Disability policies are important for most wage earners. In fact, these policies can be just as important as life insurance. While death and disability alike can place your loved ones in financial peril, disability without a policy in place can lead to depletion of assets rather quickly. Even worse, disability with only a life insurance policy in place, can bring on thoughts of being worth more dead than alive. A disability policy should bring more stability for families, making insuring your ability to work a critical matter.

Selecting a policy is not easy.  Disability policies vary greatly, and the provisions are not easy to understand.  Aside from being on the boring side of reading material, policies written in insurance language or ‘legalese' can be a challenge.  Each term usually will have a unique meaning, that may defy your common sense or assumptions. The insurance company knows what every word means. You need to know what they mean as well, given your family's wellbeing is at stake.

Price alone should not guide your policy selection. Some policies are junk. They assure you there is coverage, but not for most circumstances.  For example, a few policies only provide coverage if you are unable to perform several activities of daily living. The activities of daily living (ADLs) refer to fundamental skills you need to care for yourself like eating, bathing, and mobility. Such a policy does not insure your inability to work, but rather those basic activities. That is not much coverage for most sicknesses and accidents that can take away your ability to work. 

By reading this book, it can aid you in selecting a policy.  If you already are insured, it can help you better know the rules for making a claim. You may well avoid many legal issues. You paid or worked for your policy, so maximize your investment by knowing what you have and how to protect your policy rights.

All policies have time limits, duties, and obligations for both parties to this agreement. You must follow the procedures and the proof requirements.  It may be best to think of your claim as a contest or game such as football or baseball. Seeing your claim paid will depend on following the rules and how you provide the facts. Both are critical parts. This book will help with that, and lead to the recognition that there are always new tricks being used by insurers to assist in denying claims. We will cover many tactics seen over the last 30 years.

My purpose with this book is to level the playing field a little bit, so there are fewer surprises if you have a claim. I point out concerns with each term based on decades of experience. This should not be taken as legal advice in your situation and if concerns arise you should seek legal advice right away. However, being aware of concerns in advance does give you insight to avoid mistakes.

This book can also serve as a guide, dictionary, or reference tool as to key policy provisions. The explanations will break down terms into ordinary language that you may better understand. Again, do not seek to use this as legal advice, since your circumstance will have unique facts. While I cannot cover every term in every policy, you can be made more aware to avoid many issues. Future editions may include more terms so let us know of terms you think we should add.

I have grouped together many key terms and related problems in each chapter.  I cite my concerns, and I may add a suggestion as to what you should consider.

While policies are a challenge to understand (and not the most enjoyable reading material), do not leave it in a drawer unread. Read this book over with your policy. Then put both this book and your policy away in a safe place. Identify a person you trust to help you in a difficult situation, and let that person know where both are located. Your disability policy may not be the first thing on your mind when tragedy strikes, but your trusted person may be able to help.

After you examine a few terms, I think you will realize the unfairness that can arise. If problems arise with your claim, seek experienced counsel in the area of disability policies right away and during the claim process. Do not ignore warning signs from an insurer. Seeking to prevent problems is better than curing them. It is much less expensive as well.