One important type of insurance protection helps individuals who sustain disabling injuries or suffer from debilitating health conditions. Disability insurance often enables people with this protection to obtain coverage for lost wages over the course of a designated period of time when a disabling injury or condition strikes. Sometimes employers offer employees the option of obtaining this type of special insurance protection in conjunction with employment benefits packages.
Who Benefits From Obtaining This Insurance?
Virtually anyone potentially benefits by obtaining disability insurance. No one knows if (or when) a disabling condition may alter the course of daily life. This type of coverage may help fill a critical period of time between the onset of a temporary or permanent disability and the availability of Social Security assistance.
How It Works
Essentially, an insured pays premiums in order to obtain disability coverage protection during a specified term of time, short-term or long-term. The policy supplies payments for covered services and (usually) for lost wages for a stated period of time if a disability covered by the provisions of the insurance policy occurs within the applicable time frame. Individual policy provisions concerning coverage for disability vary widely sometimes.
Different Types of Coverage
Most policies today cover only temporary disabilities. Some apply only to accidental injuries, not pre-existing health conditions. Additionally, some insurers cover only lost wages, or provide flat lump sum payments for designated periods of time per incident.
Major Benefits
The insurance payments help an insured meet monthly bills during the critical period of time between the onset of a disability and the receipt of Social Security payments. Most disability policies today contemplate payments for only limited periods of time as set forth in individual policies.
