Having yourself covered in the case of an emergency is really important, and that’s especially true when protecting yourself from accidents. You never know when something bad could happen in the workplace, and accounting for that to get your fair share is really important. What’s more, everyday life can be just as dangerous, and while the law can be on your side for a work mishap, that’s certainly not the case in your personal life. But that’s where the right short term disability insurance can ensure that you stay protected.
With the right type of disability insurance protection, you can be sure that you are able to focus on your recovery when the worst happens, instead of stressing about how you’re possibly going to be able to make ends meet. However, there are some negatives associated with plans of these type, so it’s really important that you know both sides of the coin before you sign up for your payments.
Starting out, the positives of what you can expect from getting this type of insurance to cover you:
1) Provides for a paycheck to help you make ends meet throughout your recovery.
The basic and most positive part of having this type of insurance, is that it provides you either with a weekly check like you would get if you were working, or a lump sum payment, to help you through your injury. This way, even if you’re out of work for months, you can be sure that you’re covered, so that you’re able to take care of bills and cost of living expenses.
2) Some plans cover offsite accidents that can affect your work as well.
Let’s say you’re moving, or you just bought a new appliance, and you’re trying to lift it into your house. But all of a sudden it slips, and trying to compensate leads you to pulling a major back muscle. You could be unable to do your job for a few weeks, but that doesn’t mean work will compensate you because it happened in your personal time. But with a short term disability insurance plan that covers accidents away from work, you can still get that helpful money that you really need.
3) Many plans also cover pregnancies with maternity leave insurance.
While not really a disability, this is a situation in which you will not be able to work during the later terms of your pregnancy. But with short term disability insurance pregnancy coverage you can actually get extra money, to make things easier on your family during this exciting transition to parenthood, so that you don’t have to spend your time worried about bills.
But of course, there are negatives that come with any disability insurance plan, and you have to be aware of them before you sign up for any type of policy.
1) Short term disability insurance is just that, short term.
The biggest problem with temporary insurance plans like these, is just that they run out fairly quickly, so you’re going to find that you can be left without benefits before you’re able to return to work. Most plans only provide for 10 to 26 weeks, so a major injury is not going to be covered, if you need a longer recovery period.
2) You never receive your full salary.
Another hit that you have to take, is that you only receive a percentage of what you would get were you healthy enough to work. This typically means making only 50% or 70% of what you would normally make. This is a provision put inside most plans, to discourage those that file false claims, but it’s one that can hurt legitimately injured folks.
3) Proving a claim is often difficult.
Again because of the fact that there is so much insurance fraud out there for disability benefits, sometimes proving that you actually need to call in your benefits can be a huge hassle. You’ll have to jump through hoops and get a lot of doctor approval as well as proof to show that you are actually unable to work. So that’s something you’ll have to be prepared for should an accident arise in any type of situation.