Working on the landings
Prison officers manage people who can be volatile, unwell or under the influence of drugs. Assaults happen, and injuries range from bruises to broken bones and head injuries. Control and restraint techniques also put strain on your back, wrists and shoulders.
Officers sometimes deal with self-harm, overdoses and deaths in custody. Over time, the build-up of these experiences can lead to anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress, which can keep people off work for months and make returning to the wings hard.
Many officers also work long shifts that run into nights and weekends, often with overtime to cover staff shortages. Tiredness adds to the risk of injury during incidents and makes recovery from stress slower.
- Assaults by prisoners
- Injuries during restraint
- Stress, anxiety and trauma
- Shift patterns affecting sleep and health
Public and private sector benefits
Officers in public sector prisons are civil servants and usually receive civil service sick pay, which starts at full pay and reduces after a period depending on service. They are also members of the civil service pension arrangements, which include a death in service benefit.
Officers in privately run prisons may have different sick pay and pension terms. Some get more, some less. Read your contract or ask HR so you know exactly what would happen to your pay after one month, three months and six months of absence.
Planning for a long absence
Because you may have full pay for some time, a long deferred period often makes sense. Income protection set to begin when your sick pay reduces can replace much of your income without paying for cover you do not need in the early weeks. Check the date with HR before you choose.
If you are considering leaving the prison service for another career, buying your own cover while you still have good health can make it easier to keep protection in place afterwards. Your premium is based on your health when you apply, so waiting until after a period of stress could make cover harder to get.
Life insurance beyond the gate
Your pension death benefit can be a good foundation, but it is tied to your employment. If you leave, transfer to a private provider or retire, the benefit changes or stops. It is also usually based on salary rather than your mortgage or family needs.
A personal life policy lets you choose the amount and the term, and it stays in place whatever you decide to do next. Many officers set it to run until the mortgage is paid off or the children leave home.
How Hi Tomorrow helps prison staff
We work out when your sick pay reduces and set your income protection to start at the right time. Insurers group occupations into risk classes, and we explain how each one would assess a prison officer and whether the policy pays based on your own job or a wider test.
Life insurance can be added to the same application, and we will help you write it in trust. If you have had time off after an assault, we help you explain it clearly so the insurer sees how well you have recovered. The insurer makes the final underwriting decision.