Disability Insurance

Disability insurance is one of the most important types of insurance to have. Having a regular life insurance policy will not cover you should you become permanently or temporarily disabled. Social security disability will help you survive but it does not kick in for at least six months after the date of disability is declared. Disability insurance can start as soon as thirty days after you have been declared disabled and costs just several dollars per month to ensure you are covered.


Many disability insurance plans have a 90 day elimination period. An elimination period is the period between when an individual makes a claim and they are given their first benefit payment. Most insurance policies state that this is a 90 day process but it can be extended to lower the amount of monthly premium that an individual has to pay. Coverage will not always cover you under the disability coverage. For example, if you are involved in a motor vehicle accident your car insurance may pay for the wages that you would normally earn if you were able to work.


disability Insurance

Another example of coverage that will not be approved is if the disability happened at work. Workers compensation would then pay the claim. Pre-existing conditions can typically not be claimed under disability insurance because there are clauses that state they are not allowed to be covered. Not all policies will pay for 100% of the wages lost or for everything that you need. Many policies pay 80% of your wages or a flat rate per month. While this may not be fair to the individual who bought the coverage it should be more than enough considering that your medical insurance will be paying for your doctors costs as well as any medical care costs.


Disability insurance should only be needed to pay for daily living expenses such as mortgage payments, rent, groceries and other costs that would not be covered by a normal medical policy. Some policies may also not pay out depending upon if you are able to work at all. If you are able to work at all then you may be denied on a policy that costs less money. Expense policies that cover more may give you a reduced or normal benefit rate depending upon how the policy is written. Read your policy carefully if you are partially disabled as you may not be entitled to permanent benefits as well.