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If you are injured or ill and can’t work, having disability insurance can help keep you financially afloat while you’re recovering. But as a business owner, you have more than just your personal finances to consider. Having the right kind of disability policies in place may save your business, keep your employees from losing wages and can allow you to get the rest you need to get back to work.
Yes, but qualifying for individual disability insurance can be difficult. Whether you’re self-employed or own a small business, you’ll typically need to show two years of your income to qualify. If you haven’t been in business for two years, you have the following choices:
Recovering from a disability could take a few months or a year or more. Having the right disability insurance policies can ensure you have monthly income for your personal expenses, plus coverage for business expenses or loan repayments. This way, you’ll have peace of mind that you and your business can survive if you’re left unable to work after an illness or injury.
As you consider the coverage you need, think about how much it might take to cover your monthly costs, such as:
To fully protect both you and your business, consider the following policies:
This policy helps replace a portion of your salary when you can’t work. As a business owner, you may offer disability to your employees, but you should consider an individual policy for yourself as well. Your coverage should be large enough to help you pay your normal monthly expenses and should account for both short- and long-term illness or injury.
A BOE policy is designed to cover your day-to-day business expenses, like employee wages or rent if you’re forced to close your doors while you recover from a covered illness or injury. BOE insurance typically pays out between $500 and $25,000 a month.
Some companies offer specialized disability coverage to help cover small business loan payments or to help one partner buy out the other’s share in a business if a disability keeps you from working long term.
You should be able to purchase a policy from any company that offers individual disability insurance. But you may consider the following tips to make sure you get the best coverage:
Getting the right disability insurance for a small business owner can be complicated. Making sure you’re fully protected may take multiple policies, and getting the insurance you need might require you to provide proof of income beyond what most people need to show. But having coverage can mean the difference between surviving a disabling crisis or losing the business you’ve worked hard to build. When shopping for the coverage you need, compare disability insurance companies to get the best rate.
You only have until the end of March to get your next application in.
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