Hazardous Occupations

There are quite a few jobs that spring to mind when we think of hazardous occupations: armed services personnel, offshore worker, bomb disposal experts, etc. But what about teachers, chefs, stockbrokers? There are some insurances when even these occupations are considered high risk!
Depending upon the type of insurance that you are trying to arrange, the insurer is going to be interested in what your actual duties are, where you are working and what industry you are in.
Common questions about your occupation can include:

• How much of your work is manual and how much administrative?
• Do you work in the UK?
• Do you work at heights?
• If you are required to travel abroad, where will you be going and how long for?
• If you work offshore, what transport is used to reach the rig or ship?
• If you are an armed services personnel, are you aware of any upcoming active deployment?
• How many business miles do you drive each year?

Insurers have set guides in place that they use to calculate what types of insurance they can offer people in different occupations, and the terms that are available. It could be that one insurer accepts your application for critical illness cover with an occupational exclusion on the claims set, whereas another may accept you at standard terms with no exclusion. The trick is to shop around and find the right insurer for you. Not so subtle hint, a whole of market insurance adviser can do this for you and take all the hassle out of your hands!
Life Insurance – widely available, if your job has a significant high risk of physical injury, you may need to be selective as to which insurer you approach for the cover.
Critical Illness Cover – widely available, if your job has a significant risk of physical injury, the insurer may place an exclusion on the policy for any claim relating to your occupation.
Income Protection – widely available and easily tailored to match sick pay from your employer. It is possible that the insurer may place restrictions on the policy retirement age or deferment period depending on your occupation.
Private Medical Insurance – often available, some insurers will not provide this cover for certain occupations, so you may need to choose a specific insurer that can consider your application.
Example Occupations:

• Abattoir Workers
• Aerial Riggers
• Animal Trainers
• Armed Forces Personnel – Army
• Armed Forces Personnel – Navy
• Armed Forces Personnel – RAF
• Blacksmiths
• Bricklayers
• Builders
• Carpenters
• Divers
• Electricians
• Engineers
• Farmers
• Firefighters
• Fishermen
• Flying Instructors
• Helicopter Pilots
• Miners
• Offshore Workers
• Paramedics
• Personal Trainers
• Pilots
• Plumbers
• Police Officers
• Professional Sports People
• Roofers
• Rope Access Technicians
• Rugby Players
• Scaffolders
• Security Guards
• Steeplejacks
• Taxi Drivers
• Teachers
• Test Pilots
• Truck Drivers
• Welders

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