Guardian Disability Insurance Brokerage

Disability Insurance for Sales Professionals

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If you are residually (partially) disabled, Berkshire's contract only requires a loss of income solely due to sickness or injury, it does not require a loss of time or duties to collect benefits. There is a basic scenario we like to point out to sales people shopping for disability insurance. Let's assume you were totally disabled for eight months, and then miraculously recover one day and are back to work full time. With a residual disability rider you would continue to receive benefits up to the Benefit Period until your income recovers as well, even though there is no longer a loss of time or duties. A carrier that had those requirements would not pay you a residual claim; they may only pay a small recovery benefit. How long would it take you to achieve your pre-disability earnings again? You have to go out, network, make sales, process the sales, and get paid on it. Isn't it possible that although the total disability was eight months, that the residual disability could be even longer before you are financially back on track?

The bottom line is, in a sales position, you are making a big mistake if you own a disability insurance contract that requires a loss of time and duties in order to receive a benefit check.

Important Provisions Within A Disability Insurance Contract For Sales Professionals

Non-Cancellable & Guaranteed Renewable- This definition is vital for the sales profession, if a policy is Non-Cancellable, than the insurance company can not change the monthly benefit, or the contract as long as you pay the premium. We understand that your income is not always a constant. It can fluctuate from month to month, or from year to year. Once we have underwritten you, even if you earn less money the next year, we cannot change your monthly benefit. We have to pay you your total monthly benefit should you become totally disabled.

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True Own-Occupation Definition of Total Disability- Have you ever changed industries? Ever changed jobs? The key point to this definition is that it will provide you with coverage if a disability prevents you from doing the occupation you were engaged in at the time you become disabled, even if you are able to work in a new capacity. This is a truly powerful definition of total disability.

Definition of Residual Disability- As in the scenario above, it is the definition of residual disability that allows us to pay you while you work to recover your lost income. There are two major types of residual disability coverage in today's insurance market. One pays you based upon a loss of time and duties, and Berkshire pays you based upon a loss of income. If you had a disability insurance policy that only paid you based upon loss of time and duties, it would have stopped paying you when you went back to work full time. It is vital to have a residual disability definition that is based upon income so that you continue to get paid while you rebuild your business.