Where can you get disability insurance quotes?

Answer 1

Many life and health insurance agents have markets for disability insurance, but it is a specialty area and you should determine the agent's expertise with disability policies.

It is also important to make sure that the agent with whom you work is licensed in the State in which he/she does business, and is "appointed" by the insurer for whom he/she is taking the application. An "appointment" means that the agent is authorized to represent the insurer in presenting the coverage to prospective insureds and to submit applications to the company. Certain legal liabilities and responsibilities arise from that relationship. For the most part, licensure and appointment can be determined through the State insurance regulator, and sometimes it is available online.

It is also vital that the insurer is itself "authorized" to transact business in your State, meaning that it is authorized to conduct insurance business there. Many consumer protections arise when an insurer is authorized in the State, including, that the insurer is subject to financial oversight. Many of those consumer protections do not apply when the insurer is not authorized. In fact, a big area of financial wrongdoing involves the operation of fake insurance companies that are established as frauds to take in premium dollars, but never have the intention of paying claims.

The agent does not him/herself "design" the policy. Instead, the insurer may have various essentially standard form policies that have been approved to sell by agents in the State. There are several options from which you may select, and those selections are made in your transaction with the agent. One common option is the duration of the "elimination period". This is the period of time that you must be disabled (according to the policy definition of disability) before benefits become payable. It can be analogized to the deductible that you select for the collision or comprehensive coverage on your car.

Because the length of the elimination period has a bearing upon how soon, and therefore, how much, the disability insurer has to pay for a covered claim, it also has a bearing upon the amount of the premium that you will be charged. For example, all other things being equal, a disability policy with a 30-day elimination period will be more costly than one with a 90-day elimination period. The agent does not set the premiums, but should be able to advise you, based upon your circumstances, which elimination period (or other options that affect premium) is most suitable.