Definition of Disability

How disabled do you have to be in order to collect benefits? Our consultants have seen policies where you must be confined to a hospital in order to collect disability insurance. Stay away from these poicies like the plague! The best definition of disability comes in a policy that pays as long as you cannot perform the material duties of your own occupation (own occ). For example, a surgeon who had an own occ disability policy could still receive full benefits as long as he could not operate. This would be true even if he started a new practice in which he consulted with patients or doctors (assuming this wasn't a pre-disability source of income). Many policies have an own occ definition of disability for a few years and then impose a more strict definition in later years. There are also several policies that will not pay benefits unless you unable to perform ANY occupation. 

The Benefit Period
Elimination Period

This document was last modified on July 26, 1999

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