The Information You Should Have to Request a Good Disability Insurance Quote

The Information You Should Have to Request a Good Disability Insurance Quote

You should have a good idea about what you want and need when you request a disability insurance quote. Spend some quality time considering the level of coverage you want, balanced based on your monthly cash flow needs. Ask yourself the following questions at a minimum.

• How much monthly income do I need to meet my expenses? First, determine your basic living expenses (food, clothing, and shelter). Then consider other fixed personal expenses (auto loans, credit card minimum payments, other insurance, etc.) to learn how much cash you need on a monthly basis. Look at what you spent on average over the last 12 months.
  
• How long or short an elimination (waiting) period should I have? Estimate how long you could “survive” using your current cash reserves before you'll need your disability insurance to begin providing benefits. While you'll no doubt want the shortest period available, you'll find a significant cost savings with longer waiting periods.
  
• Based on my occupation, what definition of disability should I seek? Always try to get a policy with the most liberal definition of disability, the “own occupation definition.”
  
• How long a benefit period should I have? As with all disability insurance quotes, this consideration will affect both your premium cost and piece of mind factors. If premium cost were not an issue, you would probably want benefits payable until age 65 or even for life. To adequately protect yourself and your family, consider the longest benefit period that your current cash flow allows.
  
• Do I need both a short- and long-term disability insurance quote? Depending on your situation, you may need one or the other or both to sufficiently protect your income stream. Short term disability insurance is typically only available as an employee benefit or a state insurance benefit.
  
• Make sure you have tax returns and/or other written evidence of your current monthly income You will need to provide this information to get a disability insurance policy but not for a quote. Since disability insurance generally will pay you 50% to 65% of your current monthly compensation, your insurer will need to know your current level of verifiable income.