Launches, reports and always being online
Marketing jobs move fast. Campaign launches, product releases, social channels that never sleep and pressure to prove results every month make it hard to switch off. Many marketers check messages late at night and answer comments at weekends.
That intensity sits behind much of the sickness absence in the field. Burnout, anxiety and depression can need months of recovery. Long hours on laptops add back, neck and wrist problems, and events work brings late nights, travel and lifting display stands. Income protection pays a monthly benefit if any illness or injury keeps you from working beyond the deferred period.
In-house, agency or freelance
In-house marketers at large firms often have decent sick pay and sometimes group cover. Agencies vary a great deal, from generous packages to statutory sick pay only. Freelancers and consultants have no sick pay at all and invoice only for the work they deliver.
Many marketers switch between these over a career. A personal policy stays with you, which saves reapplying each time your benefits change and avoids new health questions if your health has changed. Review your deferred period whenever you move.
- In-house: line up cover with sick pay and group benefits
- Agency: check the handbook, as packages differ widely
- Freelance: plan for income stopping on the first day off
Bonuses, freelance profit and your benefit
Insurers usually include regular bonuses when working out how much benefit you can have. They will ask for evidence, such as P60s from the last couple of years. A one-off bonus for a big pitch win may not count in the same way.
Freelancers are assessed on profit, often averaged over a few years. If you have just gone freelance, some insurers will consider your previous salary as well, so tell the broker about your history.
Where marketing sits in the risk tables
Insurers place occupations in risk groups that affect price and the claim definition. Marketing roles normally fall into the lower-risk groups, and own occupation cover is widely available, so a claim depends on whether you can do your own marketing job.
If a large part of your role is events, with travel and setting up venues, mention it. It rarely changes much, but the insurer should know.
Life cover for marketers and how Hi Tomorrow helps
If you have a mortgage or a family, life insurance can repay the home or give your family a monthly income. Death in service, if you have it, ends with the job, and agency moves are common in marketing careers.
We help marketers compare policies across the insurers on our panel, explain how bonuses or freelance income affect cover and keep the application straightforward.