The outbreak of Covid-19 has given us a greater appreciation and focus on what we really value in life. It also increases the spotlight on what we should be doing to protect ourselves and our families should the unthinkable happen and we are unable to work for a period of time.

A worrying trend that was evident from Aviva research* was that 35% of people surveyed thought that they would survive on the State Disability payment of €203 per week if they were off sick long-term, due to mental health or another illness. Some 17% of respondents said they would rely on their partner and only 17% had enough savings for one year. “Our claims data consistently shows that mental health has overtaken cancer as one of the main reasons for protection claims.  With the worrying increase in stress and anxiety levels that we are seeing across the country this year as a result of the outbreak of Covid-19, we are urging those in employment to take steps towards protecting their mental health and their ability to earn an income.” Richard Jones, Aviva Life & Pensions Ireland  “The research findings highlight that Covid-19 has increased many peoples’ stress and anxiety levels.  A person’s mental health is a critical part of their overall wellbeing and has an enormous impact on how they function in their daily lives.  However, one of the key positives that we can take from the research findings is that there is a much higher awareness that mental health needs to be minded as much as our physical health.”

This underlines just how important it is to have the right cover in place should someone find themselves without their income due to illness, which is an ever more present worry for today’s workforce particularly those with young families and mortgages are protecting their incomes so that they will have a realistic monthly income if they cannot work for a period of time. At Hegarty Financial Management we strongly encourage our clients to look at the level of protection cover they have, as this can change depending on circumstances.

For more information to talk to one of the team today contact: jim@hegarty.ie , frank@hegarty.ie , niamh@hegaty.ie , trish@hegarty.ie , ross@hegarty.ie or chloe@hegarty.ie or call us on 01 4972544 Hegarty Financial Management 40 years caring for our clients financial wellbeing.

*About the research: 

iReach Insights conducted this research on behalf of Aviva to examine the importance of the nation’s mental and physical health (pre-Covid and since the onset of Covid) and to examine attitudes and awareness of protection policies. The sample of 1,000 adults is nationally representative and field work took place during late September 2020