Short Term Sickness Up To 6 Months
Published / Last Updated on 18/11/2021
If you are unable to work due to illness or injury for up to 6 months, could you still afford to pay your bills?
If your employer has no sickness insurance policy at work, what will you do? Many larger employers will have a sickness insurance scheme but most smaller employers will not.
- Sickness days 1 to 4 - you are able to self certify being off work but you are not entitled to any sick pay.
- Sickness day 5 to 28 weeks - your employer is responsible for paying Statutory Sickness Pay (SSP) currently £96.35 per week (21/22). This is not government funded, it is paid for by employers. What if you are self employed? What if you are a company owner/director?
- After 28 weeks - SSP ends, if you do not have other provision, you will be means tested for benefits.
Can you afford to live on £96.35 per week?
We suggest you need to have at least 3 months or 6 months savings to cover your basic living expenses. If you do not have this, you will struggle. You need to save and think about your credit score or getting into debt or arrears or indeed losing your beloved house, car etc if you have prepared.
