The Best Disability Insurance
Why settle for anything less than the best disability insurance? You work hard to build your career and create a future, but a disability could derail these plans. Disability insurance can help you stay on track to meet your financial goals. Since there are many options for coverage, it makes sense to compare the best disability insurance policies from the best disability insurance companies.
Your paycheck is likely your most valuable asset. You can protect it with individual disability insurance.
If you become disabled and are unable to continue working, your individual disability insurance policy will replace a portion of your lost income in accordance with the policy terms. This important coverage can mean you stay financially secure during a period of disability, which will avoid the need to drain your retirement savings or fall into overwhelming debt.
Comparing Disability Insurance Companies
Your paycheck is likely your most valuable asset. You can protect it with individual disability insurance.
If you become disabled and are unable to continue working, your individual disability insurance policy will replace a portion of your lost income in accordance with the policy terms. This important coverage can mean you stay financially secure during a period of disability, which will avoid the need to drain your retirement savings or fall into overwhelming debt.
You can purchase individual disability insurance from various disability insurance companies.
When comparing disability insurance, check the company’s financial strength. The easiest way to do this is to check what score it received from a credit rating agency like A.M. Best.
You’ll also want to find the insurance company that offers the best disability insurance for your needs.
This can be subjective, as one disability insurance company might offer policy terms that are ideal for one person, but a different disability insurance company might offer policy terms that are perfect for another person. The underwriting policies can also differ – you may receive high rates or even a rejection from one insurance company, but you could receive a great offer from another company.
Before you buy disability insurance, compare disability insurance quotes from multiple insurance companies to find the best match for you.
The Best Disability Insurance
Why settle for anything less than the best disability insurance? You work hard to build your career and create a future, but a disability could derail these plans. Disability insurance can help you stay on track to meet your financial goals. Since there are many options for coverage, it makes sense to compare the best disability insurance policies from the best disability insurance companies.
Your paycheck is likely your most valuable asset. You can protect it with individual disability insurance.
If you become disabled and are unable to continue working, your individual disability insurance policy will replace a portion of your lost income in accordance with the policy terms. This important coverage can mean you stay financially secure during a period of disability, which will avoid the need to drain your retirement savings or fall into overwhelming debt.
Comparing Disability Insurance Companies
Your paycheck is likely your most valuable asset. You can protect it with individual disability insurance.
If you become disabled and are unable to continue working, your individual disability insurance policy will replace a portion of your lost income in accordance with the policy terms. This important coverage can mean you stay financially secure during a period of disability, which will avoid the need to drain your retirement savings or fall into overwhelming debt.
You can purchase individual disability insurance from various disability insurance companies.
When comparing disability insurance, check the company’s financial strength. The easiest way to do this is to check what score it received from a credit rating agency like A.M. Best.
You’ll also want to find the insurance company that offers the best disability insurance for your needs.
This can be subjective, as one disability insurance company might offer policy terms that are ideal for one person, but a different disability insurance company might offer policy terms that are perfect for another person. The underwriting policies can also differ – you may receive high rates or even a rejection from one insurance company, but you could receive a great offer from another company.
Before you buy disability insurance, compare disability insurance quotes from multiple insurance companies to find the best match for you.
Customizing the Best Disability Insurance Policy for Your Needs
To find the best disability policy, you need to customize coverage for your needs. There are many ways to do this.
1. The Coverage Amount
Disability insurance replaces a portion of your income, but how much it replaces varies from policy to policy. For example, some policies might replace 50% of your income; others might replace 70%. That 20% can make a huge difference if you ever need to file a claim.
It’s also important to look at monthly benefit caps. This can be especially important for high-income earners, since the covered percentage of your income might exceed the monthly cap.
2. The Waiting Period
The waiting period is also called the elimination period. This is how long you need to wait between experiencing a disability and receiving benefits.
A shorter waiting period is often more attractive. However, if you have some emergency savings set aside, selecting a longer waiting period might be a good way to lower the cost of the disability insurance policy.
3. The Benefit Period
The benefit period is how long you can continue receiving benefits after you’ve experienced a disability and are unable to work.
Individual disability insurance provides long-term disability coverage. However, there’s a huge range in available benefit periods. Some policies may only pay out for a maximum of two years; others will pay out for much longer periods. It’s possible to buy paycheck protection that will continue paying benefits until you reach retirement age.
4. The Definition of Disability
How the policy defines disability can determine whether a policyholder qualifies for benefits after an illness or injury. Therefore, this is an important aspect to consider when comparing policies.
Take the example of a surgeon who performs delicate operations. If he injures his hand, he might not be able to work, but does a hand injury really count as a disability? The answer depends on how his insurance policy defines disability.
An own-occupation policy defines disability based on the policyholders’ ability to work in the profession they’ve trained for, whereas an any-occupation policy defines disability based on the policyholders’ ability to work in any job suitable for them. There are also variations to these policies, such as modified own-occupation coverage.
For individuals with highly-specialized and demanding jobs, an own-occupation policy can offer the best disability insurance coverage. For other workers, an any-occupation policy might provide more affordable coverage.
5. The Renewal Provisions
When you buy disability insurance, you typically want to keep it for a long time. Securing coverage when you’re still healthy is the best way to lock in good rates. You can then keep this policy for the rest of your career and let it renew each year, meaning you’ll never lose coverage or have to worry about applying for a policy again. However, the renewal provisions will impact your capability to renew your coverage and whether the insurance company can raise rates.
With a guaranteed renewable policy, the policy renews each year. As long as you pay the premiums, the insurer can’t cancel the policy. However, the insurer can raise rates if this rate increase will apply to an entire class of policyholders. This means you can’t be targeted individually, but your rates may still go up.
A non-cancelable policy also renews each year as long as you pay the premiums. The difference is the insurer cannot raise rates. This sounds great, but since these policies can be more expensive, it’s important to weigh the pros and cons when determining whether this option is worth it.
6. The Riders
Riders are policy terms that change the coverage, usually by adding benefits. Adding riders can increase the cost of the policy, but riders can also provide valuable benefits. Selecting just the riders you need allows you to customize the coverage.
There are many different riders are available – different insurance companies may have different options to choose from. Some of the disability insurance riders you might want to consider include:
- Survivor benefit riders. The insurance company will pay your beneficiary if you die.
- Future increase option riders. Increase your benefits as your income increases without having to undergo additional underwriting.
- Cost-of-living adjustment riders. Increase benefits to keep up with inflation.
- Retirement riders. Benefits replace payments made to a retirement account, meaning you won’t fall behind on retirement savings during a period of disability.
- Student loan riders. These provide benefits for student loan payments to prevent you falling behind on student loan repayment during a disability.
FAQs About Finding the Best Disability Income Insurance
Buying disability income insurance is a great way to take control of your financial future. It’s normal to have a lot of questions about securing the best coverage. We have the answers to some of the most common questions below.
Question: What If My Job Offers Short-Term Disability Insurance?
Question: What If My Job Offers Long-Term Disability Insurance?
Question: Can’t I Depend on Social Security Disability Insurance?
Question: I’m Healthy – Do I Really Need Disability Insurance?
Question: How Much Coverage Do I Need?
Question: Can I Take Out Coverage If I Have Pre-Existing Conditions?
Question: Does Disability Insurance Cover Mental Health Disorders?
Question: How Much Does Disability Insurance Cost?
I Want Coverage – What’s the Next Step?
DIS wants to help every working American gain the income protection they need.
If you’re a worker who wants individual disability insurance coverage, an agent can help you explore your options
and secure the best coverage for your needs. Find an agent.
If you’re an insurance agent trying to find the best disability insurance for your client, DIS can help. Get a quote.
