Picture the scene… You always took your personal financial planning seriously. Your Financial Broker recommended that you protect yourself against being unable to work due to illness or having an accident, by putting an income protection policy in place.  And then you actually suffered a major illness and were unable to work….

Now roll forwards a few months or years. You’ve been off work recovering, receiving a replacement income from your policy but you now want to go back to work. You know that you’re unable to do your old job as a result of your illness but you’re just sick of sitting at home every day with no real purpose… So what do you do?

Well the best place to start is back with your Financial Broker and the provider of your income protection policy who is paying your claim. You see, they have the exact same interest as you – getting you back to work. For them, this reduces their claim! But they know that you won’t go back to work unless;
• You are able to work at something that you are now capable of doing
• You are able to work at something you want to do
• You are able to afford to go back to work

So income protection providers put a range of supports in place to help you get back to work. Here are a few,

Rehabilitation supports
To help you get back to work, income protection providers will offer resources and assistance to help you get back into the workforce when you are ready. This might include further medical help, career advice and even retraining you for a role that will have lower demands on your health in the future.

Partial claims
You might be ready to go back to work but your health may prevent you from going back fulltime. But maybe this would result in a lower income than that you are receiving from your provider. In that case, they will look at the potential of continuing your income protection claim payment at a lower level to make up the difference.

Relapse benefits
Some providers will help you in attempting a return to work by providing a financial “safety net”. Should you discover within a number of months that your health actually is not strong enough to allow your return to work, the provider will resume your claim without any waiting period.

All of these benefits make it easier for you to get back to work. This in turn will really help your own self-esteem and the provider is happy too as the ongoing claim is reducing. So really everyone’s a winner!

These are the sort of factors that need to be considered when you are taking out an income protection policy, and this is where your Financial Broker will help you. He/she will ensure that you find the right policy, with the best features, at the lowest cost to suit your own circumstances.