"As an industry, we need to work hard to make that vital protection more accessible."
- Alan Waddington, Distribution Director at Cirencester Friendly
Of those surveyed (2,000), 56% failed to identify any living costs that could be reduced during a period of ill-health or injury. Amongst those who could identify savings, most said they’d cut back on eating out, takeaways, and TV subscription services.
Notably, just 3% of respondents said they’d cut back on holidays in the first instance, indicating that holidays have become a necessity rather than a luxury. Whereas, buying new clothes, gym memberships, and smoking/alcohol were considered unnecessary costs when living on a budget.
Alan Waddington, Distribution Director at Cirencester Friendly, said it’s “worrying that so many people can’t identify anything they could cut back on if they couldn’t work for a month. It illustrates that many families have no financial safety net to fall back on. Providing affordable Income Protection (IP) to cover the basics to ensure a few weeks of illness or injury doesn’t leave families with long-term debts is becoming increasingly important.”
He highlighted that this survey found “more than half of respondents would be interested in an affordable product that paid an income if they were unable to work due to illness or injury, rising to 74% amongst 18-34-year-olds. This shows the demand is there, especially amongst younger workers.”
Last year, Cirencester reported that more than a quarter of adults in the UK have taken a month away from the workplace, rising to 35% amongst employees aged 55 and above.
On average, of those who’d taken over a month away from work, employees spent four and a half months unable to work. 12% were away for between six and twelve months, and a quarter couldn’t work for over a year. More than one in ten (11%) of those who’d taken time off work have admitted that they may never be able to return to the workplace.
