People often make the mistake of shopping for an individual disability insurance policy the same way they would for a term life, or car insurance policy. The concept seems simply enough, “If I get disabled, the insurance company should pay me.” Therefore many shoppers spend time comparing quotes from different disability insurance carriers, and trying to find the lowest price. The internet makes this task even easier when a shopper can simply search for disability insurance on Google, and request free quotes from the top ten search results.

According to statistics, 66% of the people who buy a disability insurance policy in this way will never have a problem because 66% of you will never become disabled for 90 days or longer before they retire. However, 33% of you will become disabled before you reach the age of 65, and therefore will need to understand how the individual disability insurance policy you purchased on-line will work. Buyer beware, not all disability insurance policies work the same way. In fact, no two policies are the same at all.

Definition of Total Disability

The first thing you need to compare is the definition of total disability. This will dictate exactly what the insurance company will pay out a total disability claim for. While many carriers have slight variations on this definition, there are essentially three major definitions in use in the market today. The most comprehensive is a Pure Own-Occupation definition of total disability. This definition will result in you being paid the total monthly benefit if a sickness or injury prevents you from being able to perform the material and substantial duties of your regular occupation, even if you are engaged in some other capacity. The middle definition is a modified own-occupation or income replacement definition. The definition will begin the same way as a pure own-occupation definition does, except for the last sentence which will say so long as you are not engaged in any other occupation. This means the policy will pay you so long as you are not earning any earned income while on a claim. The third major, and least comprehensive, is the gainful occupation definition which starts the same way as the previous two, however adds the language are unable to perform any occupation for which you are qualified by education, training, or experience. This means the insurance company could say that while you can not work in your current occupation they believe you could do something else, and therefore not pay your benefits. As you can see, the three definitions are very different, and depending on your income and occupation, the price could be different as a result.

Residual or Partial Benefits

There are so many variations to residual or partial benefits that I could not possibly cover them all in this article. If you take anything away from this article, make sure you understand when and how the residual or partial disability benefits pay in your individual disability insurance policy. There are policies out there that allow professionals an unlimited recovery benefit as part of their residual benefits. This means that any fee for service professional would be paid under their residual disability rider for the entire benefit period until they financially recovered, not just until they physically recovered. There are also policies that just pay a straight forward percentage of the monthly benefit depending on your percentage loss of income, and policies that pay a limited partial benefit. The scope of benefits is extremely large, so make sure you understand the differences before selecting a policy on your own.

Inflation Protection

My feelings on inflation protection are mixed. It is something you always want to have if you are on an extended long term disability insurance claim, however if you only have a short term claim it is not going to help you. If you are younger, I recommend purchasing this option every time because there is a longer period of time that inflation could affect your benefit amount while on claim. If you are older, feel free to make your own decision. You can always buy it now, and drop it later on in life when inflation is not much of a threat to you.

I hope some of these tips help you make an educated decision when purchasing your own individual disability insurance policy. It is not a contract where browsing by price will give you the best deal, it will only mean you bought the cheapest disability insurance policy out there.

I don’t consider myself to be an idiot in most cases, but when I am approached about something which will help my family and me in cases of emergencies, I guess I am very gullible. My story begins when I was teaching school and often times insurance agents would require a portion of our time after school had ended for the day. This is what happened on this particular day. After my students had gone home, I made my way to the library to hear the insurance agent’s story.

The agent was selling long term disability insurance. I was interested and I had already purchased short term disability insurance. I hoped to never use either policy, but you never know, so I signed up for it and the payments began to be debited from my monthly check.

I have heart issues and I needed a defibrillator, so in October 2003, I received my first implant. To make a short story long, by March of 2004 I left my teaching position and went out on disability. I received my short term and my long term disability insurance. The short term disability was so pleasant and was never a heartache to receive. The long term disability insurance was another headache altogether.

Some months I would receive a check from the long term and other months, I would receive a letter explaining how they had overpaid me, so they would be subtracting the amount from the amount I should have received. It was a very confusing, frustrating, and financially unstable time for my family and me because the insurance was something we just couldn’t count on.

After a time, the insurance company began to send me letters stating that when I received my social security disability, I would be required to pay them back for the amount they had given me. I didn’t believe this because the insurance agent who came to the school to sell it, never once mentioned this small bit of information. And wasn’t insurance for emergency situations and I had never heard of paying back insurance because I had been paying premiums? This is where the gullible part comes in.

After I received my social security disability, I began to be hounded by the insurance company and their lawyers. They wanted their $19,000 and some odd dollars and they wanted it right then. At the time, the insurance company was not my priority because I had lots of doctor, hospital, and medicinal bills that needed to be taken care of first. I even approached my congressmen and my governor to help me with this issue.

Leaving my career and having to go on disability was not my choice. It was something I had to do to stay alive. The lawyers call my home and threaten my livelihood because they know they can get away with it. I am going to pay the insurance company back because they have threatened to ruin my credit and probably worse if I don’t, but I did manage to get the price down by 50 percent.

My advice to anyone who is contemplating long term disability insurance, don’t get it or if you do, please ask questions and make sure you are aware you will be required to pay the money back to the agency. If the papers I signed for the insurance really stated I would need to pay the money back, I can only say that I carelessly overlooked this most important information. I have learned a valuable lesson and I will never be so careless again. Please understand the money you will receive is really not insurance, it’s a loan.

It seems like everyone is talking about life insurance needs but neglect the consideration of disability insurance. Did you know you are more likely to get injured on the job and not be able to work and draw a pay check than you are to be injured on the job and die because of that injury.

When you are injured your bills do not stop coming, the mortgage, electricity, water, gas, food, automobile payments, health insurance, etc. still have to be made whether your able to work or not. This could be a tough break for most of the working population, who are usually living from paycheck to paycheck just to make ends meet.

For some reason we are not informed about this scenario until we are smack dab in the middle of a life changing catastrophe like an injury, and life doesn’t stop. There are no detour signs in life that are easy to see like “Stop, you are about to be injured and will need something to supplement your income while you are down…this injury will happen in 5 days…so be prepared.” If only life were that simple.

But, we can be prepared and informed. So, let’s look at what a disability policy will do for you. First, it will pay you a monthly paycheck for the down time you are experiencing while you are healing which of course is the best thing to help pay your bills that are still coming in.

With disability insurance there are varied options available for you to consider. Your benefits will be based on your occupation and gross monthly income. The payout in monthly checks is a percentage of your gross monthly income, it will not pay 100% of your income.

There are elimination periods to consider like 30,60,90,180 days or longer. The elimination period is the time from when you are first injured to the time that you get your first paycheck. The longer your elimination period the lower your monthly disability premium will be.

The two common disability plans available are short term and long term disability. The short term plans usually have a benefit period of 6 months. The long term plans have a varied benefit period of 1,2,5, or 10 years, or to age 65. You choose the length of coverage when you set up your policy.

Optional benefit riders are available as well to be added to the policy. Some examples are: Return of Premium Rider (Surrender Value Rider) which will return all your premiums back to you at age 65. Another example would be the Cost of Living Adjustment Rider which will allow for inflation adjustments in your benefits, as well as many other optional riders.

It’s important to ask yourself questions as you journey through life to keep yourself prepared for all of life’s challenges and we all face them. If you did sustain an injury that would not allow for you to work, how long could you live your current lifestyle. Basically how would you be able to survive financially, who or what have you placed in your life to be a helper when the road gets tough….Disability insurance can be a very valuable asset when you are facing a set-back.

I hope that this information has been helpful to you.

If you are considering purchasing disability insurance, you may be wondering how you should go about choosing a provider that will best meet your own needs and goals — both today and in the future.

Through this article, you will be provided with some basic information about how to choose the right insurance for you — again, today and into the future as well. Of course, this article is designed only to provide you with a basic overview about it. If you want more information about disability insurance, there are some resources provided for you later in this article. You will want to pursue these supplemental resources in your own search for the appropriate insurance policy for you, for the disability policy that will meet your needs now and later.

Visit with an Insurance Professional

Being as disability insurance is such a technical type of product, it really is important for you to meet with an insurance professional in your search for it. You really will not want to make decisions regarding insurance policies and coverage without the aid of an insurance professional at your side. These insurance professionals have the experience necessary to aid and assist you in finding the insurance policy or product that will provide you the coverage that you need.

Talk to Professional Colleagues

When seeking disability insurance, you will want to meet with your professional colleagues and find out what type of insurance they have utilized in the past. Word of mouth is very important when it comes to finding out what type of disability insurance will best meet your needs and goals.

You will also be able to find out which insurance plans may not have served people you know well — you will find out which insurance providers you will want to avoid. It is important to amass information about the good and the bad when it comes to making a thoughtful and educated decision about its coverage that will satisfy and meet your needs and objectives, that will provide you with the protection that you need.

What You Need to Know When Looking for Disability Insurance

When it comes to looking for reliable and appropriate disability insurance, there are some factors that you will want to keep well in mind during your search:

– understand how a policy defines disability … keeping in mind that some policies provide a very narrow and restrictive definition of disability that may work against your personal interests

– examine the benefit period provided under the terms and conditions of the policy … obviously, you will want the longest possible benefit period available

– keep your eyes open for a disability insurance policy that will provide replacement of the highest percentage of your regular and recurring income

– give serious consideration to a disability insurance policy that provides coverage not only for disabilities arising out of an accident or injury but for a disability that arises out of an illness (physical or mental) as well

– look for a disability insurance policy that includes costs of living increases in benefits paid

– try and locate a policy that will pay partial benefits so that you can work part time if you are generally physically able to do so … avoid an all or nothing policy

– be on the lookout for a policy that will provide transitional benefits … additional benefits in the post disability period to assist you in a smoother financial transition back to regular work and wages

– make certain that the policy cannot be canceled as long as you pay the premiums in a timely manner

– make certain that you obtain your disability insurance policy for a company in a stable financial position … there are independent rating services that can provide you with information about the financial status of an insurance company … additional, the insurance commissioner’s office in your state can provide you with this basic information

– check to see how long the waiting period is after the onset of a disability before payments will commence … you will want the shortest possible waiting period so that you can receive your benefits quickly

It helps to be insured. It could be your car, your home, or even your motorcycle. If you insure these, it’s only practical that you also insure your health, right? So you have health insurance and disability life insurance and other kinds of insurance.

Another insurance you should have is the mortgage disability insurance. This is because your home is a single large investment that you have done. Think of all the hours you toiled so you could afford your abode.

A number of people realize the importance to insure against loss of homes. But they ignore the fact that paying the mortgage might not be completed – because we are mortal. Let’s say we get sick or die, paying the mortgage will not be that easy.

That is why there’s mortgage disability insurance. Either of these two events cannot affect the mortgage payment of the house if you have this.

Mortgage disability insurance is specifically designed to provide you with the funds you need in order for you to meet the responsibilities you have for your mortgage loan. It ties you up to three years, just in case you become disabled during that span.

It is very affordable especially if you are a two-income family. Think of you and your spouse insured in paying the mortgage.

Let’s say something happens to you or your spouse, you wouldn’t have to worry about losing your home, just as long as you have mortgage disability insurance.

Another scenario is you being bedridden. It won’t be that easy to pay the mortgage. At least with mortgage disability insurance, you get to pay the bill just in case you do become an invalid and cannot earn the income that you need in order to pay your home.

The reality is the foreclosures of most mortgages are the results of disabilities. The homeowner can no longer meet his end of the bargain on a financial level because of this.

Since the contract states that foreclosure will take place if any even happens, that is the ending of the whole mortgage drama. With the mortgage disability insurance, the homeowner wouldn’t have to face that scenario.

If you are smart enough, you wouldn’t agree to be a statistic. With your mortgage disability insurance plan approved, you are secure that your home will be paid in sickness or in health.

If you do get injured, you can recover easily because you don’t have to worry about not paying the bills.

If you are looking to get best disability insurance, this article can help. When you are shopping around, you will see that a lot of disability insurance companies have similar characteristics, and of course they all look great from the outside. Once you dig in, you will start to see different factors that can vastly affect how you are covered. If you are not careful and pick the wrong policy, you may run into some problems once you actually need your money.

Here are some things you should keep in mind. You will first want to determine exactly how much coverage you need to keep your household financially afloat in the event you are suddenly unable to work. Remember, disability coverage is not meant to increase your lifestyle. It is meant to fill the gap between what your monthly expenses are and any income outside of yours that also pays the bills. Keeping your payout amount as low as possible will keep your policy premiums as low as possible.

To help you choose, remember this. The best disability insurance policies:

o Are non-cancellable. Look for a policy that will remain in effect as long as you are paying your premiums on time. These policies cannot be cancelled due to your age until you become 65. At age 65, you will be expected to apply for government social security benefits.

o Have short waiting periods. The time in between the incident that renders you disabled and the first payout of benefits is called the waiting period. You must be disabled during this whole time in order to be paid. Policies can have a waiting period anywhere from one month to three months. The longer you can wait for a payout, the less you will have to pay in premiums. However, you may want to choose a policy with a shorter waiting period if you have not saved up at least 3 months worth of wages to get you through the waiting period. The premium may be higher, but if you do not have a cushion of money to carry you through the waiting period, bigger problems could lie ahead. Better safe than sorry.

o Are with companies that have a good history. Imagine this: You are paying premiums for 5 years to a company you never heard of because their rates are super cheap, then they go bankrupt when you actually need them to deliver a payout. At this point, your policy is useless. You want to buy a policy from a reputable company that has a good consumer satisfaction rating and good credit. There are free online guides that can list these factors, so you know exactly where a company stands.

In order to get the best disability insurance rates, a good practice is to compare the policies from at least three providers. You will find that each policy has different nuances. Being aware of the minor differences between policies will help you choose the best disability insurance at the best price you can afford.

L. Waters

for LowRateSearch