To Boost Disability Insurance Sales, Add Sunshine

The Council for Disability Awareness points out on its website, http://www.disabilitycanhappen.org/, that people who do not have disability income insurance often overestimate the cost of a policy, and many aren’t sure how to get in touch with a trusted financial professional. The DI quote tool allows consumers to better understand DI insurance and how it can be customized to fit into one’s budget before taking next steps with a financial professional.

How should a good DI quote tool work?

A good online tool should educate consumers about the cost of coverage based on factors like gender, age and occupation. It should also demonstrate how adding or removing certain options might affect pricing and show suggested coverage based on current income. Doing so helps consumers better understand pricing and how they might be able to personalize a policy to suit their needs.

When using a good online tool, consumers should be able to:

• Select how long they want their benefits to last while they are disabled (benefit period), and the amount of time to lapse before benefit payments start once they become eligible (elimination period).

• Customize the coverage by selecting various policy features – such as the ability to collect benefits for a partial disability.;

• Select a cost-of-living increase provision or a specific feature that helps cover student loan payments in the event of a disability.

The consumer can then decide whether to ask for a financial representative to contact them to discuss the coverage they’ve built and explain the costs.

(Image: Thinkstock)

The best part? No unwanted phone calls or emails! The consumer will only be contacted if they choose to provide their contact information to a financial representative.

The need for income protection is real

According to the Social Security Administration, more than one in four of today’s 20-year-olds will become disabled before age 67, with most of these disabilities resulting from unpredictable illnesses such as heart disease or cancer, which could prevent a person from working for an extended period of time. Since most people can’t live without an income, the need to protect it is real.

By building the right online tools, we’re providing consumers with what they want: access to an online quote calculator so they can self-educate while giving them confidence to take the next step to discuss their financial situation with a financial professional.

— Read 7 New Cartoons for Disability Insurance Advisors on ThinkAdvisor.