Posts Tagged ‘Disability Insurance’

Own Occupation Disability Insurance

Disability insurance is designed in a way so that it is able to cover or replace lost earnings. Also such disability is more likely to occur than actual death, no matter what age you might be of. Such disability insurance should be one then that pays you in additions to social security and benefits from your employer.

What is own occupation disability insurance?

Just because you have a disability that prevents you from working on your original job should not hinder your opportunity to work otherwise. In fact, people today choose to fight their disability in one way or another by working rather than sit idly at home and collect checks. The kind of insurance that honors their self independence is what we know today as ‘own occupation disability insurance’. This insurance allows a disabled person to work in any other capacity even while they are disabled to be able to do their original job. In other words, this insurance scheme does not penalize a person for being disabled and not able to do his or her original job work. This is a necessary insurance scheme especially for those who are not completely disabled and are able to take up alternate jobs to make best use of their time.

Define own occupation disability:

There are many different definitions available in regard to own occupation disability. This disparity between definitions could be seen even in case of different schemes floated by the same insurance company. Hence while seeking a policy, make sure you understand completely how they define this clause else you will have problems while making claims later on. In fact there are three different types of definitions available – a true definition, a modified definition, and any-occupation definition.

One of the most generalized definition of own occupation disability goes like this – “The inability to perform the material and substantial duties of your regular occupation, the insurance company will consider your occupation to be the occupation you are engaged in at the time you become disabled, they will pay the claim even if you are working in some other capacity.”

What does disability insurance cover?

Due to the huge differences existing between the different disability insurance coverage schemes, the coverage offered by them also differs. While selecting which definition of own occupation disability suits you best, you need to also understand what all coverage is being offered by such insurance policy. While a true definition covers your specific occupation and will pay you benefits even if you were working somewhere else, a modified definition will mean that you will get coverage on your specific occupation only if you are not working somewhere else. Finally, any-occupation definition will pay you benefits only if you are unable to do any reasonable occupation for the purpose of your education and experience.

Getting an own occupation disability insurance is a must. It is vital to protect your most important asset – your ability to earn an income. Disability income insurance pays such benefits to people who are unable to go to their work due to disabilities.