Disability insurance

A disability insurance policy provides specified income benefits when the insured person becomes unable to work because of illness or accident. With an individual policy, the insured person is generally the policy holder. With a group plan, the employer is the policy holder. An individual policy can provide several optional benefits in addition to disability benefits, which are not available in a group plan. In assessing risk, the insurer uses the application, the agent's report, a physical examination, the attending physician's report, and sometimes a consumer investigation company's inspection report. Records from the Medical Information Bureau, an association of American and Canadian life insurance companies, may also be used. The process of claims adjudication is described, as are differences between short-term and long-term disability claims. Many group policies have a rehabilitation provision; payments may continue while the claimant undergoes rehabilitation or retraining.