The number of people opting to go self-employed has been steadily growing every year since 2001. In fact, 4.8 million people in the UK are self-employed. That’s 15% of the UK workforce.[1]

But it’s misleading to talk about the self-employed as a single entity. The UK self-employed workforce spans a myriad of occupations, however, a staggering 79% of this group work within the construction industry. This group of workers face specific issues:

Uncertainty

The construction industry is often referred to as a barometer of economic growth. When economic conditions are uncertain, the sector can feel the impact. You only need to look at the recent Carillion collapse to see the impact for many contractors; it resulted in 2,764 insolvencies in the sector[2] While income protection doesn’t protect against this kind of uncertainty, it does ensure that a self-employed contractor can survive should their health suffer through illness or injury.

Mental health is most acute in the construction industry

Large construction companies are prioritising mental health support for workers, but what about self-employed contractors who don’t have access to workplace wellbeing schemes?

Whatever the trade, skilled or unskilled, construction workers rely on their physical and mental health to be able to earn their living. Income protection is just as important as business insurance for this group of workers. Yet, it is worrying that 82% of the UK self-employed market do not have income protection in place. [3]

Pure Protection Plus from The Exeter is designed for construction workers

If you work with self-employed construction workers – plumbers, labourers, heating engineers, carpenters – Pure Protection Plus from The Exeter is designed specifically to meet their protection needs.

To find out more visit https://www.the-exeter.com/income-protection-adviser.html, call us on 0300 123 3207 or email us at sales@the-exeter.com

[1] https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-44887623

[2] https://www.itv.com/news/2018-10-01/carillion-collapse-has-knock-on-effect-for-construction-industry-study-finds/

[3] https://www.activequote.com/articles/taking-care-of-business-but-are-the-self-employed-taking-care-of-themselves/