A Friend In Need Is A Friend Indeed

An important threshold that the providers of these services had to reach before becoming part of The PDA Plus portfolio is that they would work in partnership with us. In other words, if we were to put services under the PDA umbrella, then the organisations that provide them must have similar values and motivations for success to the PDA. In short they must have the individual and their needs at the heart of what they offer.

We now provide ways and means for members to make significant savings on car hire, holidays, eating out, etc (which is dealt with in more detail on the opposite page) and we have a number of organisations that provide services which we see as vital if an individual is going to practice with total peace of mind.

Our partnership with PG

One benefit we are particularly proud to be associated with is the Income Protection Plan from PG (Pharmaceutical & General Provident Society).

The consumer magazine Which? opens an article on its website on "Income Protection; how does it work" very pointedly;

Millions of us have policies like critical illness, private medical insurance and payment protection, sold to us over the years by salespeople who convinced us we needed protecting. However, whilst they were right about the protection, they were wrong about the policies. The one protection policy every working adult in the UK does need is the very one most of us don't have - income protection (IP).

Do you believe that illness, accident or disability will, of course, never happen to you?

Currently 2.2 million people of working age will be off work for at least six months because of sickness and disability, and more than 2.6 million people are claiming incapacity benefit (source: www.dwp.gov.uk).; so clearly it does happen and it can happen very unexpectedly.

I was struck by a posting that I saw on Locum Voice - an electronic community for pharmacy locums. The posting was made just after we had launched The PDA Plus brochure in which we brought our members attention to the PG Income Protection Plan. The 'poster' was a young healthy woman who had a particularly nasty tobogganing accident and shared her dilemma with her 'virtual' colleagues.

"It was nearly a good start of the year for me, apart from a sledging accident I've had on the 9th of Jan. My leg was practically crushed from the knee down, I've about 5-6 fractures plus a broken ankle. I've been in hospital ever since, I've had two operations, nearly missed some other ones...but now I'm home. And wondering, how many of you people are insured for income protection?

When I became a locum I took out PDA membership, and felt covered enough. Being fairly young and able, nothing could happen to me to prevent me from working...so I never even thought about taking additional insurance.

When I came back from hospital I was looking through my unopened mail and I found a brochure from PDA where they asked: "In case of an accident, can you manage on government Employment and Support Allowance?..." Well, I can answer that question now, and the answer is no, I can't manage on 60 quid a week, but how was I to know? See that destroyed woman with long hair in the picture who holds her head in her hands while the husband looks at her from a distance? I could model for that, I've even got pain and true feelings.

And since I have time, I wonder just how many locums are actually insured. Was I a fool not to get insured, or is it normal?"

There was an interesting range of responses to her question, some admitting that they didn't have cover but acknowledging that they were running a 'risk'. Others told heart-warming stories about how they came to use their IP plan to a very useful effect.

Food for thought?

Over the next few Insights we will be looking at different ways that you can save the cost of your membership by using the services we offer through The PDA Plus scheme. In this article, we feature the Gourmet Society scheme, which is heavily discounted to members.

"Eating out is one of those luxuries that we are prepared to sacrifice when a recession bites. A survey conducted by market analysts 'Buckingham Research' found that three-quarters of British families will stay at home during the recession rather than eat out at restaurants. Couples and single people are also less likely to go out over the coming year.

One of the ways you can maintain your normal 'eating out lifestyle' with the added benefit of saving the cost of your PDA membership is by trying out the Gourmet Society scheme, which encourages you to eat out at least as much, if not more often for less.

Being a fee paying member of the Gourmet Society entitles you to two meals for the price of one or 25%off a meal including drinks (depending on the establishment).

I was rather sceptical so I tried it out for myself and the scheme, claiming that it has over 3,500 restaurants or eateries, threw up nearly 140 establishments within a 25 kilometre radius of my postcode in Nottingham. I was very impressed; not only were there so many but there were a good quarter of them that I recognised and

I had eaten out at a variety of those locations on at least twelve occasions over the last eighteen months or so.

I won't need any encouragement to get enrolled on the Gourmet Society scheme because I could have saved at least £350 on what I had been billed in those restaurants over that period of time if I had known about it."

Annual subscription usually costs £53.50, but you can join for just £24.95 and get two months extra FREE.

There are many offers available through PDA Plus which members will be well advised to research before making buying decisions; it could save a lot of money.We have searched for the best companies to partner with and negotiated for the best price.

To find out more about PDA Plus benefits go to: http://www.the-pda.org/pdaplus

There is still the myth however that such plans will not pay out to self-employed people however, this is not the case with PG who already work with many self-employed pharmacists. For those of you who think that your employer will give you sufficient sick pay the Which? article gave advice as to how to assess whether or not Income Protection insurance is a requirement and suggested that you ask these questions of yourself;

• Will your employer pay you a percentage of your salary indefinitely if you are off sick?
• If not, and you are part of a couple, could you pay all the bills and live on your partner's income indefinitely?
• If not (or you are single) do you have savings you could live off indefinitely?

It further went on to state that in its investigations it found that the vast majority of IP plans give only 50 or 60% of income back to the insured and that (all) policies pay out after you have been off work for a period of time known as the 'deferred period'. The good news is that there are options for you to take out a plan with PG which will replace as much as 70% of lost income and they offer 'Day One Cover' - especially useful for locums.

In the early days of the PDA, one of our members found himself in a difficult situation. He had had a brain haemorrhage which had kept him off work for some months.

Although the consultant signed him off as fit to do 'work' he did not want to work as a pharmacist until he was convinced that he could trust all his cognitive skills. It was sensible for him to 'work-shadow' another pharmacist (in a non-earning capacity of course) until he, and the other pharmacist were both satisfied that he was not a danger to the public. I am happy to say that the member made a full recovery.

His then insurers however, once he was pronounced fit to do any kind of work (e.g. stacking shelves in a supermarket or delivering newspapers) no longer continued to pay out. PG, on the other hand, can cover a pharmacist until they are able to resume their pharmacy career - one of the benefits of joining a society which specialises in your profession.

The reason why the relationship between PG and the PDA works is because we have two 'like-minded' organisations, both not-for-profit, dedicated to the needs of pharmacists. What works for us and our members, works for PG.

In addition to this, all PG's policy holders gain a rare financial advantage in the form of an investment element designed to provide a cash lump sum for their retirement. As a mutual organisation, any surplus is returned to the membership - irrespective of any claims that an individual may have made. Finally, as a PDA member, we have arranged for you to enjoy a 15% discount off the first three years' contributions. A friend in need is a friend indeed!

To find out more about income protection go to: http://www.the-pda.org/pdaplus