A. During benefits enrollment at work, you have the opportunity to sign up for health insurance and other perks like a 401(k) or tuition reimbursement. Many employers also offer disability insurance as an add-on benefit.
Often, this type of insurance is paid for by your employer or offered at a reduced rate. While it seems like a good way to protect yourself, you need to understand how disability insurance works and how much coverage you’ll have through your employer’s program.
Is your salary covered?
Make sure you understand how much of your salary will be covered if you’re out of work due to a disability. The typical coverage is a percentage of your salary, and you have to make sure that you can live on that while you’re getting hospital care or recovering at home. Taxes are also an issue. Depending on your policy, your benefits may be taxed, which will reduce your income while you are disabled.
You should also understand the definition of “disability” according to your policy. Coverage may vary from company to company, and it could also be different depending on your job. You should also ask about partial benefits if you are able to work part time rather than full time as you recover.
How long are you covered?
Other things to look for include how long you need to wait before your benefits begin, and how long benefits and payments will last. Ideally, you should have a policy that will cover you until your normal retirement age up until you can claim your Social Security benefits.
Disability is something that most of us don’t think about until it happens to us. If you determined that you need additional disability insurance coverage, we are an independent agent and could help you out. Please feel free to contact us to run a quote.