Disability Income Insurance
Health insurance that provides income payments to the insured wage earner when income is interrupted or terminated because of illness, sickness, or accident. Definitions under this insurance include:
- Total and Partial Disability reduction in benefits if the insured is found to be partially disabled instead of totally disabled.
- Amount of Benefits many policies stipulate that all sources of disability income cannot exceed 50% to 80% of the insured's earnings prior to the disability, subject to a maximum absolute dollar amount.
- Duration of Benefits length of time benefits will be paid. Some policies will pay benefits for one or two years, whereupon the insured must agree to be retrained for other work. Other policies pay benefits as long as the insured is unable to do the job for which he or she is suited by training, education, and experience (often up to age 65, when retirement programs take over). Some policies pay lifetime benefits.
- ELIMINATION PERIOD (Waiting Period) period beginning with the first day of disability, during which no payments are made to the insured. The longer this period, the lower the premiums.
- Physician's Care the insured must be regularly attended by a legally qualified physician because it is necessary to assess changes in severity of disability.
- PREEXISTING CONDITION if an insured has a preexisting injury, sickness, or illness, most policies will not pay income benefits either for the duration of the policy or until a period of time (usually from six months to one year) has elapsed.
- Recurrent Disability most policies will not pay income benefits to an insured who is experiencing a recurrent disability unless the recurrent disability is deemed a new disability. Some more progressive policies define a recurrent disability as a new disability if there has been a break of at least six months between the first disability and the current disability, and the insured has returned to work during that break.
- RESIDUAL DISABILITY many policies pay for the unused portion of the total disability period, limited to age 65.
Popular Insurance Terms
Person who has been authorized by the insurance company to pay a loss (s) incurred by the insured. ...
Agreement by an insurance company to pay a predetermined amount, as indicated in an insurance policy, should a loss occur. ...
Maximum that an insurance company can underwrite. The limits of coverage that a property and casualty company can underwrite are determined by its retained earnings and invested capital. ...
Individual who is legally responsible for taking care of another individual (s) who is deemed to be incapable of managing his/her own affairs. For example, children under the age of ...
Reckless action without regard to life, limb, and/or property; for example, driving 100 miles per hour on a road or highway. ...
Principle of surplus distribution as the result of excess funds above the amount required to establish legal reserves. These excess funds are generated from three sources: mortality ...
Coverage for the percentage of the health care costs paid by the health insurance company, which is usually 80% above the insured's deductible up to a dollar amount of approximately $5000. ...
Association of stock property insurance companies, formed to provide engineering services for member companies. These companies generally insure highly protected risks (risks characterized ...
Section describing coverages under a policy. Elsewhere in the policy other sections may restrict or exclude coverages. ...
Have a question or comment?
We're here to help.