Disability Insurance

Help your employees protect their finances. Many Americans have little to fall back on if a covered injury or illness prevents them from working. Unum Disability Insurance can pay benefits to help them keep the bills covered, so they can focus on getting well and returning to work.

The protection your workforce needs — and wants

By offering a full range of disability benefits, you can ensure your employees are covered in the event they’re unable to work. And the result? A happier, more dedicated and more productive workforce for you.

Only 48% of American adults say they have enough savings to cover three months of living expenses in the event they’re not earning any income.1 For these employees, even a minor illness can cause financial hardship, and a serious health problem or injury could be financially devastating. Unum Disability Insurance can provide a benefit to replace a portion of an employee's lost income.

How Unum Disability Insurance works

There are three types of Disability Insurance you can offer to your employees in a wide variety of circumstances. Coverage can be employer-paid, employee-paid or shared.

Through return-to-work benefits and programs, Unum also helps employees return to their jobs, saving you the cost and disruption of lost productivity — or hiring replacements.

Together, these plans can offer valuable coverage that can help your employees through a disability.

Short Term Disability Insurance

This benefit can pay a portion of an employee’s compensation while they are out of work due to a covered injury, sickness or childbirth. Benefits can last for up to several weeks.

Long Term Disability Insurance

Long Term Disability Insurance coverage typically begins where Short Term Disability coverage leaves off, providing benefits for covered illnesses or injuries that have longer recovery periods. Coverage can last from several months to several years.

Supplemental Individual Disability Insurance (IDI)

IDI can provide additional protection for uninsured income, making it ideal for higher salary earners and employees who rely on commissions and bonuses that might not be covered under traditional Long Term Disability Insurance.

  Short Term* Long Term Individual
Length of possible coverage payments 9-52 weeks Benefits paid until retirement age Benefits paid until retirement age
Amount that the benefit can pay Up to 60% of your monthly income Up to 60% of your monthly income A higher percentage of your pre-disability earnings
Portability Sometimes portable, depending on plan Portable in most cases Individually owned and can be ported
Most commonly used for In 2020, Unum’s leading causes of short-term disability claims were:
  • Normal pregnancy
  • Injuries, excluding back2
In 2020, Unum’s leading causes of long-term disability claims were:
  • Cancer
  • Back disorders (excluding injury)2
In 2020, Unum’s leading causes of individual disability claims were:
  • Cancer
  • Back disorders (excluding injury)2

How disability coverage stacks up

By offering both Short and Long Term Disability Insurance through Unum, the plans can work together to keep employees protected when a disability lingers. The long term policy picks up when the short term policy ends, so employees do not wind up “between plans” and face a period of no income. IDI provides additional protection for employees who earn higher incomes.

Additional services that complement Disability Insurance

Available with select Unum employee benefits plans, these services help your employees be even more prepared for challenges life might throw their way.3

Work-life balance employee assistance program (EAP)

Your employees may already have a lot on their minds — from finances to relationship issues. Does this affect their ability to focus on the job?

Unum’s work-life balance EAP4 can help employees prepare for the unpredictable — and keep small struggles from turning into major issues. With this program, they can receive guidance and support for issues that take their attention away from your business. And that means they can be more productive, both at work and at home.

Emergency travel assistance

Even the most thorough itinerary can’t prevent lost medication, accidents or sudden illnesses. So help your employees prepare — with Unum’s worldwide emergency travel assistance5. This service is available 24/7 to employees when they travel 100 or more miles away from home, whether for work or pleasure.

HR®/BenefitsAnswersNow™

Plan administrators and managers have a responsibility to stay current on employment laws and insurance guidelines. HR/BenefitsAnswersNow6 puts all the answers you need in one place. These two constantly updated online libraries contain HR compliance and benefits information.

Plan administrators

Manage online billing, update employee salary adjustments and terminations, and more through our secure website.

Commonly asked questions about Unum Disability Insurance

Leave and absence management

Introducing Unum Total Leave™

Total Leave helps streamline absence management for HR while making leave easy and accessible for employees.

*Group and Individual

  1. EBRI, “The 2020 Retirement Confidence Survey,” 2020.
  2. Unum internal data, 2020. 
  3. Services not available in all states.
  4. The Work-life balance employee assistance program, provided by HealthAdvocate, is available with select Unum insurance offerings. Terms and availability of service are subject to change. Service provider does not provide legal advice; please consult your attorney for guidance. Services are not valid after coverage terminates. Please contact your Unum representative for details.
  5. Worldwide emergency travel assistance services, provided by Assist America, Inc., are available with select Unum insurance offerings. Terms and availability of service are subject to change and prior notification requirements. Services are not valid after coverage terminates. Please contact your Unum representative for details.
  6. HRAnswersNow® and BenefitAnswersNowTM, provided by CCH, are available with select Unum insurance offerings. Terms and availability of service are subject to change. Service provider does not provide legal advice; please consult your attorney for guidance. Services are not valid after coverage terminates. Please contact your Unum representative for details.

The policies or their provisions may vary or be unavailable in some states. The policies have exclusions and limitations which may affect any benefits payable. See the actual policy or your Unum representative for specific provisions and details of availability.

Group STD and LTD: Applicable to policy form C.FP-1 et.al.

Individual Disability Insurance: Applicable to policy forms 850 and 851. The expected benefit ratio for policy form 850 is 54% and for policy form 850-F is 61%. The expected benefit ratio for policy form 851 is 60% and for policy form 851-F is 67%.

Individual STD: Applicable to policy form L-21776. In NY, applicable to policy form FUL-21776. The expected benefit ratio for policy form FUL-21776 is 50%.

Expected benefit ratio: This ratio is the portion of future payments that the company expects to return as benefits when averaged over all people with this policy.

Group disability: Underwritten by Unum Life Insurance Company of America, Portland, ME. In New York, underwritten by First Unum Life Insurance Company, Garden City, NY.

Individual disability: Underwritten by Provident Life and Accident Insurance Company, Chattanooga, TN. In New York, underwritten by Provident Life and Casualty Insurance Company, Chattanooga, TN

Individual Short Term disability: Underwritten by Provident Life and Accident Insurance, Chattanooga, TN. In New York, underwritten by First Unum Life Insurance Company, Garden City, NY.

These policies provide disability income insurance only. They do NOT provide basic hospital, basic medical or major medical insurance as defined by the New York State Department of Financial Services.