The start of the new year signals many different things – fresh resolutions, detoxing from rich food and alcohol and the start of the spring school term. It also brings a wave of coughs, colds, flu, norovirus and in the last few years, Covid. This year seems especially bad, with the head of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine describing the pressure on hospitals as “unacceptably awful”. Fortunately, the majority of people will recover from their illness in just a few days without the need to visit hospital, but longterm illnesses and injuries are much more common than many people think. In our recent survey with 2,000 UK adults, we found more than a quarter (27%) have taken a month or more off work sometime during their career. Of these people, the average time they had been away from work was four and a half months, more than a third of a year. This is a significant amount of time and is likely to impact income. Only around half of employers offer full pay for those who are on long-term sick leave. About a quarter of employees must rely on Statutory Sick Pay (SSP), which currently stands at £116.75 a week and is available for 28 weeks1. The rest will receive Occupational Sick Pay, which is set at the discretion of the employer, which will be higher than SSP but lower than full salary. For those who are self-employed, there is no safety net. No work means no pay. As of October 2024, there were almost 4.4 million self-employed workers in the UK and this figure is growing year on year2. Even just a month off work can leave people struggling financially, let alone four or more. Up to a third of UK adults have either no savings or less than £1,000 in a savings account. Two thirds of people believe The Longer Financial Impact of Illness Victoria Margesson Proposition Manager Cirencester Friendly 08 SPRING PROTECT NEWSLETTER
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