With the onset of the whole corona crisis, I was counting my lucky stars that I’d shifted to a career (waste management) which will pretty much always be needed. My employer is at 93% of the turnover they were this time last year (only down a bit due to a slump with the commercial clients) and they have taken on a few new staff lately, with a good few more on the agency who will most likely be offered contacts after they’ve completed their three months.
However, one thing that always plays on my mind is that I’d be pretty screwed if for some reason I was declared medically unfit to drive. I know it’s pretty unlikely, and tbh I’m amazed that some of the fat knackers at my workplace manage to pass their medicals, but people do sometimes get diagnosed with congenital heart defects in their 30s which they were previously unaware of. Or one might lose their sight in one eye to a freak accident or some type of degenerative disease etc etc.
In my previous job none of these would stop me working, they’d just require extra support/adjustment, but by comparison my job as a driver is more precarious and will become more so with age. My driving skills are also not really very transferable I’d have thought.
The main thing I saw in my previous sales career was people who ‘couldn’t hack it anymore’ and went off with stress/anxiety etc, often influenced by things in their personal lives like divorces etc. Usually these were people in middle/upper management who had a lot of targets/stress/deadlines etc. These types of people can often just ‘take a step back’ and maybe accept a slightly more junior position. Of course, it might raise a few eyebrows and affect their future prospects/CV, but going from £45k to £30k still allows a reasonable standard of living, and by this stage the person is less likely to still have any young children to provide for.
But what does a driver on £35k do if he suddenly can’t drive anymore? I’ve heard these stories quite a bit at my workplace. Guys who went for their medical and never came back. I’m guessing I’d have to look at things like warehouse work or other things on the periphery of the driving trade like working in the transport office, but most of these won’t even get you to £25k.
So do you just live with the risk or are insurances a viable solution? Surely they just provide a source of ‘getting by’ rather than paying your previous salary indefinitely. Or are there ones that ‘top you up’ to your previous earnings on top of whatever else you earn?
I’m seemingly one of the few guys who loves my driving job and now I’m fast approaching 40 I’d like to try and ensure that I’ve got all bases covered.
Last year I had my second discectomy operation on my third disc, the previous operation being 20 odd years ago on two I did at the same time so I’ve experience of being in this particular boat as its always flaring up.
I’ve lived for over 20 years with the possibility I may need to stop work at any time. Last summer when it happened I was walking to the car to go to work, got so far and then couldn’t move for the pain, managed to get myself back to the house and then lost the use of my left leg. Off to hospital I went and the following morning at 7.30am I was admitted for emergency surgery. 12 weeks after that before I started to work again. Previous time it happened big time was 2008 and I ended up stopping driving for 5 years. I looked at what I could do and started a business.
For me it has been simple…live within means, no debts other than a mortgage I can afford to pay on benefits and save as much as I can when I can work. As a result I’m at the point now where if I stopped work I can manage 3 years with absolutely no income at all. With benefits it stretches that to 6-8 years.
This year we got a significant wage rise, like 34% significant and work has been even more manic so instead of falling for the whole lifestyle inflation that comes with earning more money I just banged even more in the bank.
The driver on £35k who then struggles on £25k shouldn’t have lived a £35k lifestyle. He’d have been better off living a £30k one, saving some and then if it went to pot at least it’s only a minor lifestyle adjustment, not a major one. If, like a lot of drivers he smokes then adapting is real simple, just stop smoking. ■■■■ are what, £8 a pack? 20 a day is £56 a week or just short of £3,000 a year which is how much your take home pay would drop if your gross dropped £5k. JEEESUS I JUST GOOGLED THE PRICE OF A PACK OF 20 CIGS - no wonder dolies who smoke use foodbanks . OK so make that almost £4000 a year you’d save, about the same as a £6k drop in gross pay.
Yes, live within means, i know blokes on £50k+ in the lorry game, and who have been for a number of years, and guess what too many of them attempt to live the lifestyle instead of doing the most important thing, that is paying off the mortgage asap and living sensibly as a normal working class family might expect so building up a nest egg, because again guess what, working class people aint celebrities and should stop trying to impress others that they somehow are…i give you the typical wedding as a prime example, a ceremony that has lost its meaning because its increasingly morphed into a circus.
If you earn well set yourself up so if the worse should happen it isn’t the devastation it could be, also you can buy a perfectly serviceable car for a months wages.
Alcohol and smoking (and yes my eminently competent doctor tells me alcohol is worse for you long term than smoking) are the ones to really avoid, but don’t get the dangers of losing your licence out of proportion due to ill health, the sheer number of older drivers at the wheel of lorries should tell you the risks involved, for if you removed all the foreigners from lorries in this country you’d be down to a very small percentage of British drivers in their 20’s and 30’s.
I’d also suggest try and find work with some actual work involved, not the seemingly holy grail to many of chauffering only, otherwise you can be working long days doing nothing other than sitting in that seat and only getting out to open the back doors…also chauffering pays bugger all cos any bugger can do it.
The real risk to your income, in fact your very way of life won’t come from you becoming traditionally ill, the biggest danger is from our govt and whoever is pulling their strings, who knows what they have planned for us under the cover of this year’s flu.
Conor:
The driver on £35k who then struggles on £25k shouldn’t have lived a £35k lifestyle. He’d have been better off living a £30k one, saving some and then if it went to pot at least it’s only a minor lifestyle adjustment, not a major one.
I agree with the sentiment of your post, but it is a gamble. 5k buys a lot of insurance that is available from day 1. However if one is lucky enough never to claim it, at the end of a working life it isnt sat there. May be best to save some and buy insurance with some? But youre right, to spend all of ones income isnt wise at all.
I also echo the sentiment above,regarding money.
Although…it’s pointless being the richest man in the graveyard.
Enjoy yourself…but don’t borrow money,to do so.
PLAN AHEAD Dont live for today Invest your money wisely, pay off your mortgage early, should problems arise later youll be in a better posistion to deal with it and who knows you might not have to work till you drop
Conor:
The driver on £35k who then struggles on £25k shouldn’t have lived a £35k lifestyle. He’d have been better off living a £30k one, saving some and then if it went to pot at least it’s only a minor lifestyle adjustment, not a major one.
I agree with the sentiment of your post, but it is a gamble. 5k buys a lot of insurance that is available from day 1. However if one is lucky enough never to claim it, at the end of a working life it isnt sat there. May be best to save some and buy insurance with some? But youre right, to spend all of ones income isnt wise at all.
So first of all currently you can’t take out a new policy with cover for unemployment whilst the covid crisis is on the go.
Assuming you can claim they won’t pay you out what you earned, they’ll only insure you typically for 50% of your salary with a few doing up to a max of 70%. Do a quote on the Meerkats website for a £35k salary and the most you can get is £1458 a month. And for that they’ll want a premium for accident and sickness cover only of £20-£40 a month.
They like all insurance have an excess, in this case how long you have to be out of work for, so they won’t pay out at all for the first 30-90 days off work. I had major back surgery and I wasn’t off 90 days.
The vast majority will only pay out for 12 months now thanks to Covid.
Those when they did offer unemployment cover wouldn’t pay out if you were fired or you quit.
Health wise most policies will NOT cover:
Any medical condition you were aware of, or suffered symptoms of prior to taking out this policy (Pre-existing conditions) - which as a lorry driver you’re going to have.
Stress, anxiety and depression (mental health)
Back or spine related condition, unless verified by a consultant or radiological evidence - so that’s lorry drivers knackered then as that’s a common problem.
Covid-19 and SARS
Deliberately injuring yourself (self harm)
Alcohol, drug or solvent abuse
Pregnancy, childbirth or abortion, other than a medical complication which directly occurs as a result of your pregnancy or pregnancy related conditions
Cosmetic or beauty treatment
Claims caused by war, riot or civil commotion
Radioactive contamination
And when you do get paid out from these it’s counted as income for means tested benefits so especially for someone with a family and/or renting you’ll be no better off than claiming benefits.
So basically you get to pay out £240-£480 a year for an insurance policy you’re almost never likely to be able to claim off and when you can leaves you not much better off than you were on the dole/sick.
Conor:
The driver on £35k who then struggles on £25k shouldn’t have lived a £35k lifestyle. He’d have been better off living a £30k one, saving some and then if it went to pot at least it’s only a minor lifestyle adjustment, not a major one.
I agree with the sentiment of your post, but it is a gamble. 5k buys a lot of insurance that is available from day 1. However if one is lucky enough never to claim it, at the end of a working life it isnt sat there. May be best to save some and buy insurance with some? But youre right, to spend all of ones income isnt wise at all.
So first of all currently you can’t take out a new policy with cover for unemployment whilst the covid crisis is on the go.
Assuming you can claim they won’t pay you out what you earned, they’ll only insure you typically for 50% of your salary with a few doing up to a max of 70%. Do a quote on the Meerkats website for a £35k salary and the most you can get is £1458 a month. And for that they’ll want a premium for accident and sickness cover only of £20-£40 a month.
They like all insurance have an excess, in this case how long you have to be out of work for, so they won’t pay out at all for the first 30-90 days off work. I had major back surgery and I wasn’t off 90 days.
The vast majority will only pay out for 12 months now thanks to Covid.
Those when they did offer unemployment cover wouldn’t pay out if you were fired or you quit.
Health wise most policies will NOT cover:
Any medical condition you were aware of, or suffered symptoms of prior to taking out this policy (Pre-existing conditions) - which as a lorry driver you’re going to have.
Stress, anxiety and depression (mental health)
Back or spine related condition, unless verified by a consultant or radiological evidence - so that’s lorry drivers knackered then as that’s a common problem.
Covid-19 and SARS
Deliberately injuring yourself (self harm)
Alcohol, drug or solvent abuse
Pregnancy, childbirth or abortion, other than a medical complication which directly occurs as a result of your pregnancy or pregnancy related conditions
Cosmetic or beauty treatment
Claims caused by war, riot or civil commotion
Radioactive contamination
And when you do get paid out from these it’s counted as income for means tested benefits so especially for someone with a family and/or renting you’ll be no better off than claiming benefits.
So basically you get to pay out £240-£480 a year for an insurance policy you’re almost never likely to be able to claim off and when you can leaves you not much better off than you were on the dole/sick.
Fortunately I dont currently need a policy. (Very near retiring) But when I did need one, the conditions were much better than those you quote. My bank at the time, NatWest had a good deal at the time. You say drivers are knackered as back problems are common, but it appears they are covered if supported by evidence? OK, no-one is going to cover pre-existing conditions, but that is a good reason to start cover sooner, as a younger person. Merely saying "it hurts" wont be enough, of course, but X-ray or consultant report is accepted.
I probably only spend less than half of what I earn, the pay parity rate has ensured that I can bank money, it’s only my indulgence in non essential items for my hobbies that stops me building a bigger bank balance faster.
Like Conor if I stopped working tomorrow I could still fund my lifestyle for at least the next 4-5yrs before having to tighten my belt.
As for back injuries I see too many young drivers jumping out of the cab instead of climbing down, and think they’re going to have major back problems in later life
my first thought is youre a worrier,i mean youve another 30 years to go,at least .Worrying most always leads to moaning and youll end up sacked by 50 cos the others hate you
Everyone ive known thats had to take a crash dive in the job dept ends up saying it was the best thing that ever happened to them,the shift to another life/career and whats money if youre dog tired caning it in a slogger job week after week
Best advice I could give is try and pay more into a pension,if you have medical problems in later life,you can access it at 55 years of age.
Its the only option for me,I’ve had cancer twice,both cured,but life insurance companies run a mile,lol
Cheers guys, some good advice here, especially about not automatically adjusting your lifestyle to spend every single bit of extra income. This seems like an obvious point, yet so many people seem to go and wax it all on a fancy motor etc once they get a better paid job.
I’m fortunate that I will likely get a fair inheritance. Obv, I’d rather my parents were around for ever, goes without saying, but at some point I’m thinking I may get a buy to let if it looks like a lucrative investment. My old landlord did this and then kept buying another terraced house and converting to maisonette, then renting out. Eventually, he had about 7-8 and ended up retiring early.
I don’t drink much or smoke and my job (commercial recycling) has me out the cab every 5-10 mins, so I’m not too unhealthy.
. OK so make that almost £4000 a year you’d save, about the same as a £6k drop in gross pay.