Life is hard sometimes and can feel overwhelming. We sometimes feel like we are hanging on by a thread sometimes. Maybe everything is just too expensive now, or we just not earning enough to get by. Often in these scenarios we put our head down and power through. But what happens when we are suddenly unable to work? Perhaps it’s an injury or illness or you lose your job. Maybe you’re self-employed, or you don’t have the health insurance benefits that many workplaces provide. If you find yourself unable to work, what options do you have?

Knowing what you are eligible for

First of all, check to see what insurance benefits you could be eligible for. Perhaps your company pays, or provides disability insurance, whether long-term or short-term. With those types of policies, you can qualify for a percentage of your salary (typically 60% or 80%) for some period of time (weeks, months, years).

Another option, at least here in America, is understanding that you can get SSI, (Social Security) which can tide you over, but qualifying for social security benefits when you’re hurt often requires you meeting a lot of criteria. Understanding what you are eligible for requires a lot of research. Hopefully before you find yourself in sticky situation you’ve taken steps to to protect your money. You might not have much money, but what you do have, means that you will have to make some drastic alterations to your lifestyle.

What Is The Reason You Are Unable To Work?

If it’s an injury that happened on the job, for example, it’s worth knowing what your rights are in a legal sense. There are workers comp lawyers out there, like Jason Hadley, that can help you to understand what your legal rights are. If you’re unable to work because of something that either happened on the job or is directly related to something that happened in the workplace, this can help you get that financial compensation you need to keep you ticking over.

Thinking Laterally

Hindsight is always 20/20, but if you don’t have any form of medical insurance, or protection in place should you be unable to work, it’s worth looking into getting it setup moving forward. No one likes paying for insurance until they need it. For the self-employed, there are health insurance policies that can help with this, but in the meantime, if you are unable to work, it’s about hustling where you can. It’s not pretty, but if you can find an action plan that works to get to a point where you are financially comfortable, it has to be done. Being unable to work all of a sudden can mean that every aspect of your life needs altering, and as such, everybody has to chip in. But it’s at this point where you might need to look at what other skills you have. If you are self-employed, working from home can be achieved through the many online workers’ agencies, like Pactera Remote, so you can find work that’s low skilled, but pays a steady wage. Consider selling some older things laying around the house on eBay, or pick up a side-hustle.

If you’re unable to work all of a sudden, it can feel like a nightmare, but it’s all about taking a step back from the situation and looking at it logically. You may need to alter your lifestyle so you don’t feel the pinch as much, but also, are there ways around the situation so you can get what you deserve. There are options!

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