Disability Insurance

Help your employees protect their finances

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

Plan administrators: Manage online billing, update employee salary adjustments and terminations, and more through our secure website. Not yet registered?

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.

It’s estimated that some 25% of today’s U.S. workers aged 20 to 50 years old will become disabled before the age of 67.1 Yet less than one-fourth of U.S. consumers have enough emergency savings to cover six months or more of their expenses.2 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 safeguard against the unexpected expenses of being out of work and help employees.

Why Unum Disability Insurance?

Essential

A single disability can leave employees vulnerable to financial problems, and dealing with that stress can affect their ability to focus on work once they recover. Disability Insurance helps them manage their finances when they’re unable to work and encourages a quick return with return-to-work benefits and programs.

Affordable

Group Disability Insurance is very cost-effective, even for small companies. Costs vary depending on your industry and the type of plan you choose. We can work with you and your broker to design a solution that includes flexible funding options, so you can share the cost of coverage with your employees.

Customized

Whether you have two employees or 20,000, Unum offers coverage to help you attract and retain top-quality employees. We can work with you consultatively to build plans tailored to fit your needs at a price you can afford.

Easy

We make administering group disability benefits fast and easy. Use our online tools to pay premiums and make changes to employee information, and enjoy instant access to services and information 24 hours a day.

How Unum Disability Insurance works

There are three types of Disability Insurance you can offer to provide support for 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 offer comprehensive coverage to 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 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 Fully portable
Most commonly used for
  • 28% Pregnancy
  • 11% Injuries*
  • 7% Joint disorders
  • 7% Digestive issues
  • 7% Cancer3
  •  16% Cancer
  • 14% Back disorders
  • 11% Injuries*
  • 9% Cardiovascular
  • 9% Joint disorders3
  • 17% Musculoskeletal, other
  • 16% Cancer
  • 13% Back disorders - excluding injury
  • 10% Injuries
  • 10% Cardiovascular
  • 10% Nervous System
  • 7% Behavioral health issues4

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 gap in income. IDI provides additional protection for employees who earn higher incomes.

Group disability Insurance

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.

Work-life balance employee assistance program (EAP)5

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 EAP 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 assistance6

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 assistance. 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™ 7

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

Commonly asked questions about Unum Disability Insurance

How do I help my employees calculate how much Disability Insurance they may need?

In general, your employees should have enough disability coverage to replace 60% of their after-tax income. However, this number can vary based on several factors, such as recurrent debt payments and monthly living expenses.

What constitutes a disability?

An employee is considered to be disabled on the date that they meet the definition of disability as outlined in their policy. Medical records and information from a physician will help determine that date. Common illnesses and conditions that may lead to disability include:

  • Pregnancy and childbirth
  • Cancer
  • Heart attacks
  • Strokes
  • Surgery
Are there disabilities that are not covered?

Excluded disabilities can vary by policy, but typically include:

  • Intentionally self-inflicted injuries
  • Active participation in a riot
  • Loss of professional or occupational license or certificate
  • Commission of a crime for which the individual has been convicted
  • For Short-Term Disability Insurance: occupational sickness or injury (however, Unum will cover disabilities due to occupational sicknesses or injuries for partners or sole proprietors who cannot be covered by workers' compensation plans)
  • Pre-existing conditions (if applicable)
  • War, declared or undeclared, or any act of war
  • Any period of disability during which they are incarcerated
Where can an insured employee read about their policy, update their contact information or file a claim?

Policyholders can do this and more in their account.

How does Unum handle recurrent disability?

Most plans allow for recurrent disability. If an employee becomes disabled again due to the same condition within a specified number of days, the recurrent provision allows continued disability payments under the original claim.

The number of days for the recurrent provision is stated in the employee’s policy. If they become disabled after the number of days in the recurrent provision or due to a new medical condition, they will need to file a new claim.

*Injury category includes poisoning.
1. Social Security Administration, “Disability and Death Probability Tables for Insured Workers Born in 1994” (Dec. 2015).
2. Bankrate, “American Financial Security Jumps 3% in June” (2015).
3. Unum internal data, 2014.
4. Unum internal data, 2015.
5. The Work-life balance employee assistance program, provided by LifeWorks, 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.
6. 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.
7. 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 disability: Underwritten by Unum Life Insurance Company of America. In New York, underwritten by First Unum Life Insurance Company.

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

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.

The expected benefit ratio for the individual policy is policy is 60%. This ratio is the portion of future payments that the company expects to return as benefits when averaged over all people with this policy.