Guardian Disability Insurance Brokerage

Disability Insurance Protection While Living Abroad
Is It Possible?
by Thomas Lloyd

The term globalization and disability insurance coverage probably will not be joined very often, but for purposes of this article - it seems relevant. As more Americans find themselves employed with positions that require travel overseas outside of the United States - the usual question arises -

Will my disability insurance policy protect me if I become disabled outside of the U.S.?

The simple answer is - there is no one answer. Each insurance carrier varies in how it will limit or suspend disability insurance coverage for someone who is disabled outside of the United States.

Most individual policies will provide benefits to someone who conducts incidental travel or goes on vacation and becomes disabled. The primary issue arises with benefits being paid to the insured if they decide to stay overseas. Some policies will have a benefit cap of 12 months if the insured is living overseas while others will have no restrictions on living abroad at all. As the policyholder, you should always read the actual policy contract to see exactly how benefits are paid in the event the policy owner is disabled and living overseas.

Anyone that wishes to live overseas while receiving their disability insurance benefit will have a difficult time receiving continuous benefits for longer than 12 months after suffering the disability. There are a variety of reasons for this but the broad reason most likely comes down to being able to properly track and document that insured’s continued health history and whether they are working again.

If you are working and living abroad on a full-time basis, the options for individual disability insurance coverage are very limited. Typically, the only carrier would be a specialty plan through Lloyd’s of London. Most multinational organizations which have group disability insurance coverage have forms of coverage available to their employees that live and work in foreign countries.

Generally, if you are living in the United States full-time and suffer a disability overseas, you will receive benefits and continue to receive benefits as long as you return to the United States. Keep in mind though that some restrictions may apply for travel to foreign locations which the insurance carrier may deem unsafe. It is always prudent to advise your disability insurance specialist about any potential trips you may take to see if it may cause an exclusion of coverage.