How to Buy Disability Insurance

Tips for buying disability insurance

1. The first thing you should do is find out if your company offers disability insurance. Most do, but if yours doesn't and you're interested in purchasing a plan, do a search online or through your local yellow pages for info on disability plans.
2. Familiarize yourself with the basics of a disability insurance plan. Learn at which age disability benefits are cut for a particular plan, and definitely know these two things: the elimination period is the time between when you become sick or injured to the time when you actually begin receiving benefits, and the benefits period is the actual period of time the plan provides you with income.
3. Investigate how much coverage particular plans provide before purchasing. Most will cover 60-70% of a given salary-this essentially means you will continue getting your paycheck, but with a 30-40% reduction in pay. When talking to reps at insurance companies about disability, be sure to find out the maximum amount of monthly benefits.
4. You also need to find out which disabilities are covered by different disability insurance plans. This is extremely important! For instance, if you are typing on a computer eight hours a day and five days a week, you need to be sure the disability insurance plan covers repetitive stress injuries (RSI) just in case you find yourself one day afflicted with the condition.
5. If your company offers disability insurance (but not enough to cover your life expenses), consider purchasing individual long-term disability insurance. This will provide you with another source of income should you find yourself out of work due to an injury or illness.

Caution

You should get a good handle on what the premium for your disability insurance will be. You definitely do not want to get stung with a premium you can't afford (some can be as much as $2000 yearly!).

Where to buy disability insurance

Below find quotes for disability insurance programs, plus the home pages for some of the most reputable disability insurance companies in the world-

The Standard provides “positively different” insurance plans for disability, life, and dental needs. Check out the section on personal planning, or look for one of their offices by supplying your zip code in the allotted field.

You'll get all the help you need in selecting a disability plan that works for you at Disability-Insurance.com. Request quotes, learn why you need disability insurance and use the 1-800 number to talk to a representative about your needs.

Disability Income Insurance Quotes provides you with what it promises in its title, as well as applications for coverage, the ability to shop around for different plans, and information on what disability insurance is.