Protection insurance for those who are working at heights

Protection insurance for those who are working at heights

Not everyone thinks about this, but if you are working at heights, you can sometimes find accessing insurance a bit tricky. Insurers know that when you are working high up that there will be lots of safety measures in place, but ultimately it’s still more risky than working in an office.

We’re often approached by people who have been unable to find protection insurance themselves because of the heights that they work, some have been unable to find insurance at all whereas others have been offered an extremely high premium. Examples of people working at heights:

• Roofers
• Scaffolders
• Power line engineers
• Oil riggers
• Wind turbine engineers
• Rope access technicians

A good thing about the protection insurance industry is that they try to keep up to date with the changing times. There are a whole load of security measures in place now for people working at heights, and insurers recognise this and factor that into any terms they give. For life insurance you might get standard terms of cover, or you might see a premium increase. Unfortunately it isn’t possible to say Insurer X is the best for people working at heights, as so many factors come into play and really does depend upon your individual circumstances.

It’s difficult to say exactly how much you will pay for your protection insurance policy without knowing every detail, as research is done for our clients on an individual basis. Though we have included a case study a little bit further down to give you an idea of what one of our clients has paid for their policy. 

When it comes to the application, there are a few questions you’re likely to see. The insurer will want to know what your occupation is, how high up you work on average and what percentage of your working day you spend at this height. They will probably want to know the maximum height that you work at too.

If your job requires you to work at heights and there are little to no other disclosures on your application, it’s possible that we find life insurance with standard terms (no price increase). For critical illness cover and income protection you might have an exclusion on the policy claims set for any claim relating to your height, but some insurers might offer you standard terms. This is why the work that our advisers do to research the market for you is so important.

Each application is assessed on an individual basis, so the insurer will look at the answers on your application to make a decision and provide terms with a price which reflects your circumstances.

Case study

Robert came to us needing protection insurance as a non-smoking man in his 30s. After speaking with him, we identified a need for life insurance and income protection. Robert worked as a rope access technician on an oil rig in the North Sea. He would spend 60% of his day working at a height of around 40 feet, which at times would increase to a maximum of 50 metres. 

We arranged a joint decreasing life insurance policy covering him and his partner in line with their mortgage, this covered them for £230,000 over a period of 29 years with a monthly premium of £17. 

The income protection policy that we arranged covered him for £2000 per month if he became unable to work for more than 8 weeks because of ill health. This policy also covered him right up until retirement age if he couldn’t work again. This policy cost just £56 per month.

If you work at heights or just have an occupation which you think could be seen as risky at times, our advisers are happy to answer any questions that you might have and help you along your insurance journey.

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