Hi, short question.
Since COVID, I've been looking for an insurance that can cover redundancy. So far have come up fruitless (assuming most places don't offer it anymore).
Note sure if relevant but I'm from NSW (COVID capital)
Was wondering if anyone had any bright ideas or leads I can follow down?
:) cheers
I was looking for this a while ago and it was approx $100/month but would oinly pay for 3 months and had a waiting period of 6 months.
I thought that's what the redundancy payment is for. Whether voluntary or involuntary you get a payment to help you move onto the next path in life.
What I assume most people would be needing right now is income protection that may cover shutdowns/standdowns or employers going out of business (not sure if they even cover those cases)
Some income protection policies may cover involuntary redundancy but no one is going to cover voluntary redundancy for obvious reasons (at least I hope it's obvious).
I'm wondering…who's going to know whether the redundancy was voluntary or not?
I often see companies ask around to see if anyone wants to volunteer to take a redundancy package and, if there are not enough volunteers, the company then goes and decides which other positions to make redundant.
The paperwork received by redundant employees all say the same thing and doesn't specify if it was voluntary or not. So how would the insurer ever know?
The paperwork shouldn't be the same as the tax rates are different between voluntary and involuntary.
Thanks - I think we're talking about two different definitions of those words (and mine might not be aligned with that of the insurers').
I was thinking "voluntary" and "involuntary" in the cases where say, there's a group of 50 people in the Call Centre and the company announces they are going to make 10 positions redundant. They firstly call for volunteers. Say 3 people initially volunteer, it'll means that the company then has to decide which other 7 people will be cut.
All 10 redundancies in the above will still be classed as bona-fide redundancies and treated the same tax-wise - it's just that I was referring to the original 3 volunteers as "voluntary" and the later 7 "involuntary".
I've been in the above situation before and wanted to leave anyway, so I volunteered straight up (and my payments were still treated as a bona-fide redundancy). So I was wondering how the insurer would even know I put my hand up.
@bobbified: Yeah I believe, and assume OP is referring to a case of genuine redundancy (which is what OP called involuntary) where an employee is going to make people redundant and voluntary redundancy where an employee basically says, hey we'll give you XYZ if you leave employment which is voluntary though often the situation is if there are no or insufficient volunteers then they'll continue with genuine redundancies.
Check with your private health provider, if you have it.
From memory, I believe some providers offered salary protection and redundancy insurance of sorts sometime ago. I might be confusing it with some other type of provider though.
When I looked into it a few years ago, there was a heap of conditions, to the point I couldn't see how it would ever be very useful.
Better o put some savings aside rather than pay insurance premiums for this risk.
Firstly, VIC is COVID capital, NSW is COVIDiot capital.
As others above, the conditions generally make it pretty pointless. Perhaps check within your super fund though, some might offer it as an extension to income protection insurance for sickness, TPD etc.
St.George used to offer a product called Home Loan Protect which gave protection against involuntary redundancy, not sure if they still offer, but might be worth a call to your local branch (not the call centre). The catch was that you had to have a home loan, but it didn't need to be with St.George to qualify.
Insurance company is there to make money. If they predict that lock down / major lay off, they can stop taking new application. For example, back in 2020 (first lock down) most insurance not accepting new landlord insurance application.
Start a savings plan for the same amount it would cost you. Will lessen the burden if you're made redundant on top of any redundancy entitlement if you have an entitlement to it.
A few people have referenced 'Home Loan Insurance'; my understanding is that the insurance is more for the financier than the borrower.
thanks legends for your input :)
No.
Most likely because premiums too high to make it worthwhile. Also it's effectively insuring against economic risk, which insurers can't hedge against by pooling many risks.
This is called double dipping. Definitely no due to moral hazard.