Whether your new parents or parents who are working on their second child, a lot of people don’t realize that having a long-term disability plan is essential for managing and securing your future as well as the future of your child.
In this article will be covering some of the best disability insurance available for parents and what qualities will stand out the most and determining what will fit well for you and your family.
Disability insurance is an insurance that people usually get when they want peace of mind in their day to day life. If the main breadwinner of the household ends up in an accident or succumbs to a terminal illness, disability insurance will be able to fill in and provide a payout needed to cover expenses that take care of your family.
Disability insurance can be obtained by either going online and finding a company that provides services to cover your needs or speaking to a local agent who will have the training needed to get you the perfect policy at good rates.
The cost of a policy mostly depends on your specific circumstances as well as any health problems that you might have. Thankfully most of the companies on this list make it easy to get a free quote of their services so you can compare and save.
Financial Rating: If your insurance company has an excellent Financial rating then that means that the company is going to be able to pay out on a claim if you are forced to make one. These companies will have good Financial ratings. However, the best overall will get rated at the top of our list.
Rates: Just like any family who’s on a budget, the cost of this disability insurance will matter if you’re starting as parents. Affordable coverage options will be given higher ratings than those that aren’t
Coverage: You want to make sure that any disability insurance company that you choose to go with will be able to provide the appropriate coverage is possible to give you the peace of mind that you’re paying into something that will adequately cover you and your financial needs.
Availability: Not every disability insurance company will provide coverage in your area, it’s important to pay attention to this factor, and higher-rated companies in our list will provide better coverage overall rather than in selected regions.
Image source: Mutual Of Omaha
Mutual of Omaha is a familiar name as far as disability insurance is concerned. This company has been featured on Good Financial cents several times and seems like a solid choice for individuals who are looking for a highly customizable disability insurance plan.
When you first look at what policies they offer, many people will come to realize that a lot of their plans come pre-equipped with many different benefits. What’s lovely about Mutual of Omaha is that you could always add more coverages and benefits that you feel will serve your family the best at any point that you want.
You’re able to get all of these different types of customizations for your policy because its policyholders own the company. They offer various services such as:
On top of that, they also provide other products and services such as accidental death insurance, annuities, and critical illness coverage which goes over cancer, heart attack, and stroke as well.
All of their term life plans feature between 10 to 30 years and you can obtain coverage is for $100,000 or more. All of their quotes can get found online, and you can usually get a response within a couple of moments after you inquire.
Whole life insurance will cover people between the ages of 45 to 85, or 50 to 75 years in New York. Coverage starts at $2,000 a piece, or they can go up as high as $25,000.
All of these policies are guaranteed issue which guarantees that despite your health or any medical exam results, you will have a guaranteed coverage including funeral and other final expenses that your family might have to pay.
If you do choose to go through a simplified application through an agent, you will have to answer a few health questions but there is no medical exam, and you can get approved for coverage up to $40,000. Whole Life policies can get extended to children as well which is helpful if your child struggles with health problems.
The universal life policy provides coverage in more significant amounts than in their Whole Life policies. Mutual of Omaha offers for different types of Universal disability coverage which include index person life that ties policy’s cash value accumulation to a market index.
Mutual of Omaha’s Financial strength is considered Superior thanks to the ratings provided by A.M. Best which means that you can have a proper assurance that this insurance company will pay out any claims that get made.
Image source: Illinois Mutual
Founded and still operating in Peoria Illinois, Illinois Mutual has been in operation for over a hundred years and now functions with over 1000 independent agents across the country.
The only problem that many people face when they’re dealing with Illinois Mutual is that they only cater to 46 States Across the Nation instead of all 50. The states that they do not sell insurance in are the following:
Unfortunately not being able to go nationwide has restricted this company in areas of progress, however, if you do live in one of the states where they do function, you can take advantage of the grape plants that they have available.
If you’re looking for disability insurance in general, you’ll have two types of disability insurance to choose from when you’re going through this company. You’ll have personal paycheck power, and then business expense power.
The business expense to our policy is geared more towards business owners who are looking to find a way to protect their business in case of a disability affecting their lives. It’s terrific for people who are starting up their business at home or who have a small business that functions as the primary paycheck for the household.
The personal paycheck power policy provides long-term disability coverage to anyone from the ages of 18 to 60. Once you hit 60, you can renew the coverage up until the age of 65. This coverage has benefit links that start anywhere from 67 months up to 10 years and is an excellent choice for someone who needs that extra piece of mind.
Illinois Mutual provides competitive life insurance and disability insurance that competes directly with other big-name companies. They have an A- rating with a. M. Best as well as an A+ rating from the Better Business Bureau who they have had accreditation with since 1943. The company itself has over $1,000,000,000 and total assets as of 2016.
Image source: Assurity
When it comes to looking for companies that provide excellent disability insurance policies, a surety comes on top as one of the best For people who are looking to customize their systems. You’ll be able to utilize his company very well if you’re self-employed especially, or if you own a small business which is terrific for those who don’t have a lot of availability on their budget.
Assurity also has simplified disability income which means that you don’t have to go through a bunch of medical evaluations and long waiting periods to get approved for insurance. You go and call your local agent and set up a simple phone interview to get an idea of what you can start getting for your plans.
They offer traditional plans with full underwriting as well as clear and graded plans from all walks of life and health conditions. They do cater to accelerated underwriting at lower benefit amounts as well as provide occupation upgrades for people who own their businesses.
Even better is that you can customize each of these plans by adding or taking off options that you feel that you may or may not need for your family. A surety has an A- rating with a. M. Best also features an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau. They’re even the first disability and life insurance agency to get certified as a B-Corporation which is the first to achieve this.
If you have difficult medical conditions that you need to get written, Assurity also backs you up there as well. The policies maximum benefit period is ten years and varies depending on the disability and the length of disability that you’re dealing with at the time.
Limitations caused by sickness will have a policy that pays out 35 percent of the benefit amount in the first year, and then it goes up to 70 percent in the second year and later the third year and on we’ll receive the full benefit.
If an injury or an accident causes instant instability, then you’ll receive the full benefit immediately.
For parents who have an existing health condition that prevents them from getting a hold of a traditional long term disability insurance, Assurity provides graded benefit disability insurance for those people who are struggling.
Some of the major downfalls that people have come to realize with Assurity is the fact that they do not have non-cancelable policies which means that for companies that do have that, those companies will not be able to raise premiums for plans that last longer than five years.
Assurity does not have a policy that lasts longer than five years and no matter which type you get, and there’s always a chance that your premiums can rise.
Image source: Ameritas
Another highly rated disability insurance company is Ameritas. While founded in 1887, Ameritas provides attractive rates on long-term disability insurance, and they have been made famous because of it.
The company itself offers two separate types of disability insurance. Both are considered great options for insurance coverage, but they do have slightly different benefits that they provide on each plan. One is their DInamic Foundation series and then their DInamic Fundamental policy.
The DInamic fundamental plan is the easier to understand of the two options. These policies cater to you and you’ll be able to renew the policy long as you want to have the program available to you.
The DInamic Fundamental policy is great if you have a disability for over a year, and it also allows you to receive a payout of a lump sum to pay bills you need to take care of at the time.
This plan is one of the most streamlined coverage options that they have available.
The DInamic Foundation policy has more that you have to do to qualify for the plan. Similar to the Fundamental plan, you won’t have to worry renewability, and you’re guaranteed premium rates until you turn 65 years old.
Payments will come in monthly checks if you put in a claim, and this policy allows policyholders to claim partial or total disability as long as certain circumstances are met. The plans come in different spans of time to choose from, including:
While the policy is own occupation instead of working policies, you have the option to add on an additional rider as true own-occupation coverage instead.
These plans are both very affordable, and they also provide additional benefits when you become an Ameritas policyholder.
If you’re worried you’re not getting enough coverage on your disability plan, there are extra riders that you can add onto your policy.
There’s an interesting feature to their plan which is an automatic increase feature. Essentially for the first five years that you have your plan, Ameritas will increase your benefits coverage by four percent every single year without paying any additional premiums.
Having this rider added on to your policy would be a good idea just because if you intend on having a long-term disability plan in place, you know that the economy will shift and change and you want to make sure that you’re as prepared as possible to have some financial security behind that.
Image source: Gardian Life
Guardian Life is another insurance company that is owned by its policyholders instead of by a single Corporation. Consumers who take advantage of having a whole life insurance policy will be able to share an annual dividend that is provided each year from their plan.
What’s even better than that is the fact that the company had paid dividends every single year since 1868 when the company got founded.
The Guardian is one of the oldest companies in the listing, and it’s ranking as a fortune 250 Global Finance Services Company. It has over 2,750 agents as well as 58 different agencies across the United States which means that the likelihood of this company being close by is high.
The company itself sells policies for term life insurance up to variable universal life and survivorship life insurance. You can even add on disability income insurance, annuities, Investments, individual dental insurance, and even workplace benefits which include your 401K plans.
What’s even better than that is the fact that the company had paid dividends every single year since 1868 when the company got founded.
This year alone the company will pay a record-breaking dividend amount of 978 million dollars to its policyholders. As far as its Financial strength is concerned, a. M. Best financial has rated Guardian Life at an A++ rating or was also known as Superior rating.
This rating proves that this is the best company available on our list to determine whether or not you will get your claims paid and how quickly they will get paid.
You’ll have four different plans to choose from including a group plan, an individual plan, a supplemental plan and disability insurance for business owners. You can take advantage of their ProVider Plus program which is a personal Long Term Disability Policy that gives you between two to ten years of coverage, and you’ll be able to renew it up to 67 years old.
On top of that, you can take advantage of your true-own occupation plan which enables you to claim on disability as long as you cannot perform the job that you signed up. It doesn’t mean you can’t work in another profession, and if you do decide to take up another post, you still get your benefits provided to you.
JD Power and Associates have reviewed the company’s satisfaction score, and in every area that they look into, Guardian Life Has Come above and beyond and their service for their customers.
Featured image source: pexels
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