Disability Insurance

Disability insurance offers a protection financially if in case, due to an unforeseen incident or circumstance, you are unable to work. It must be noted here that this type of insurance is only for people who have been working. Many people confuse this insurance to be offering protection for those born with a disability. In other words, disability insurance is the answer to the question “What will support me if I am not able to work tomorrow?”

What does the disability insurance cover?

There are certain considerations that must be taken into account by the client before he decides on the disability insurance. These may also in some cases form the basis on which the person may become eligible for a disability insurance. Some of the considerations are;

• If the disability was caused due to a sudden unexpected incident and not because of an impending illness. If it was known that a previously inherited illness would cause the disability, he may not be considered eligible for the cover.
• The next criteria is that the disability must have been caused due to an incident that must have occurred while performing work related duties. Accidents caused during vacations or period of leave leading to disability may not be covered for by some insuring companies.

On a personal level, some questions that will help you decide and manage your finances in the event of a disability are;

• What are the other insurance schemes besides the disability insurance that will offer you protection?
• How long will you have to wait before the insurance companies start despatching the payments? Frequency of payments (if it is on an annual, weekly or monthly basis) is also important to decide your finances.
• How long will the payments continue?

Some disability insurance will offer a cover against partial disability too though this is may be for a shorter duration. Online information is available on most of these schemes and all that you need is just a click away. Many of these private insurance companies will allot insurance agents who will interact with you and answer your queries if any.

There are many types of disability insurance some of which are listed below.

Types of Disability Insurance

Insurance Policy for the individually disabled

This is mainly for those workers for whom their employer or the organisation they work for does not provide any insurance. Such people can purchase a disability insurance policy from any of the private insurance companies at a premium on his own. The premium in this case may be more for these insurance policies cover a larger scope of disabilities and also pay the claims for a much longer time.

Workers’ compensation

Workers’ compensation though is not exactly a disability insurance, it ma be included under the topic for it involves the payment of expenses in the event of a worker being unable to work temporarily in case of an injury suffered during work. It is more a form of a reimbursement than insurance. It provides for the loss of pay incurred during the period of disability, medical expenses and expenses incurred by those members who are dependent on the worker for income.

Veterans’ benefits

This is the largest disability cover offered by the United States Government to the war veterans. Soldiers, marines and sailors are covered under this policy. This scheme is very similar to the workers’ compensation scheme designed by several organisations. This scheme covers a large number of benefits such as health insurance, paying for medical expenses etc. but unfortunately, the time taken for the money to be despatched is very long and often the amount is very less. The amount given to these people is barely sufficient to take care of their daily expenses especially in the case where there is a large family. This policy varies from country to country.

Others

Many companies opt for a group insurance scheme wherein they buy a disability insurance scheme from a private insurance company at bulk for their employees. The advantage of doing this is that the premium that they would pay will be drastically reduced as compared to the case when they would opt for it on a singular basis.