There seems to be insurance for everything, so it should come as no surprise that a new kind of insurance has popped up in the marketplace: private unemployment insurance.
IncomeAssure, a product underwritten by the Great American Insurance Company, has arisen in response to President Obama’s call for wage insurance during his 2016 State of the Union Address.
Here is how IncomeAssure works. Say you become unemployed. Chances are that no matter your income, you will receive significantly less than what your old job paid through unemployment benefits. This is where IncomeAssure comes in.
If you sign up for the maximum benefit that IncomeAssure provides, you will receive half of what you would have made through your old job through their wage insurance, minus any unemployment benefits received.
To provide an example, if you’re making $100,000 in New York, the maximum benefit you’d receive from government-sanctioned unemployment would be $425. Your salary before taxes would be approximately $1,900, half of which is $950. You would receive the difference between $950 and $425 from IncomeAssure, which would be $525.
It is important to note that it takes two weeks for benefits to kick in, and they only last for 24 weeks. In addition, premiums can be costly, particularly if one is in a sector or industry that suffers from high turnover or job loss.
Examples of positions that’d have to pay a higher premium include construction workers and those in the leisure and hospitality industries. Those in government jobs would usually pay the lowest premium. Premiums could range from about $35 to over $180 a month.
Premiums also depend upon the amount of money you make— the more you make, the higher the check that IncomeAssure will have to provide— and the percentage of unemployment benefits your state provides.
