ASU Insurance
ASU Insurance, otherwise known as Accident Sickness and Unemployment Insurance – can be taken out to to cover you in the event that you :
a) Have an accident which prevents you from working.
b) Have a sickness / illness which prevents you from working.
c) Are made involuntarily redundant.
Note : You are not covered if you are dismissed, you resign or if you volunteer to be made redundant. People who are self-employed can be covered for unemployment cover, but it is often a very complicated process to prove that your business went into involuntary liquidation.
ASU Insurance pays out a monthly sum for a defined period of time, usually 12, 18 or 24 months. Even if you are still off work / unable to earn after that period of time, the payment to you will cease.
ASU Insurance is different to Mortgage Payment Protection Insurance in that it is not specifically designed to cover your mortgage payment alone. If you claim on an ASU insurance policy, you can use the money paid out when you claim for whatever you like.
Pricing can vary, but it is usually priced as an amount per £100 of cover. The longer the period of cover (i.e. 12, 18 or 24 months), the shorter the deferred period and the more the policy covers – usually the higher the cost per £100.
Banks and Buildings Societies often charge a much higher rate for ASU Insurance and Mortgage Payment Protection Insurance than you could pay if you shop around.
There is usually a deferred period applicable to an ASU Insurance policy. This may be 30 days, 60 days, 90 days or sometimes even longer. However, despite there being a deferred period that you must wait before your claim starts, you must still notify the insurance company that you are off work as soon as possible.
Despite a deferred period, some ASU Insurance policies can be taken out to pay back to day 1. i.e. the claim comes into force after you are off work sick for more than 30 days, but pays back to day 1. If you were only off work for 29 days, with a policy that has a deferred period of 30 days, it would not pay out at all even if it was back to day 1. However, if you were off work for 31 days, it would pay back to day 1.
If you would like to receive advice on ASU Insurance – EFS can help you.
