disability insurance

805 Views 11 Replies 9 Participants Last post by horselogger, May 29, 2004

Jena

Discussion Starter · May 28, 2004

i don't have it, but think i ought to. i've never really checked into the costs, but i'm under the impression that it is/can be expensive.

my relatively minor accident is going to end up costing quite a bit before it's all said and done. i have good health insurance, but it's the value of the work i cannot do that is going to get me.

at this time, i can't dress myself (bras and pants buttons are a big problem!), but those things should come along pretty quickly. i am anticipating that it will be a couple months before i can really do most of the work i normally do. my husband has been filling in, but he can't keep up that pace for too long. i'm going to start looking for a kid to work for me ths summer.

if this had happened during silage cutting time, or harvest the amount of wages i would need to comeup with would be a lot more. i can pay a kid minimum wage, but tractor drivers are at least $10 an hour.

i know disability insurance usually pays you part of your salary, but what if you don't have a salary? how do they determine what your benefit would be when you farm?

what do you all think about disability insurance?

jena

Save

1 - 12 of 12 Posts

jillianjiggs

· #2 · May 29, 2004

You might check your local ag extension for insurance resources. Personally, I think it's too expensive. Then again, in California we all pay into a short-term (one year) disability insurance ran by the state. For the relatively small amount of money paid, it's great to be able to get your full pay if you're out of work for a little while.

I've heard that private insurance runs about $1000 give or take a year.

Save

Hoop

· #3 · May 29, 2004

MY better half's brother use to be an insurance salesman. Several years ago, I asked him about disability insurance. His reply went along these lines:
You can purchase some junk disability insurance such as COMBINED INSURANCE which will pay some ridiculous pittance.....maybe $10/day.
OR....you can buy some very expensive disability insurance that will cost you dearly .......say $200 month. Of course they won't write a policy for people in what the insurance industry considers "high risk" occupations.....farming, logging, construction, equipment operation, etc. He told me that basically they would only write a policy for office workers in excellent health.

Save

· #4 · May 29, 2004

Well, I wouldn't be surprised if they asked for your past taxes to prove you were making what you say you were. This is one area where people who work off the books have it come back to bite them in the end (another area is qualifying for credit). The same issue you talk about affects stay-at-home parents as well.

What you might look into is something called "key man" insurance, which is insurance on the main person in a business.

Save

Slim

· #5 · May 29, 2004

Jena, disabilitiy insurance can be quite expensive especially on farmers. The rates are per $100 of insurance and it is based upon your occupation,age and health. You need to decide the following: how much money(benefit) per month you need, this is usually 60% of youir take home pay. You then decide what is called the elimination period(30,60,90 days) this is the time period you need to be disabled before the benefits kick in, the longer the period the cheaper the rate. You then decide how long do you want the benefit(1, 2, 5 year etc.). I hope this helps. I work for Shelter Insurance. We have agents in IL. that could give you a quote. Slim

Save

horselogger

· #6 · May 29, 2004

Slim said:
Jena, disabilitiy insurance can be quite expensive especially on farmers. The rates are per $100 of insurance and it is based upon your occupation,age and health. You need to decide the following: how much money(benefit) per month you need, this is usually 60% of youir take home pay. You then decide what is called the elimination period(30,60,90 days) this is the time period you need to be disabled before the benefits kick in, the longer the period the cheaper the rate. You then decide how long do you want the benefit(1, 2, 5 year etc.). I hope this helps. I work for Shelter Insurance. We have agents in IL. that could give you a quote. Slim

..it really stinks when you have worked all year to survive,and the time of year that is supposed to be profitable turns out to be a waste.... Hope to be walking in a couple of weeks.... Went to get workmans comp about a year ago...for every 100 dolllars of wages I would have to pay another 60 dollars for insurance... Guess who lacks insurance...

Save

fin29

· #7 · May 29, 2004

i'm going to start looking for a kid to work for me ths summer.

Make sure your current insurance covers the kid, or you'll have big problems. Do you have an LLC or are you incorporated?

Save

Windy in Kansas

· #8 · May 29, 2004

In the 1970s I had one of those light bulb illuminating ideas that gave me the opinion that I needed to get disability insurance.

I got a policy through my local Farm Bureau agency. At the time I got it, I could specify the dollar amount of coverage that I wanted to receive. As with all insurance the higher the coverage, the higher the cost. I could also specify the length of time the insurance would pay a replacement salary or stipend. This, too, affected the premium cost.

After 15 or so years of not ever using the policy I changed occupations and dropped it.
A few years later I started riding motorcycles, so once again opted for a disability policy.
Motorcycle riding is in a high risk category, as was my other line of employment. It wasn't cheap, but wasn't outragous either.

A policy is based on replacement income or coverage value, risk of injury category, length of time you wish to receive payments, and if you want the insurance to pay future premiums should you become begin collecting temporarily.

Edited to add: I think the premium is also based on how quickly the insurance kicks in after a disability, i.e. after two weeks, after a month, etc. My policy was after a one month waiting period, but retroactively paid to day one.

See less See more

Save

JulieNC

· #9 · May 29, 2004

When I worked, I carried disability insurance. People often think about what would happen if the major bread winner were to die (life insurance), but rarely think about what would happen if the major bread winner were to become disabled. You typically qualify for governmental assistance, but it's not much.

If you don't make much, though, disability insurance usually isn't worth it. You're often better off in such cases to self-insure (i.e., put your own money aside), pray a bit, and hope that if worse comes to worst, between your savings and government disability you'll make it okay.

If you have a significant income, disability insurance is definitely something to look into. It can be expensive, but it can also be a God-send.

In my mind, disability insurance is primarily for long-term/permanent disabilities, but maybe the products/costs have changed since I was in the market, and that's no longer true.

Save

Irish Pixie

· #10 · May 29, 2004

Jena, as a business owner do you pay for disability through payments to your State? I know that most people employed for other people do..it would be something to check out. Most States have short term disbility benefits, at least to people that get a paycheck from someone else.

If the disability goes on for over 5 month you can apply for Social Security Disability Benefits, NOT Supplemental Security Income-this is for very low income disabled people. The Social Security Administration pushes you to apply for it because you have to be practically destitute to get the benefits and most people are denied and give up thinking that have exhausted that avenue. I worked in insurance in Long Term Disability before I become an equine chef and waitress, but I know a bit about Short Term Disability and quite a bit about NYS Worker's Compensation. And I don't mind, at all, putting the screws to any insurance company.

Also, did you buy disability insurance to cover any of your loans? Sometimes it just gets tacked on...

It's just something to look into to be sure you have covered all you bases.

Stacy in NY

See less See more

Save

Jena

Discussion Starter · #11 · May 29, 2004

mt state has no disability insurance of any kind. back in ca. they did and i never minded paying into it. it kicked in after one week and paid 65% of your wages, regardless of how/why you were disabled.

it's not so much my income i need to replace as to cover extra employment costs.

i'm going to call my agent tuesday.

they should make a life policy that converts to disability for long term disabilities.

jena

Save

horselogger

· #12 · May 29, 2004

Jena said:
mt state has no disability insurance of any kind. back in ca. they did and i never minded paying into it. it kicked in after one week and paid 65% of your wages, regardless of how/why you were disabled.

it's not so much my income i need to replace as to cover extra employment costs.

i'm going to call my agent tuesday.

they should make a life policy that converts to disability for long term disabilities.

jena

Jena,do you mean mt. as in Montana;they sure do have have workers comp. its part of the dept of labor. If you read my earlier post ,you will find that for a lot of jobs,it is extremely expensive

Save

1 - 12 of 12 Posts

This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.

Top Contributors this Month