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Ever thought about what would happen if you were too ill or injured to work for a long time? Would you be able to cope financially? It’s not a scenario we tend to think about very often, but from periods of mental ill health to long-term pain, from critical illnesses to serious accidents – this is something that could happen to any of us.

When we do get round to thinking about it, most of us probably assume we wouldn’t be ill or injured for long enough for it to impact us financially. Or that we’d be able to tide ourselves over any period of illness or injury with sick pay, savings, or support from someone else. But what if you can’t work for longer than you could tide yourself over? And what if you’re a breadwinner in your household who can no longer provide an income?

This is exactly where income protection can help – an insurance policy designed to protect you against illnesses or injuries that stop you being able to work for a relatively long time. If you need to claim, income protection pays out a monthly amount to replace part of your missing income (you can usually cover up to 50-60% of your salary) and to help you keep up with the cost of life. It keeps paying this amount for as long as you need it (if you have a ‘long-term’ or ‘full-term’ policy) or for a set amount of time, like 1, 2 or 5 years (if you have a ‘short-term’ policy). You’ll find more detail on exactly how income protection works in this useful guide.

As for whether or not you yourself need income protection, it very much depends on your personal circumstances. Here’s the top three reasons why it’s a good idea to get protected:

#1 – You have financial commitments

Most people of working age have financial commitments of some kind. Mortgage, rent, food, bills, lifestyle costs. If you lost your income for medical reasons, would you be able to keep up with these expenses, particularly the essential ones? If so, for how long? If there’s a ceiling to how long you could cope financially, income protection is probably a good idea.

For self-employed people this need could be even more pressing, because you don’t usually have the safety of sick pay to fall back on. This means being off work because of an illness or injury could have even quicker, more significant financial consequences.

#2 – You have financial dependents

As well as ongoing bills and expenses, many of us also have other people who we either share financial commitments with, or who rely on our income – usually a partner and/or children. If you being unable to work for a long period of time because of an illness or injury would affect these people financially, you have another solid reason for considering income protection insurance.

#3 – You want peace of mind

The whole point of insurance is to give you peace of mind in case something unexpected and unfortunate happens to you. In the case of the income protection, that unexpected and unfortunate event is losing your income for physical or mental health reasons. If you know that this scenario could affect you financially, it makes sense that you wouldn’t want that worry hanging over you – especially if you have other people in your life who’d also be affected. Income protection is a sure-fire way to give yourself that much-needed peace of mind.