• "It Won't Happen To Me"
• "My Employee Benefits Cover Disability"
• "I Have Enough Savings And Investments"
• "I Have Social Security"
• "I Can't Afford It"

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"It Won't Happen To Me"

Statistics prove otherwise. In a year's time, the chances are one in 96 that you will need your fire insurance¹. But over your working life the odds are one in three that you will be disabled by an illness or injury for 90 days². Many people buy life insurance so that if they die, their families will have a way to pay the mortgage. However, the odds of mortgage foreclosure due to disability are 16 times greater than the risk of foreclosure due to death³.

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"My Employee Benefits cover Disability"

Employees mistakenly think workers' compensation and disability income protection insurance are the same, and that disabilities are covered through their medical insurance. While health insurance usually covers medical costs, it does not replace income when an individual is disabled. And about two-thirds of all disabling injuries suffered by American workers occur off the job and are not covered by workers' compensation⁴.

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"I Have Enough Savings And Investments"

Nearly one quarter of Americans are living paycheck to paycheck and they have no money left once they have paid their essential living expenses⁵.

Many people fail to realize that savings can be depleted quickly during a disability. In a recent Harvard study on bankruptcy, more than one quarter of survey participants filing bankruptcy cited illness or injury as a specific reason. The study findings suggest that the number of medical bankruptcies increased 23-fold between 1981 and 2001⁶. This pattern follows personal savings rates which averaged 10.4 percent in the 1980s, but fell to -0.5 percent in 2005. In other words, Americans spent more than they earned, something that has not happened since the Great Depression⁷.

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"I Have Social Security"

Social Security Disability Insurance has tough eligibility requirements. And it only pays a benefit for severe disabilities that are expected to last at least 12 months or result in death. In 2004, only 37 out of 100 initial applications for Social Security Disability were approved⁸.

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"I Can't Afford It"

Disability income protection is one of the less expensive insurance coverages. Can you really afford not to protect your most valuable asset — your income?

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1. National Safety Council, Injury Facts, 2004.
2. Commissioners Individual Disability Table A, Society of Actuaries, 1985
3. National Safety Council, Injury Facts, 2004.
4. National Safety Council, Injury Facts. 2005-2006 edition.
5. LIMRA, "Choosing Benefits: A Battle for the Employee Dollar," by Anita Potter and Yuliya Babushkina, March 16, 2006.
6. Health Affairs, Feb. 2, 2005, The Policy Journal of the Health Sphere. "Market Watch: Illness and Injury as Contributors to Bankruptcy," by David U. Himmelstein, Elizabeth Warren, Deborah Thorne, and Steffie Woolhandler, p. W5-63, p. W5-71.
7. U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Economic Analysis, February 2006.
8. Social Security Administration, "Flow of Cases Through the Disability Process, Fiscal Year 2004 Data."