If you are or become ill, state support remains minimal.

In a speech on welfare in April, the Prime Minister attacked the UK’s “sick note culture”, observing that that a record 2.8 million people were off work with long-term illness. He proposed that sick notes (strictly “fitness to work notes”) be replaced with fit notes, issued by health and work specialists rather than doctors.

In the run up to the pandemic, the long-term sick population was fairly stable at 2.0 million. The significant jump since then has added to government expenditure, one of the factors concerning Mr Sunak. However, as many people discovered at the time of Covid-19, sickness benefits are far from generous:

• If you are an employee, statutory sick pay (SSP) is £116.75 a week, payable from day four of sickness for the first 28 weeks off work. Your employer may also provide sick pay but is not required to do so.
• If you are self-employed, you do not qualify for SSP but must claim Employment and Support Allowance (ESA), which is also available to employees once their SSP payments cease. For a couple, the basic rate is generally £142.25 a week, to which there may be various additions. For a single person, the corresponding figure is £90.50.
• If either of these payments is insufficient to cover your living expenses, then the next port of call is Universal Credit (UC). However, this is unavailable if you (along with your partner) have savings of more than £16,000. Pass that hurdle and the assessment still takes account of your partner’s income.

Were you to become unable to work through illness, would you and your family be able cope on what the State provides? If the answer is no, or not for long, then talk to us about your income protection options now, to put safeguards in place.