One person in four becomes incapacitated for workDisability insurance

Are you forced to leave your job before reaching retirement age due to illness or accident? Then usually you are facing a big problem. Starting from year of birth 1961, the statutory pension insurance scheme only pays a mini pension in the event of total disability.
Thus as the person affected, you will only receive the scarce state benefits if you are unable to work in principle. In theory, if you could still be working in an activity, even if it did not pay as well, you will get nothing.
Consequently, you must take responsibility for protecting yourself against financial collapse in the event of an accident or illness. This works best with private disability insurance. What policy is right for you in this regard? What do you need to be aware of when entering into a contract? How high should your pension be in the event of an insured event? Here you will find answers to the most important questions.

The most important benefit offered by disability insurance is a monthly pension – starting from the time of inability to work due to an accident or illness.
Insured persons often become only partially incapacitated for work. Full pension benefits are also available as an option, even for occupational disability of less than 100 percent.

The insurer also helps with reintegration into working life. Possible benefits include: Conversion of the workplace to make it suitable for the disabled person, one-off payments at the end of a temporary occupational disability or the planning of rehabilitation measures.

Financial protection in the event of increasing requirements
You can adapt your disability cover to your financial requirements by dynamising (increasing pension entitlements and contributions).
If an increase in sum insured guarantee was agreed when the contract was entered into, you can increase the existing protection without a new medical examination. Thus a possible later occupational disability pension, e.g. at marriage, birth of a child or purchase of real estate, will also meet your new financial needs.

Disability insurance is not just recommended for employed persons. For coverage in case of an emergency, school children, apprentices, housewives and students can also take out this type of coverage.

Important in this regard: You should arrange for occupational disability protection while you are still young and unimpaired. Insurance companies often reject your applications, even for minor pre-existing conditions, or they offer less favourable conditions.

Most people at a young age do not want to think about no longer being able to pursue their profession. However, at least one in four employed persons becomes incapacitated for work due to illness or accident before the pension start date. Therefore, it is a good idea to find out about appropriate precautionary measures early on!

Since 1 January 2001, all employed persons born after 1961, who are unable to work, have in fact no longer been receiving any payments from the statutory pension insurance. Instead, the reduced earning capacity pension was introduced. However, a person is only entitled to the reduced earning capacity pension if it is no longer possible for the person to perform any kind of work for three hours a day. Moreover the level of state assistance is so low that you and your family will never be protected from a financial crash.

The insurer’s range of benefits determines the costs of disability insurance based on your personal risk of becoming prematurely incapacitated for work.

Comprehensive disability protection is more favourable for office workers than it is for construction workers or teachers. The lower health risk plays a role here. A policy that provides benefits only in the event of total disability is cheaper than an insurance policy that pays immediately, even in the event of limited disability.

What disability insurance is right for you? In addition to the price, the insurance conditions are also of central importance.

Permit us to advise you: Particularly with regard to benefits, you should precisely check to determine what insurance suits your needs.

Secure low contributions

If you make pay into the pension scheme at a young age, you will have low contributions and you will prevent the exclusion of benefits due to pre-existing conditions. Compare the different offerings here.

Be careful: Instead of excluding certain illnesses from the contract, you should rather accept a premium surcharge. You should make a firm agreement with the insurer that the additional amount (surcharge) will no longer apply after you have recovered from the illness.
Your profession should remain the basis for acknowledgement of occupational disability, even during possible parental leave. Because as a housewife or househusband you are only protected to a limited extent.

Leave some leeway in the calculation

Your contract should not expire too early, since in most cases a person will not be unable to work until after the age of 50. Leave some leeway when calculating the occupational disability pension. As a rule of thumb: 75 percent of net income at the age of 45. The policy should provide for the option of a higher sum insured without another medical exam. This makes it easy to adjust the pension, for example in the event of a later marriage or birth of a child.

Important: Health questions asked by the insurer must always be answered truthfully. If false information is provided, there is a risk of loss of insurance cover.

How do I find the right occupational disability cover? Take your time.

Let’s say that you have decided to insure your personal occupational disability risk privately. And now you are looking at a number of providers with different products and rates, as well as different prices and services.

The decision for a specific disability insurance policy should not be a hasty decision. It is not recommended to take out an occupational disability insurance policy online without expert advice. The reason being that many details are important in this complex matter.

Let us advise you, in order to first analyse your personal risk situation. On this basis you can best compare the many offered rates.