Nifty Insurance Blogger

Having a disability insurance policy could be a lifesaver if you cannot work for a period, especially with a family; you might not be able to prevent the reason you are incapable of work but you can prevent the debt that can occur when you are not providing an income. The last thing anyone who is incapacitated wants is to worry about providing an income for their family. Statistics show that someone is more likely to have an extended period from work, owing to accident or injury, and need disability cover, than they are to die before they reach 65 years old.

It is an unfortunate fact that most people think they have a greater chance of dying than being laid off work through disability so life insurance policies are more popular. For example for a forty year old there is a greater chance of a disability that requires at least ninety days from work, than there is of dying before the age of sixty five. The problem is disability insurance costs more than basic life cover as it is costlier to provide.

Premiums are based on many characteristics like age, occupation, health and the calculations of potential lost income. To help reduce the possible financial impact of taking out of the premiums it is possible to delay when the first payments are made; with this in place there is less probability of the claimant making a claim. Another option to lower the monthly premiums is put a limit on how long the payments are to be made before they stop although; this can be a risky move if the period of incapacity is longer than the period arranged for payment.

Insurance company policies will differ but the majority will only pay a percentage of your lost income so it is a good idea to choose the best one for you and in this instance, the cheapest may not necessarily be the best. Health insurers offer two main types of coverage: the first is for short term disability insurance protection lasting only a matter of months. On the other hand, total disability cover can provide limited financial cover for a much longer period but it will be the responsibility of the claimant to prove that they are unable to carry out work related tasks that provided their income previously.

Irrespective of the type of policy you have, payments for disability are made regularly, every week or month until the end of the incapacitation or the policy, whichever come first. Some key issues to research in health policies include:

• Previous medical problems
• Whether you will have to pay tax on the benefit
• How long the payments are made
• Details of employment

Remember that not all disability insurance policies will cover you with the same percentage of your original salary. To give you an example: some insurance plans pay out as much as seventy percent of your monthly income in benefit whereas others can pay as low as forty percent so you need to do your research to avoid being paid less than you can afford to survive on. It is the number one factor that will define what your income will be in case you become disabled.