According to the US Department of Labor, the average person changes careers 5 times during their lifetime. So what happens to your disability policy when you change occupations or medical specialties?
When you purchase an individual disability insurance policy, the premium is priced based on your risk classification, including your occupation. Some occupations are deemed riskier than others. For instance, an orthopedic surgeon is considered riskier and more likely to become disabled than an attorney.
If you chose an own occupation definition of disability, your policy would cover you if you couldn’t work in your occupation or medical specialty due to sickness or injury.
This definition defines your occupation as the occupation or medical specialty you were working in at the time of claim.
Take for example someone who purchased their policy while in medical residency for general pediatrics. They would pay their premiums based on this occupational class. If they later go on to train in a riskier specialty such as pediatric emergency medicine, they would continue to pay premiums as a general pediatrician even though it would cover them as a pediatric emergency physician.
Another example is someone who purchased a policy while practicing as an attorney. They later decide to switch careers and open up a restaurant. With an own occupation policy, if they become sick or injured and can’t run the restaurant, the policy would pay benefits, even if they can go back and practice law.
For more information, please contact Set for Life Insurance today!
