Do I need both short- and long-term disability policies?

If you are joining a new company, you might be given the opportunity to purchase short-term disability or long-term disability insurance policies as part of your benefits and compensation package. If you are a business owner or a self-employed person, you may also be investigating these policies on your own. In the process, you might wonder if you need one of these, both of these or neither of these.

Variety of disability benefits

A person who becomes disabled after an injury, illness or diagnosis may have a range of options available to them for claiming disability benefits. If your disability is related to your job, you may qualify for workers’ compensation benefits. Regardless of a work-related situation, you may be eligible for Social Security Disability. The Social Security Administration has stringent regulations about qualifying for these benefits. If you do not qualify for either of these, you may want to have your own short- or long-term disability insurance.

Benefits of short- and long-term disability together

As explained by Policy Genius, a short-term policy may kick in after only two weeks but pay out for as little as three to six months. A long-term policy may not begin to provide benefits for an average of three months but may pay out for multiple years. With this in mind, it may benefit you to have both types of coverage.

This information is not intended to provide legal advice but is instead meant to give residents in Colorado an overview of short-term disability policies and long-term disability policies so that they understand how having both types of coverage may benefit them should they become disabled.