With May being Disability Insurance Awareness Month, there’s no better time to educate business owners and their employees about the advantages of disability insurance, especially the multi-life discounts available with at least three insured persons.
According to the Social Security Administration, one out of every four 20-year-olds in the U.S. will become disabled before reaching the age of 67. If a disabled person can even get Social Security disability insurance (SSDI) benefits – only 34% of SSDI applications are approved, even after appeal – the average monthly benefit is $1,236. That’s $14,832 per year, barely above the 2022 federal poverty level of $13,590 for an individual.
No person wants to exist just above the poverty level, especially when battling a disability. And with a bit of planning and foresight, they don’t have to.
Private Disability Income Insurance
Private disability insurance is an essential tool for workers to safeguard their finances. Voluntary short-term disability insurance (DI) policy pays the disabled employee a percentage of their monthly gross income for a set period. They can use these cash benefits to make mortgage payments, pay rent, cover gasoline and groceries, and pay child care and other necessary expenses.
Despite the obvious benefit of having disability insurance, over 100 million American workers do not have private DI insurance. And although 63% of Americans agree that people need DI insurance, only 29% say they own any.
Many small business owners carry DI insurance on themselves. Still, they either do not offer it to their employees at all or else do not pay any significant share of the premium. But in today’s labor climate, with millions of workers resigning their jobs every month, offering a robust benefits package, including DI insurance, is critical to successfully recruiting and retaining skilled employees.
Multi-Life DI Policy Discounts
The chances are that many of those small business owners don’t realize that a multi-life DI insurance discount applies any time you have a group of at least three people insured on a policy. That discount can substantially reduce the average premium per policy, or to put it another way, “three lives are sometimes cheaper than one!”
A multi-life DI insurance policy is an excellent option for small practices headed by doctors or dentists. In such an instance, the three-member group can include, for example, the doctor, the nurse, and the office manager, or the dentist and two hygienists.
When writing an individual disability insurance plan for a business owner, always ask about other people in the firm who could benefit from a similar policy. Offer to run a multi-life quote so the business owner can compare the two options. When they see the savings in black and white, many will choose the multi-life policy.
Other Options
Remember that if five lives can be covered, guaranteed standard issue disability insurance becomes an additional option.
If you have a situation in which your client wants to make disability insurance available to their staff but doesn’t want to pay their premiums, offer the option of voluntary disability insurance.
For more information on multi-life disability income insurance, and help creating the proper protection packages for your clients, contact Disability Insurance Services at (800) 898-9641.
