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Disability insurance for architects

The best way to protect your income as an architect is with a long-term own-occupation disability insurance policy.

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Andrew HurstSenior Editor & Licensed Auto Insurance ExpertAndrew Hurst is a senior editor at Policygenius who has spent his entire career writing about life, disability, home, auto, and health insurance. His work has been featured in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, Forbes, USA Today, NPR, Mic, Insurance Business Magazine, and Property Casualty 360.

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Anna SwartzAnna SwartzSenior Managing EditorAnna Swartz is a senior managing editor who specializes in home, auto, renters, and disability insurance at Policygenius. Previously, she was a senior staff writer at Mic and a writer at The Dodo. Her work has also appeared in Salon, HuffPost, MSN, AOL, and Heeb.

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Having disability insurance is one of the easiest ways to protect your income as an architect. Disability insurance pays benefits for as long as you’re injured or sick and can’t work (up to the limits of your policy, and can even pay out for decades if never able to go back to work as an architect.

If your work offers short-term disability insurance as a benefit you should opt-in, but it’s even better protection to buy your own long-term disability insurance policy. You can find an affordable policy that fits your needs by comparing quotes from multiple companies.

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Why architects need disability insurance

Think of disability insurance like insurance for your income: if you can’t work because of an illness or injury, disability insurance replaces your income with a monthly benefit. Short-term disability insurance covers absences of up to a year maximum, while long-term disability insurance can pay out for years or even decades, depending on the severity of your illness or injury.

If you’re an architect, it’s worth having disability insurance to protect your income and ensure you’ll be able to keep up with your regular expenses if you’re unexpectedly injured or sick and can’t work.

Disability insurance covers most disabling conditions that might keep you from working, including:

  • Severe anxiety or depression

  • Torn ligaments

  • Broken bones

  • Stroke or heart attack

  • Cancer and other serious illnesses

  • Complications from pregnancy or childbirth

Your disability benefits go directly to you and work like your regular income, so you can use them on things like rent or mortgage payments, credit card bills, auto loans, groceries, childcare, and other day-to-day expenses.

When should you get disability insurance?

Disability insurance gets more expensive with age, so it’s a good idea to get coverage early in life — as long as you can afford a policy. When you first buy your policy you can lock in your rates (unless you change your coverage), which makes it easy to budget for over the long term.

It’s a good idea to get a disability insurance policy with a future increase option so that you can add more coverage later on without going through another lengthy medical review.

What type of disability insurance do architects need?

As an architect it’s important to have disability insurance, but it’s even more important to have the right kind of coverage. We recommend a long-term, own-occupation policy.

Long-term disability insurance provides the most protection because it’s designed for worst-case scenarios. A long-term policy can pay out benefits for years, or even decades if a disability prevents you from ever returning to work.

Check your policy’s “definition of disability,” — this basically lets you know when and how you’re eligible to receive benefits. With an own-occupation policy, you’re eligible for benefits as long as you can’t work in your specialized role. You can still, though, receive benefits if you’re able to work in another profession. 

So if a serious illness leaves you unable to return to work as an architect but you’re able to find part-time work consulting, you’d still be able to get disability insurance payments under the terms of an own-occupation policy.

Read more about how long-term disability insurance works

How much disability insurance should you get?

You want to have enough disability insurance to maintain your current standard of living if you weren’t able to work as an architect anymore. Most personal disability policies cover 60% of your income, but the benefits aren’t taxed, so your total payout should come close to your net pay.

What if you already get disability insurance through work?

If your employer offers disability insurance, it’s worth getting. You can opt in to coverage when you start a new job or sign up for health insurance and other benefits during open enrollment. Most of the time, work-provided group disability insurance is free or partially paid for by your employer.

Work-provided disability insurance is a valuable way to protect your income, but has limitations that make it important to get your own policy.

The disability insurance you get through work is usually short-term coverage, meaning you’ll only be able to collect benefits for up to a year at the most. You won’t be able to rely on this kind of protection for a longer lasting disability, and it’s tied to your job, so you can’t take it with you if you change firms.

Ready to shop for disability insurance?

Are riders worth it for architects?

There are a handful of useful disability insurance riders (meaning add-ons or features of your coverage) that you should consider if you’re an architect. Some are free to add and some cost extra, but may be worth it.

  • Future increase option: Lets you to add more coverage later on without going through the lengthy application process again.

  • Guaranteed renewable/non-cancelable: Pay your premiums on time and your rates won’t go up.

  • Own-occupation: You’re eligible for benefits if an illness or injury keeps you from going back to work as an architect, even if you can work in another job.

  • Partial or residual disability: You can receive a partial benefit if a disability makes it hard to do only part of your job.

  • Student loan rider: Helps you continue paying off your student loan balance when you can’t work, worth adding if you have outstanding debt from graduate school.

How much does disability insurance cost for architects?

Disability insurance usually costs 1% to 3% of your income. Using median income data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, we found that architects can expect to pay between $78 and $233 a month for disability insurance. [1]

That said, what exactly you’ll pay for disability insurance depends on a range of personal factors, like your age, health, job, lifestyle, and the amount of coverage you get.

Read more about the cost of disability insurance

Best disability insurance companies for architects

The best disability insurance companies if you’re an architect will have experience working with people with higher-than-average incomes. Look for an insurance company that offers the coverage you need (including riders) at an affordable price. 

Some of our top companies for architects include:

BBB rating

AM Best rating

What we like about it …

Ameritas

A+

A

Includes a survivor benefit for your beneficiary.

Guardian

A+

AA+

Offers lifetime continuous benefits for total disabilities, even after the policy expires.

Massachusetts Mutual

A

A++

Offers a future insurability rider that's good until your 60th birthday.

Principal

A+

A+

Offers a lump-sum payment of $62,400 in addition to regular benefits if you're presumptively disabled.

The Standard

A+

A

Includes a family care benefit if you have to take time off to care for a sick loved one.

How to get disability insurance

No matter what kind of architect you are, you can get disability insurance by following these steps:

  1. Calculate how much coverage you need Choose your monthly benefits, your benefit period, and your elimination or waiting period (a set amount of time between the onset of an illness or injury and when you can start getting payments).

  2. Pick optional riders We think it’s important for architects to have own-occupation and future increase riders, but you can keep your standard coverage if you’re happy with it.

  3. Shop around and compare quotes Get quotes from more than one company to find the one with the best rates for your coverage needs and medical history.

  4. Fill out your application Be prepared to give your age, gender, home address, details of your work as an architect, and your everyday job expectations.

  5. Complete a phone interview Answer more detailed questions over the phone about your medical history and lifestyle (like whether you’re a smoker or have any risky hobbies).

  6. Go through underwriting Take a medical exam, verify your income, and get an attending physician's statement (APS) from your doctor about your health.

  7. Sign your policy and get covered Four to six weeks after the underwriting process concludes, you’ll get a copy of your policy in the mail. Sign it and send it back, then make your first payment to start your coverage.

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References

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Policygenius uses external sources, including government data, industry studies, and reputable news organizations to supplement proprietary marketplace data and internal expertise. Learn more about how we use and vet external sources as part of oureditorial standards.

  1. Bureau of Labor Statistics

    . "

    Occupational Outlook Handbook: Architects

    ." Accessed June 27, 2024.

Author

Andrew Hurst is a senior editor at Policygenius who has spent his entire career writing about life, disability, home, auto, and health insurance. His work has been featured in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, Forbes, USA Today, NPR, Mic, Insurance Business Magazine, and Property Casualty 360.

Editor

Anna Swartz is a senior managing editor who specializes in home, auto, renters, and disability insurance at Policygenius. Previously, she was a senior staff writer at Mic and a writer at The Dodo. Her work has also appeared in Salon, HuffPost, MSN, AOL, and Heeb.

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