Although one may not like to think about it, unemployment can befall anybody. If you lose your job and consequently your salary, you may be in for a tight economic crunch. However, a brief respite can be unemployment insurance, which will support you during your spell of unemployment. Unemployment benefits are monetary benefits which people can collect if they become unemployed for no fault of theirs. If you quit your job without a genuine reason, you will be denied these benefits. These benefits are generally not available in developing countries, but are common in developed countries. When you get a new job the employment benefits terminate. Income payment protection and income protection insurance are two separate things concerning the affected person, and one needs to understand them thoroughly. Income payment protection pays in the short term, and will cover unemployment along with accident and sickness. Income protection insurance would only cover sickness and accidents, but not unemployment, and it pays out over the longer term, which could go up to the age of retirement. So when looking for protection for your income against the unemployment, it is income payment protection that you need to go in for. A useful tip that will save you a great deal of money is to buy your policy from an independent payment protection specialist. Mainstream lenders usually offer policies, but they charge huge premiums, which enlarges the loan, or mortgage considerably. You should know what is included in the unemployment income protection, as all providers will put in exclusions in the policy document. These have to be checked against your circumstances in order to know what exactly you would be eligible to claim against the policy. Once you have the policy, then you can look at when the cover would begin to provide you with an income, and when it would end, as this varies with different providers. Usually, the policy cover would start somewhere between 30 and 90 days of unemployment; some providers backdate the policy to the first day of unemployment. You would then be able to relax and concentrate on finding a new job while relying on the policy for between 12 months and 24 months. Unemployment insurance is taken to ensure that you would have something to rely on if you lose your job and income. The income it would provide you with would be the amount that you insured when applying for the policy, and it would be tax-free. You would be able to use the money to pay a wide range of expenses that need to be met each month. One of the most important of these expenses would be your mortgage payment. Your policy would provide you protection against being in arrears. Getting into mortgage arrears and not being able to repay means that the lender will repossess your home through the courts and a judge will set an eviction date. You could also see yourself appearing in court if you cannot meet your loan or credit card repayments. If you are in such a situation you would at the least earn yourself a bad credit rating. This could make getting any kind of credit very hard in the future as it is your credit rating that is considered by any lender. Depending on the amount you owe, your lender could take you to the court to claim what you owe through possessions, and this means the judge would send a summons to your home. The qualifying factors for collecting unemployment benefits also vary with the area you live in and the state laws. It often requires an eligible individual to have been previously employed for a specific length of time, and to have become unemployed due to termination or layoff, which is not related to individual job performance. Though a claim can be filed when a person is fired from his job, most systems permit the former employer to contest the claim if the worker was fired for poor performance. You can also be disqualified if:

• You failed without adequate cause to apply for suitable work when referred to a job by the Employment Department.
• You voluntarily left work without an adequate cause.
• Your previous employer discharged or suspended you for misconduct connected with your work.

A good question is how long should one wait after one loses a job to file for unemployment. The answer is, don't wait and file for unemployment immediately. The sooner you file, the sooner you'll receive any benefits that you are eligible for. Unemployment insurance can put an end to all of this and much more. It would allow you to be able to continue meeting all essential expenses. It would also mean that you would be able to continue living your current lifestyle, and not have to make drastic changes. In the past, unemployed workers would have to wait in long lines to file their claims but the technological advancements of recent years have enabled most claimants to file electronic claims for unemployment benefits either by phone or over the Internet.