A popular option for many tradies who take out income protection is "day 1 accident cover". This option can be added to most income protection policies available in Australia.

Day 1 accident cover means that, in the event of an accident, you can be paid the benefits from your income protection policy from day 1. However, there are some big differences between the policies offered by the insurance companies.

With one of the cheaper policies currently available, even if you have the "day 1 accident cover" option you still have to be unable to work for 30 consecutive days before you will receive any benefits. The benefits will then be backdated to day 1.

Another popular policy available, which isn't a great deal more expensive, only requires you to be unable to work for 3 consecutive days before they start paying benefits to you, which are backdated to day 1.

If you can't work and you're not receiving an income, the difference between a policy that pays after 3 days off work will make a huge difference when compared to a policy that requires 30 days of work.

Example: If you sustained a minor injury and were off work for 28 days, the second policy would pay your full benefits for that period, paid after just three days. The first policy wouldn't pay you a cent.

When selecting an income protection policy, it pays to use the services of a qualified professional. As this shows, when two companies offer an option with the same name, it definitely doesn't mean they are equal.

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Information on this website should be seen as general advice only, as it does not take into account your personal circumstances. You should not act upon any information on this website without first consulting a qualified financial adviser or insurance broker
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