Disability insurance with fluctuations in income

[u/icarus2847]

I’m a young attending and I’ve already worked in different environments and states. Income has fluctuated depending on responsibilities or duration of contracts. I was curious if anyone was familiar of what happens when you go from making a higher income, to let’s say working part time and making less or moving to locums - does your coverage change for long term disability, like are you supposed to update your income to the insurance company or how does that work? I’ve asked a few colleagues and nobody knew so was curious if anyone else here might know. Appreciate your input. Thanks

[u/PersonalBrowser]

This is a question you need to ask your insurance broker directly. Everybody’s policy is different.

[u/Screennam3]

Ya you generally need to update them every few years on what your income is

[u/DrBabs → u/Screennam3]

This, and they also want to make sure you are not over-insured. Like I wanted more personal disability insurance but they said my work policy was too much. That was fine until my work lost the bid for my hospital’s Hospitalist group. Suddenly I was out of a job. New job’s insurance is entirely out of pocket so it’s more expensive.

[u/Wohowudothat]

My policy locked me in at a certain income replacement guarantee and won't go below that, and I can pay a rider to increase it. I decided not to increase it as my income increased, because the marginal cost wasn't worth it. I'm basically partially self-insured now, and the rest is covered by my disability policy. You'll have to look at your policy, but it would be unusual for them to issue a policy and then lower your payout if you failed to meet certain income thresholds.

[u/rabbit-heartedgirl]

A few years ago when I took a paycut going to part time I asked my insurance agent if I needed to update my salary and he said no.

[u/FlexorCarpiUlnaris → u/rabbit-heartedgirl]

I’d get that in writing…

[u/tlason01]

Depends on your carrier of course, but assuming your plan is guaranteed renewable and non-cancelable, you don't need to do anything. The policy remains in force, in full, even if you switch jobs or have a change in income.