Best Price Guarantee
Our underwriting experts will match you with the right insurance company and ensure you get the best possible price on your policy. Got offered a lower price elsewhere? Let us try to beat it.
How does it work?
Our underwriting experts will match you with the right insurance company and ensure you get the best possible price on your policy. Got offered a lower price elsewhere? Let us try to beat it.
Disability insurance is essentially insurance for your income. If you become sick or injured, you may be forced to miss work. Health insurance will only cover the cost of some of your medical procedures and recovery, but can’t help pay other bills. If you’re unable to work and can’t receive a paycheck, you run the risk of missing payments on your mortgage, utilities, or other bills.
While researching long-term disability insurance, you may have come across short-term disability insurance. While they’re similar, there are key differences between them.
The main difference between the two products is how long they last. Short-term disability insurance lasts for a shorter period of time, usually starting at a few months and no longer than a year. Your long-term disability insurance will not begin until any short-term disability benefits have been exhausted. Long-term disability insurance, on the other hand, can last until your retirement.
Private short-term policies are available, but short-term disability insurance is usually only cost effective through an employer. Long-term disability plans are typically bought through a broker.
Other alternatives to short-term and long-term disability insurance are:
However, these are imperfect options that may not be feasible for covering the cost of a multi-year disability; for example, Social Security disability insurance is difficult to qualify for and may be limited compared to your coverage needs.
There are several things to consider when deciding on which is the best disability insurance policy for you. Some important things to decide when you’re shopping are:
Average long-term disability insurance rates cost between 1-3% of your annual salary, but the exact cost will depend on a number of factors about the applicant and the policy chosen. Short-term disability insurance can cost anywhere between $50 and $150 a month (or more), for a shorter coverage period.
Most disabilities are caused by illness rather than injury, which means that disability insurance can provide a financial safety net for everyone. But what is the best disability insurance company for you? It largely depends on the policy cost and features that work for your individual situation. Find all of our disability insurance company reviews.
COMPANY | BBB RATING | A.M. BEST RATING |
---|---|---|
Ameritas | A+ | A |
Assurity | A+ | A- |
Fidelity Security | A+ | A- |
Guardian | A+ | A++ |
Illinois Mutual | A+ | B++ |
MassMutual | A+ | A++ |
MetLife | A+ | A+ |
Mutual of Omaha | A+ | A+ |
Northwestern Mutual | A+ | A++ |
Ohio National | A+ | A+ |
Petersen International | B- | A |
Principal Financial Group | A+ | A+ |
RiverSource | A+ | A+ |
State Farm | B- | A++ |
The Standard | A+ | A |
Thrivent | A+ | A++ |
Unum | A- | A- |
Some insurance companies are best for certain professions, offering the best prices or most flexible options. Learn more about the best disability insurance companies for your profession.
As the independent broker, we help you apply for the right disability insurance policy and manage the underwriting process through approval. If you accept and pay for the approved policy, the insurance company pays us a commission. Commissions are already priced into the cost of disability insurance - so you're not paying any extra to work with us (or any disability insurance agent or broker). Our commissions are similar across the disability insurers we work with, so we don't favor one company over another in the recommendations to you.
They are as accurate as disability insurance quotes can get, based on the accuracy and completeness of information provided. Pricing disability insurance is complicated - as it depends on the applicant's health history and occupational details. Quotes are an estimate and the final rate is determined by the insurance company through a process called underwriting (which is the process of reviewing all the applicant's detailed information and assigning a risk class and rate). If the final rate comes back higher after underwriting, our experts can work with you to modify the coverage to fit within your budget.
Also, the rate you get quoted initially may not be the rate you're approved at, after the underwriting process (in which the insurer reviews your medical history and occupational details). If you apply with the disability insurance company directly, and you're approved at a different rate, you're stuck with that offer. They won't help you figure out if you can get a better offer from a different disability insurance company. If you apply through Policygenius, we can review that offer to see if another disability insurance company we work with can provide a better alternative. That's the advantage of working with an independent broker: extra service for no extra cost.