Losing a job is one of the worst things to happen, especially if you have a family to support, have kids to send to school and have monthly bills to pay.
We are not talking about taking a sabbatical from work or leaving a job to pursue other passions and interests, but an involuntary job loss, something that happens when you may be least prepared for it, emotionally and financially.
In case of organizational attrition, you may not be in a position to control your organisation’s need to fire or retain you. Or, in case of a medical emergency, while your health insurance might pay your medical bills, you’ll still need to cover for your kids’ schooling, rent, monthly grocery bills, etc.
How? What you can do is get insured and get a cover for a job loss so that your bills still get paid and you can still sustain your family even when the monthly paychecks do not come along.
We’ve seen the global recessionary cycle of 2008 and hence. Learning from experience, it’s only wise to get insured as you get comfortable in your role at work. A handful of UAE banks do offer that facility.
Among others, the UAE’s First Gulf Bank offers the option to secure your salary, for up to six months. The bank’s First Insure policy provides a pre-approved lifestyle protection plan, which offers customers income security of up to 6 months in the event of an involuntary job loss. “In short, you can retain your lifestyle while you evaluate new career opportunities,” reads the website of the local bank.
With no salary transfer criteria and with plans starting from as little as Dh77 per month, you can get secure salary up to Dh180,000 for 6 months to cover involuntary job loss; cover up to Dh300,000 in case of permanent total disability or accidental death; emergency medical assistance; hospital cash benefit and choice of 4 packages based on monthly salary.
“Based on the option chosen by you to receive the monthly payments, Adnic [Abu Dhabi National Insurance Company] will issue a cheque monthly, equivalent of the monthly payout amount for the term chosen and specified by you at time of purchasing the policy,” it clarifies.
United Arab Bank too has a salary protector account – in short, an insurance cover for unemployment. “To ensure our clients are offered protection against loss of employment, we present the first of its kind Involuntary Loss of Employment insurance cover benefit at no cost to you. It will protect you and your family with a guaranteed income in unfortunate event of loss of employment, death or permanent total disablement,” the website reads.
Under the offer, you will be given an involuntary loss of employment – insurance cover benefit of monthly salary up to a maximum of Dh25,000 for a period of six months. It also covers death and permanent total disablement – an insurance cover benefit Dh200,000 with continuity of income to primary account holder, offering peace of mind. However, you have to transfer the salary to the bank.
Ideally, you should have enough back-up in the account to sail through a job loss but rarely do we prepare yourself for that.
Recent statics show that four out of 10 UAE residents save less than 10 per cent of their monthly income, according to a survey by Souqalmal.com, and half of those who took part in the survey claim they’ve not saved at all.
Experts suggest that financial planning is very important and one step towards a secure future is getting insured against a job loss.
Each bank and insurance provider offering insurance against job loss may set conditions for an individual that may differ than those stated above. ( E247)
