries or the illness that you are suffering from, you might not be able to work for a few weeks, months, or even years. You will be covered for as long as you are not able to work, even if it is years.
Conclusion
If you are a business owner, you need to think about getting income protection insurance. As discussed above, it will ensure that you have a steady flow of income even when you are not working. However, make sure that you understand the policy well and know what is expected from you and your business.
