 Ray Prince CFP |
A post by Ray Prince, Certified Financial Planner Ray Prince has worked as a Financial Planner since 1994 and specialises advising medics and dentists throughout the UK. His passion is working with and helping clients who want an unbiased view as to how they can achieve their lifestyle and financial goals and objectives.
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Dentists’ Provident Society’s latest statistics for their income protection claims statistics are available and make interesting reading.
If you are a dentist, it’s likely that you’ve taken out income protection insurance (also referred to as permanent health insurance). In fact, you may have even claimed on your policy.
During the last few years many of the leading insurers have been releasing their claim statistics for critical illness cover and income protection. This information is very useful to know as it gives you an insight to what policyholders are claiming for, and also peace of mind in knowing that the insurance actually pays out!
Established in 1908, Dentists’ Provident Society is the leading provider of income protection insurance to dentists in the UK and Ireland.
They serve over 13,000 members and as they specialise in dealing with members of the dental profession they have been able to compile detailed information to demonstrate the value of income protection insurance.
Let’s look at the statistics from DPS for 2007.
Highlights:
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DPS paid claims totaling £2.7m (same as 2006)
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On average, they paid 126 claims each month (5 more than 2006)
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The largest claim in 2007 amounted to £35,355 (average £1,792)
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On average, 13% (1,690) of their insured members claimed benefits in 2007 (2% more than 2006)
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The average age of claimants was 44 (43 in 2006)
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The average duration of short term claims in 2007 was just under 3 weeks (was 4 weeks in 2006)
Let’s look at some examples of claims in 2007:
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Female – age 39 at start of claim – Hand Tremor – 22 years claim duration – £160,000 paid (to end 2007)
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Male – 48 – Wrist Strain – 12 years – £111,000
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Female – 54 – Depression – 35 weeks – £9,150
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Male – 32 – Meningitis – 25 weeks – £18,000
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Male – 54 – Prolapsed Disc – 2 weeks – £420
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Female – 32 – Road Traffic Accident – 18 weeks – £12,960
As you can see, the reasons for claims are varied, and many of them would not have been eligible for a claim under a critical illness policy.
The good news is that as DPS are a mutual organisation, they do not have any shareholders and are run solely for the benefit of their members. Their claims philosophy is based on the principles of fairness, honesty and sympathy. In fact, out of the 1,507 claims in 2007, only an additional 1 resulted in being a claims-related complaint.
Key Considerations:
The majority of dentists that we meet do have income protection in place. It’s a crucial form of personal protection that you should consider if you don’t have it yet.
If you don’t have cover, the key question to ask yourself is: “what would happen if your income ceased for a lengthy period from tomorrow?”
It happens, so don’t leave it to chance.
Action Point
If you want to find out how to get the right type of income protection cover (there’s a few alternatives available), contact us
All conversations are in strict confidence and without obligation.
