Long-Term Disability Insurance Works for You
Most people don't realize the high risk of becoming permanently or temporarily disabled at some point in their lives. Studies show that 1 in 4 of todays 20 years olds will likely be disabled for at 1 year, or more, prior to reaching age 67. If you were totally disabled and couldn't work as a result of an illness or injury, do you have the resources today to cover your expenses for weeks, months, or even longer?
Long-term disability (LTD) insurance is usually provided by employers, and there are a variety of differing plans available for employers to offer as part of an employee benefits package. If a company doesn’t offer long-term disability insurance or if you want additional coverage, you have the option of purchasing an individual long-term disability plan from an insurance agent.
Long-term disability insurance does not provide insurance for work-related accidents or injuries that are covered by workers' compensation insurance.
Long-Term Disability Insurance Plan Coverage
Long-term disability insurance (LTD) begins to assist the employee when short-term disability insurance (STD) benefits end. Once the employee's short-term disability insurance benefits expire (generally after three to six months), the long-term disability insurance pays an employee a percentage of their salary, typically 50-70%.
Long-term disability payments to the employee, in some policies, have a defined period of time, for example, two-ten years. Others pay an employee until he or she is 67 years old.
Each long-term disability insurance policy has different conditions for payout, diseases or pre-existing conditions that may be excluded, and various other conditions that make the policy more or less useful to an employee.
Some policies, for example, will pay disability benefits if the employee is unable to work in his or her current profession; others expect that the employee will take any job that the employee is capable of doing—that's a big difference and consequential.
Disability insurance is an important piece of your insurance portfolio that will help protect you during life's unexpected events. If you are dependent on your working income, make sure it is protected!
Have questions about long term disability insurance? Give us a call today.