Employed by a family
Most nannies are employees of the family they work for, who act as the employer for tax and National Insurance. That means you are entitled to statutory sick pay if you qualify, but few families can afford to pay more. Some nanny contracts include a few weeks of full pay, though it rarely lasts long.
If you work for more than one family in a nanny share, you may have two employers, each with their own sick pay obligations. That can make your entitlement more complicated, so ask both families to put their sick pay terms in writing.
Maternity nannies and temporary nannies often move from family to family on short contracts. If you work this way, you may have gaps between contracts with no employer at all, and income protection can help with periods of illness between bookings.
Live-in nannies and the home question
If you live in, your job and your home are linked. A long illness could mean the family needs to hire someone else, and the replacement will need your room. That leaves you without income and without accommodation at the same time.
Income protection can help you pay for somewhere else to live while you recover. Think about how long you could manage before you need to find a new home, and set the deferred period and benefit with that in mind.
Physical demands of caring for children
Nannies lift, carry and run after children all day. School runs, park trips, bath times and broken nights with babies all take their toll. Back injuries and exhaustion are common, and the children you care for bring home every infection going around their school.
Some nannies drive the family car for school runs and activities. If you have to stop driving on medical grounds under DVLA rules, your employer may not be able to keep you on, even if you could still do the rest of the job.
- Back strain from lifting and carrying
- Exhaustion from long days and broken nights
- Frequent infections
- Losing the right to drive for school runs
Life insurance for nannies
If you have a partner, children or family who rely on your income, life insurance can pay a lump sum if you die. Family employers rarely offer death in service, so a personal policy is often the only cover your family would have.
If you are single without dependants, income protection may be the priority, with life cover added later when you have a partner, children or a mortgage. Buying younger usually means a lower premium, fixed for the length of the policy.
How Hi Tomorrow helps nannies
We look at your contract, your sick pay and whether you live in, then compare income protection from insurers on our panel. Insurers group occupations into risk classes, and we explain whether a policy would judge you on your own job.
We can also arrange life insurance and explain what to tell the insurer if you work for two families or live in with your employer. The insurer makes the final call through its underwriting, and we help with any follow-up questions.