Long-Term Disability
If you have recently lost income from a disability or want to know how you will be covered in such an event, look into your Long Term Disability (LTD) insurance policy. Employers typically offer this, and it would be included in the benefits package. If someone experiences a loss of income from a disability, LTD insurance will provide them with a percentage of their previous income, somewhat below the full amount of income.
What is Long-Term Disability?
Long-term disability shares similarities to benefits under SSDI, but it is distinctly different in both the application and the benefits themselves. Long-term disability functions as an insurance plan, usually sponsored through your employer. The purpose of long-term disability is to cover loss of income because of a disability that forces someone out of work. The insurance policy will typically pay 50-70% of your previous income.
How Do I Access My Long-Term Disability Plan?
Long-term disability policies are commonly found in employer benefits packages. To get access to your LTD policy, write a letter to Human Resources to ask for a copy of the insurance policy. Federal law requires that your employer provide you with a copy of the LTD policy. Once you get the copy of the plan and the plan summary, review it to understand how your situation fits into the policy. Read over any information you have before submitting an application for LTD to anticipate any issues that may arise. If you want help staying up to date with the LTD policy and its provisions, contact an attorney who is trained in long-term disability law and policy.
Many LTD policies require the person to apply for SSDI within a certain timeframe to continue receiving the payments. Most of the policies require you to apply within a year. It is required due to a very common offset provision clause in the policy details. If you receive any benefits from SSDI, they will be subtracted from your monthly LTD payments. Consider this example. You are getting $1,000 a month from your LTD policy, then you are approved for $500 in SSDI every month, your LTD policy will reduce to $500 to combine with SSDI, resulting in the same amount of money each month but from two different sources. Unfortunately, this also means that if you receive any back pay from SSDI, your LTD policy will likely take it for itself, as they would have offset that amount had it been paid monthly.
Contact an Attorney Today!
Long-term disability insurance is a lot to think about and can be overwhelming when experiencing the beginning of a disabling condition for the first time. Information and time is the most vital resource you have at this point. However, if you are juggling life on top of becoming disabled, ask for help! Many local attorneys want to help, and here at our office, someone is always available to help you. Call us, and we can help you keep track of the insurance policy and its provisions so you can know exactly how it applies to you.