Disability Insurance Articles

How To Increase Disability Insurance Benefits Without Paying More

2011-10-31

When you have disability insurance benefits, it's important to know exactly how much you get each month. Your policy states a maximum salary for you and then you will receive a percentage of that amount when you go out on disability. There are benefit limits and you may be able to increase them without spending more money.

One of the easiest ways to increase the benefit limits is through something known as an automatic benefit increase rider. This will automatically increase your benefits on various anniversaries as a way for the insurance company to thank you for your business. As a result of this increase, you would get more for going out on disability without experiencing a rate increase.

When you're looking for insurance, you should also look at selecting a policy that has a future increase option built into it. This allows your premium to be adjusted as your salary adjusts. If you receive a promotion or raise, this increases your monthly income. Your disability insurance should reflect this change, so that you get the most amount of money each month if you go out on disability.

There are many different types of future increase options available. Some companies have a particular number of increases built in for each couple of years while others will simply raise it by an agreed upon percentage throughout time. In most cases, you will need to provide documentation that your salary has changed for the income to be adjusted.

If you don't have any riders or increase options into your disability insurance, the only way for you to increase your disability insurance above the current insurance limits without paying more is to decrease the percentage, which then becomes a moot point. You could also cancel out your insurance and shop around for a new policy.

If you've made bad choices when selecting your disability insurance company, you always have the ability to cancel your policy. This time around, make sure to shop three or four companies and find out what each one offers. You want to look for the highest percentage of your income to be paid as well as a rider or option to allow you to increase your insurance without paying more each month.

You may even want to involve an insurance broker to help you. This way, he or she can shop the different companies using their knowledge in the industry to make it easier for you. They can then provide you with the options available so you just need to choose one.

It's reasonable to believe that your income will go up, so your disability insurance benefits should be able to go up, too.