Like health insurance is very vital to one and all, so is disability insurance. Disability insurance provides cover for occupational hazards that might cause you to have some unexpected accidents while at work. It also provides benefits if you become sick while at work. While companies take good efforts towards ensuring the safety of its employees, there are possibilities of accidents while at work. In such a case, if an employee is not able to report for work due to disability from some injury or illness while at work, disability insurance is provided to compensate for loss of income due to absence. Though disability insurance is typically not equivalent to monthly income, it is provided to cover financial burden while being away from work.
When the expected time of disability is approximately a year or so, social security benefits are given to the person. You become eligible for this if you cannot return to active employment in the entire tenure of leave that is availed due to the disability. The law in the United States has mandated employer-paid disability in every state. The insurance premium is taken from your pay and the insurance covers you in case of any disability. You must know of the various aspects of disability insurance before choosing from the two types of disability insurance plans that are available.
A short-term disability insurance plan is useful for coverage that lasts for a maximum duration of two years. The usual duration of waiting for compensation to begin is approximately around 2 weeks. A long-term disability insurance plan as the name indicates will provide disability coverage for a longer duration of time and in some cases have been approved to be paid throughout the life of the individual. However, these take many weeks to begin and in some cases might take even some months to kick off.
As there are two types of disability insurance plans based on the tenure of coverage, there are also differences in the type of protection the insurance plan offers. Protection is provided as a clause in the insurance plan so that the incapability to get to work during disability should not be a hindrance to you in any way. The two types of protection features are non-cancelable and guaranteed renewable. By non-cancelable clause you get protected from cancellation of the policy for any reasons apart from non-payment of premiums. With such a policy, you will ensure that there is no possibility of losing out on disability benefits. A guaranteed renewable policy ensures that the benefits provided to you will continue every year. The premiums for providing the benefits every year will remain the same and will only increase if there is a general increase of the premium within the bracket.
Although there are several choices while selecting disability insurance, the basic features of each one of them will remain the same. Make sure that you discuss each and every option provided to you in the policy you are choosing so that you will not be in for any surprise if it comes to claiming the benefits of the insurance policy in the unfortunate event of any disability due to illness or injury. It is best to thoroughly research your options in order to safeguard yourself and your family.
