To help supplement state unemployment benefits for those who have lost their jobs, UNFCU Financial Advisors has formed a unique partnership.

Offered by Assura Group of NY Ltd. and underwritten by the Great American Insurance Group,  IncomeAssure replaces 50% of a person's former earnings prior to unemployment. Clients can insure between $50,000 to $250,000 of income against the risk of losing a job.

While employed, the coverage generally costs between 0.5% and 2% of a person's annual salary, according to Assura. To be eligible, a person must be a fulltime W-2 employee, not have been unemployed within the last two years and must have been with their employer for at least six months.

UNFCU Financial Advisors, a wholly owned subsidiary of the $3.6 billion United Nations Federal Credit Union in Long Island, N.Y., is a non-exclusive distributor of IncomeAssure, according to Assura.

Several credit unions have already agreed to distribute IncomeAssure but have not started selling the private unemployment insurance, said David Ferron, product management director at Great American Insurance.

“We have just begun to speak to credit unions literally in the last few weeks,” said Stephen Ryerson, president of UNFCU Financial Advisors.

According to Ferron and Antonia Townsend with Assura, IncomeAssure insurance coverage may be the only insurance of its kind available in the United States. Townsend said a similar product is offered in Great Britain. Ferron and Ryerson said other programs are linked to debt cancellation and consumer loans.

IncomeAssure is available in 46 states and the District of Columbia. It is pending in New Hampshire and Rhode Island. The program is not available in Alaska and Hawaii at this time.