Disability Insurance Articles
How Job Related Accidents Affect Disability Insurance Coverage
2010-09-28
Disability insurance coverage is provided by employers in order to protect employees from the costs of missing work if the employee should become injured. Job related accidents are the most common reasons that people submit disability claims, but claims can also be submitted for injuries or illnesses that happened away from the job, as well.
If you are ill or injured and need to take a few weeks away from work, short term disability insurance coverage should provide you with enough income to keep your bills paid while you are out of work. There are strict limits to how long you can draw from a short term disability plan. In most cases, short term disability is used for a month wile someone recovers from an injury or illness that is not expected to be permanent.
When you suffer from an injury or illness that will require you to be out of work for longer than six months, your long term disability coverage should kick in. Long term coverage pays a percentage of your regular wages while you are unable to perform your duties at your job. In some cases, long term disability can provide the financial stability you need while you work to retrain for another position with your company because you will no longer be able to perform the work you previously performed.
Job related accidents are treated very carefully by employers depending on the circumstances surrounding the injury. If all safety regulations and rules were being followed when an injury occurred, the employer is responsible to cover any medical costs related to the injury. The employer is also legally bound to provide the employee with a livable wage while the employee recovers. If the employee was injured because he or she ignored safety protocols, the employee is responsible for the resulting medical bills and time away from work. A standard disability insurance policy should cover the necessary medical bills and provide a percentage of the employee's regular salary for a specific period of time after the injury.
Most disability coverage plans allow a person to make a disability claim for a specific number of days in a calendar year. Once all of the allowed time has expired, the employee will not be able to receive any benefits until the disability plan is renewed once more. Someone who has needed to use their disability benefits may find that their new disability insurance coverage costs more than it did previously. The cost of insurance tends to rise related to the risk that an individual will need to file a claim during the coverage period.