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What is Short Term Disability Insurance?

Disability insurance is a type of insurance that provides coverage in the event that you lose your job because of an injury or illness. There are several different kinds of disability insurance available and finding the right one for your situation can be determined by figuring out exactly what your needs are. If you would like to protect yourself over a short term period of time, then short term disability insurance would be the option for you. Here is some additional information on short term disability insurance that might come in useful.

How does short term disability insurance work?

Short term disability insurance provides financial compensation over a temporary period of time that is typically defined in your contract. Short term insurance differs from long term insurance in that long term insurance offers coverage for an indefinite period of time, which is basically throughout the entire amount of time that you are unable to continue working. Short term insurance, on the other hand, offers payouts over a fixed amount of time which can be anywhere from 3 months to 6 months. Naturally, because short term disability insurance only provides compensation for a limited amount of time, it is less expensive than long term disability insurance.

How much will I get?

The average short term disability insurance payout is between 40% and 65% of the salary that was being received prior to loss of employment. Short term disability insurance is usually capped which means that you can only receive a certain amount of money per month, so if you are a high earner and are afraid that the insurance coverage you receive won't be enough, you might want to look into high-limit disability insurance, which typically is not capped and offers over 65% of total salary. You can usually start to receive payouts within two weeks from the time you make your claim. However, the amount of time you will have to wait before disability insurance pays out will depend on whether or not you suffered an illness or an injury. If you cannot continue working because of illness, you will likely have to wait longer so that there is enough time to prove that your illness is in fact keeping you from working. On the other hand, if you lose your job because of an off-site injury, you should start to receive financial compensation right away.

Where can I find a good short term disability insurance policy?

You can find short term insurance from a wide range of different insurance providers. Disability insurance is often included within a health insurance package, so if you are looking into other kinds of health insurance you might want to consider buying a package that has short term disability insurance included in it. In any case, the best way to find a good policy is to look in a lot of places. Don't settle for the first option that is thrown your way and instead compare quotes between lots of different providers. This will help you to find the best deals that are available within your area.