How to Insure Your Income: Trends in the Disability Income Field Conclusion

Insurers offering disability income products are trying to find better ways to control claims, due to poor claims experience. The once-liberal contract provisions for people in professional occupations are being re-evaluated, since the assumption that these occupations were low-risk is proving to be faulty.

Underwriting is being used to control future claims expenses, as are shorter benefit periods and reduced benefit amounts. Cost of living benefits also may be reduced or eliminated in an effort to control claims expenses.

Diversified marketing efforts will help spread the claims risk over larger groups of insured people, as well as providing competitive and fair disability income insurance policies for all occupational classes.

But the most important trend in disability income insurance is that more people are becoming aware of its importance. This is a good thing.

Depending on your age, statistically, loss of income due to a disability is more likely to occur than death. And, as we all know, death is inevitable.

Statistically, at age 60, 20 out of 100 persons will become disabled, but only two out of 100 will die. Also, there is a significant amount of information that indicates that if a disability lasts at least 90 days, it may extend from four to six years in duration.

That's a significant risk. You should probably be doing something to insure against it.