The benefits
 
Income Protection  provides you with a replacement income if you are unable to carry out your usual work due to any illness, any injury,  or any disability            
It is a very simple plan and offers the following key features: 

• Protect up to 75% of your income 
• Cover is guaranteed to continue until retirement, even if you have multiple claims 
• You can claim tax relief on premiums paid 
• Your premiums can be either guaranteed (will not change during the term of your plan) or reviewable (will stay constant for the first 5 years of the          plan and subject to review thereafter) 
• Additional benefits under the Income Protection plan include:

Guaranteed Increase Option - you may be able to increase your benefits at regular intervals without having to provide any medical information
Hospital Cash benefit - you may receive an income if you are hospitalised for more than 7 days
Overseas benefit - you will be covered as long as you are in the European Union or if outside the European Union we will pay benefit for 13 weeks in any 52 week period (to a total of 39 weeks)  
An optional benefit is indexation of premium and benefit amount. 

The Facts 

• 1 in 6 of Irelands working population will be disabled for more than 6 months   
• The average claim duration is 5.5 years 
• Social Welfare disability allowance is just € 10,623 per annum for an individual   
• There is no Social Welfare benefit for the self-employed  ,
• Only 15% of private sector workers are entitled to sick pay for more than 6 months 
• 36% of those surveyed think their salary is protected by other insurance e.g. Mortgage  Protection, Loan Repayment Protection and Critical Illness.  However, less than 10% of the Irish Workforce have any form of private salary protection 

Sample  of Claims paid by Friends First
Friends First are particularly proud of their unrivalled claims record and  feel that this is one of their key advantages of their Income Protection product.
In 2006

Friends First Income Protection Claims 2006