You should consider protecting yourself with disability insurance as soon as you are earning an income. All other aspects of your life are tied to the income you earn, so an injury or illness could be detrimental. Taking on additional debt or withdrawing funds from your retirement will only compound the problem and can cost you your long-term plans. Even if your disability doesn’t last too long and you’re able to return to work, you may be ineligible for coverage. Identifying your need for insurance at a young age and getting coverage will lock in your premiums at a lower rate and protect you for your working life. Our Hometown team serving the city of St. Catharines and area is happy to assist you in personalizing coverage to protect you and your family, now and in the future.
The premiums for your original policy amount will not change for the life of your policy. Your premiums will only increase if you use the future insurability option to increase your coverage, but each time you do it will lock in your premium for the new coverage amount until any further changes are made.
Your premiums are calculated based on a combination of the following factors: coverage amount, coverage term (you choose from 24 months to coverage until age 65), waiting period (you choose the number of days of disability before receiving a payment), gender, age, smoking status, health, medical history, lifestyle and any riders you select for your policy. With disability insurance, it is important to note that your coverage amount is lower than your regular working income. A common coverage maximum would be somewhere between 80-90% of your after-tax working income, to ensure there is incentive to return to work.
If you have to make a claim on your policy for a disability, the first step is to contact our Hometown Life Insurance team serving St. Catharines. We will walk you through the claims process by gathering the necessary information before submitting it to the insurance company for review. When the claim is approved, and after the policy’s waiting period has been satisfied, your monthly benefit payments will start. We understand that dealing with a disability can be stressful, so it is important for us to make the process as simple for you and your family as possible.