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Disability Income

A pivotal factor in any financial plan is your income generation capacity – losing it can trigger a personal financial meltdown. The peace of mind that personal Disability income protection provides is available for professionals, self-employed and business owners, business executives, and full-time, part-time or home-based workers. Whether you need to secure your main source of income or to supplement the coverage you receive from your employer or an association, we can help by providing you with a comprehensive and fully portable plan that you can rely on throughout your working years.

Disability income coverage should be geared to your occupation. As such, there are three distinct occupational "flavours" of coverage:

1. White collar Professionals
2. Business owners and employees
3. Blue collar trades

Each of these provides varying levels of coverage, features and benefits. As a result, it is very important to ensure that your coverage properly fits your occupation.

What does this mean for you?

Typically, you would qualify for roughly the after-tax equivalent of your income, taking into account certain factors which are unique to each individual circumstance. Since any type of Living Benefits coverage is contractually driven, we work with you to establish the best plan with definitions that make it easiest for you to get paid at claim time. Unfortunately, it’s too late then to discover you have the wrong product or definition.

The following alternatives may help you cope financially through a time of disability. However, they may not be enough to allow you to return to a full and active life with your financial security intact.

Worker's compensation - only for industries that are covered and disabilities that are work-related. As a result, your claim may fall outside these boundaries.
Employer, union or association plans - often group plans which provide short-term and/or long-term disability protection. However, not all types of income qualify and as a result your claim may be reduced.
EI benefits - pays a 15-week benefit if you can't work due to an illness or an accident, provided you've contributed for a specified number of weeks within the past year. If you are self-employed you do not qualify.
Canada and Quebec pension plans (CPP/QPP) - you might qualify for limited disability benefits under these plans, but qualifying definitions are very restrictive.
Your savings & assets - you can sell personal property or use your savings to pay bills but how long would this last, and how would it affect your retirement?
Your spouse's income - if you have a spouse, you may be able to rely on that income.

The Disability income planning process

We place a great deal of importance on the planning process which enables us to custom-tailor the proposed new coverages to not only suit your own unique circumstances, but also to provide effective risk management. Once the planning process has been completed and we mutually agree on an overall design, our job is to shop the marketplace and utilize our expertise to find the BEST products to meet your requirements and criteria.

While cost is most certainly an important factor in the selection process, we also take into account contract wordings (which will determine whether or not your claim will qualify), plan features and options, and the reputation of the carrier.

Once the plan and carrier have been selected, we then begin the underwriting process. This is the method that the insurer uses to determine whether or not you qualify for the proposed new coverages. Some of the important factors that are considered are your income levels, occupation and your health. We work with you throughout this process to ensure that you receive the very best rates the carrier can offer you.

Our commitment doesn’t end there. After your new coverages are inforce, we continue to monitor them to assist you to exercise any optional benefits you have purchased such as the right to increase your coverage without having to be re-underwritten, and to ensure that your plans continue to deliver exceptional value to you. We continually monitor the marketplace to keep you advised of new products and ideas as they emerge and apply to you.

At claim time, you can rest assured that we will be there to assist you in filing your claim and getting it paid.