Disability Insurance Articles

Asking Your Employer About Your Disability Insurance Benefits

2011-02-11

Disability insurance can be a great way for an individual to ensure that they and their family are protected in the event of a sudden injury or accident. The disability insurance benefits paid to a family can take care of a significant portion of the costs associated with treatment and correction or can help to purchase mobility aids or do necessary home renovations that will allow the disabled person to more easily move around. While private disability insurance is becoming more and more common in the United States, employer sponsored disability plans remain the most typical way of handling injuries that occur in a workplace, and it is always worthwhile to ask an employer about disability insurance before starting a job or if any confusion arises.

Disability insurance is intended to protect an individual in the event that an accident occurs, and disability insurance which is provided by a workplace will be interned to cover an accident that occur on company time and while engaged in activities that are sanctioned by the company. This is the first important thing to understand about employer disability insurance - if a worker is off-duty or does something dangerous or illegal while at work to injure themselves, there is a good chance that disability insurance will not cover the costs of treatment or recovery. It is important to understand exactly what, when and where an employer plan will cover an employee in order to determine just what level of disability insurance benefits exist for a worker.

Any manager or employer should be willing to discuss this with employees as well as tell them when their coverage will activate. Some companies will have waiting periods of three to six months before benefits of any kind, including disability insurance, will be paid out, and employees must be prepared for this. It is worthwhile to sit down with a manager or employer and discuss what level of disability insurance benefits are offered by a company; especially if the job done by the employee is dangerous or high-stress. If it turns out that minimal disability insurance is offered, it may be worthwhile for an employee to consider purchasing additional private disability insurance to top off their employer-paid version.

While disability insurance is not as robust as healthcare, it is not meant to be. Instead, it is meant to target specific incidents and provide financial relief for a specified period of time. While many employers may have a disability plan in place, workers should sit down and ask their employer just what level of coverage they have for disability, and when it will become active should they find themselves injured at work.