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Alvin L

Edited 20 Nov 2023

Insurance

Disability income insurance

I have read that Disability Income Insurance (DII) is essential insurance cover, to protect against income loss in the event a long-term illness, injury or accident causes one to no longer be able to work in his or her own occupation. Currently, 3 insurers offer DII and each have their pros and cons. Only Great Eastern offers DII that insures "own occupation" disability until age 65; the other 2 insurers AIA and Singlife cover "own occupation" for 24 months and "any occupation" suited to the insured's experience and training thereafter.

I am employed in the public sector, in an administrative and operations role. The main material duties are handling emails, meetings, projects etc - run of the mill admin stuff. I am concerned DII may be hard to claim, or perhaps nearly impossible to claim, as I find it challenging to visualise a scenario where my occupation would qualify for DII,unless it's TPD/severe disability or advanced CI (eg stroke) or mental conditions like clinically diagnosed depression. If so, wouldn't it make sense to be covered for TPD, Careshield (severe disability), CI (for dread diseases), personal accident.... instead of DII? DII definition is broad and could either work for you or against you when a claim arises. That's because one has to convince the insurer with medical proof that the insured is no longer able to perform the material duties of one's occupation and hence loses his or her income as a result of that. Even with illness or injury, a generalised occupation class like Admin/operations makes it daunting to prove that one is no longer able to perform any material duties of an administrative or operational nature. For e.g. even if the doctor certified that one is unable to perform that particular admin role, would the insurer leave it at that and accept the claim? Would they not try to contest it by saying why can't said individual perform another type of admin role that might be lighter or workaround that disability? Would that lead to a denied claim? Would that qualify for partial disability benefit assuming a lighter role results in a reduced income? Having said that, no company may guarantee that the individual can be re- deployed and securing employment with disability from illness or injury might be easier said than done.

Of course I am concerned as my work nature & experience is generalised, unlike that of occupations like pilots, dentists, surgeons, etc where losing the ability to perform the niche skillset makes it clearer to claim DII. I have heard arguments for DII being more suited towards such highly specialised occupations; conversely, I have also heard arguments that it is more crucial for lower income earners to insure with DII as they would have less means to protect themselves against financial catastrophe when disability strikes. Given these arguments for and against, it can be rather perplexing to decide whether DII is suitable for me. Of course, the easiest way out is to simply get that insurance even if it does seem less "claimable" for my occupation class and probability of a claim is generally low for a less hazardous desk-bound job. Even so, it does cost premium dollars to finance DII so I am trying to make the most prudent trade off with this.

I would like to hear from the industry, claimants, anyone who might be able to clarify if DII is really suitable for a class 1 occupation role esp that of an administrative nature and for my class of occupation, what type of scenarios that happened in real life and had qualified for DII?

Thanks!!

Discussion (7)

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Thank you for sharing your concerns about Disability Income Insurance. Given the nature of my role, I'm exploring alternative coverages like TPD and CI. Real-life insights and understanding specific policy features are crucial for making an informed decision.

Hi there!

As you realised, class 1 occopations are less likely to be able to make a DII claim than class 2 or 3 occupations. As a result, their premiums are also lower.

The claims will mostly come in when you get diagnosed with CI (thus has overlap with CI), and also will cover mental health conditions, which is not covered by CI.

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You have got critical thinking process. I think only claimants can shed more light on this. if your ...

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