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Those who have loan or credit card debts or a mortgage with repayments to make each month should give some thought as to how they would continue to make these payments if they were to lose their income. While you may turn to savings if an illness or accident prevented you from working for a short period of time, any savings you had would soon dwindle. If you were made redundant then it could take some time to find another job and struggling to meet your monthly commitments would only add pressure to already stressful circumstances. Income protection cover taken out with a specialist provider could give you a replacement income if you lost yours, along with peace of mind.

Payment protection insurance can be taken out for fixed monthly premiums, based on how old you are when applying for the cover and how much you need to cover each month. There is a limit to the amount of your income that you are able to cover and the provider will give details of this in the terms and conditions. By going with a specialist for the protection you can be sure that the policy will be a quality product. It will come with very few exclusions and cover is backdated to the first day you came out of work. Of course, the biggest advantage of getting a quote from an independent provider is the money you will save on the cost of cover. Standalone providers that only sell payment protection will not go for the huge profits that the high street lenders do.

There are exclusions to be found in income protection policies, as with all insurances, which could mean you would not be eligible to claim and so taking out the cover would be useless. While these exclusions can vary depending on the provider offering a policy, there are some that are standard in all policies. Those individuals who are retired, self-employed, suffer from an ongoing illness or do not work in a full-time position would have to give some very serious thought to the policy's suitability before taking it out. For example, if you do suffer from a pre-existing illness but it has not bothered you during the past two years, protection cover might be suitable. And if you are self-employed and have to stop trading through no fault of your own then you might benefit from cover.

Income protection cover would generally begin to provide you with a tax-free replacement income after being unable to work for a specific amount of time. This is usually within a period of 30 to 90 days of being continually out of work, without having a break in between. Once the cover has started to provide you with security then it would continue to do so for the time stated in the policy's small print * generally 12 to 24 months. This period usually gives plenty of time for recovery from illness or accident, or enough time to find another job and start earning an income again.