You indeed need long-term individual disability insurance (IDI) policy to get adequate coverage against disability but closer analysis has shown that it is not so. You could lose out on adequate coverage just when you need it the most, which is soon after you are disabled and when you expect your disability benefit to cover you. Unfortunately, you won’t get the benefits of a long-term policy before at least a month which can get stretched up to 3 months. In any case of disability, the most challenging period is the first few months and if you are deprived of the benefits during this period, it gets really difficult.
Insurance is not really easy to purchase because even the best policy lacks something, somewhere. Some folks simply disregard the shortfalls in their policy and that is fine as long as it suits their situation. As an example, if you are a dentist and have just begun your career, you will be earning 2-3 times more than the national average since doctors are a high-income group. However, your income at this stage won’t be so high that you may struggle to get adequate income replacement with your dentists disability insurance policy. This situation will change 10-15 years later as you grow in your profession and earn a 7-8 figure income.
Eliminate your elimination period with a short term policy
As explained earlier, the benefits of your IDI doctor’s disability insurance policy could take as long as three months to roll out in the event of a claim. If this happens during the first decade of your career, you would still be repaying your student loan accounting for a substantial part of your income.
Repaying that loan installment along with your other bills for three months can be really stressful when you are in the most critical stage of your disability. The best way to eliminate the elimination period of your IDI policy is to invest in a low-cost group short-term disability insurance policy.
A long term IDI policy alone cannot cover your disability
The elimination period in a short-term healthcare professional disability insurance policy is just 15 days at the most and the cost of the policy is also much less. With such a policy you can quickly neutralize the longer elimination period of your long-term IDI policy.
When your income increases after a decade or more into the profession, you may have other expenses to deal with such as one or more mortgages, car loans, or other loans. You will also have a family and dependents to support as well as a lifestyle with all the expenses that go with it. Since your IDI policy will fall short of providing adequate coverage, you will need to stack your healthcare professional’s insurance cover with a long-term group policy as well.
Get professional advice from a reliable insurance adviser
It is always better to get professional advice from a reliable disability insurance broker to optimize your insurance cover. Make sure that you select the right broker after doing your research and speaking to family and friends for references. Such brokers are industry professionals and they know about the best policies like the back of their hands.