Monthly income replacement
Pays a defined monthly benefit if you become disabled per the policy's definition. Most policies replace 60% to 70% of pre-disability income (the maximum carriers typically issue).
Disability Insurance
Disability Insurance in Florida and Georgia
Short-term and long-term disability insurance to replace income when illness or injury keeps you from working. We compare own-occupation and any-occupation policies, structure the elimination and benefit periods to match your savings and goals, and explain why disability often matters more than life insurance during working years.
Why this matters
Working-age adults are statistically more likely to be disabled than die during working years.
Disability insurance is the most overlooked coverage in personal insurance, and statistically often the most necessary. The Social Security Administration has long stated that a meaningful share of today's 20-year-olds will experience a disability event before reaching retirement age, and disability claims during working years are more common than death claims for the same demographic. Most disabilities aren't from accidents but from illness: cancer treatment, heart disease, autoimmune conditions, mental health, musculoskeletal disorders that prevent the kind of work the person actually does for a living. The financial impact of a multi-year inability to work is one of the most common paths to financial difficulty for otherwise responsible households.
Whether you're a salaried professional whose group long-term disability covers only part of your income, a self-employed business owner with no group coverage at all, a working parent whose income is the foundation of the household, or a high-income earner whose group cap leaves a significant gap, we'll structure individual disability coverage to replace the income that would actually be at risk, with the right definition of disability, elimination period, and benefit period for your situation.
What's covered
What a disability policy includes.
Own-occupation protection
True own-occupation policies pay benefits if you can't perform the substantial duties of your specific occupation, even if you could work in a different field. The most protective definition for skilled professionals.
Long benefit periods
Long-term disability typically pays to age 65 or 67, which is when most professionals plan to retire. Some policies offer benefit periods of 2, 5, or 10 years if shorter coverage fits the situation better.
Cost of living adjustment (COLA) rider
Optional rider that increases the monthly benefit during a long-term claim to keep up with inflation. Particularly valuable on policies expected to pay for many years.
Future Increase Option (FIO)
Optional rider that lets you increase coverage as your income grows, without new medical underwriting. Critical for younger professionals expecting income growth over time.
Residual / partial disability
Pays a partial benefit if you can work at reduced capacity (part-time, or in a limited role) but earn less than before the disability. Important for partial recoveries.
Gaps and limits
What disability insurance doesn't do.
Doesn't pay 100% of pre-disability income
Maximum benefit amounts are typically 60% to 70% of pre-disability income. Carriers cap the replacement ratio to maintain incentive to return to work and to keep the policy economically sound.
Elimination period before benefits start
Long-term disability has a 90-day elimination period (sometimes 180 days for lower premium). You must be disabled for the full elimination period before benefits begin. Emergency savings or short-term disability needs to bridge that gap.
Pre-existing condition exclusions
Conditions disclosed at application may be excluded as causes of disability (exclusion riders), and undisclosed conditions can void the policy during the contestable period. Disability underwriting is significantly stricter than life insurance.
Mental health and substance use limitations
Many disability policies limit benefits for mental and nervous disorders or substance use to 24 months total, even on otherwise lifetime benefit periods. Some carriers offer riders to extend mental health benefits.
Income above carrier caps
Individual disability policies have maximum monthly benefit caps that may not fully cover very high incomes. High earners sometimes need multiple policies or specialty high-limit coverage to address the gap above standard carrier caps.
Misrepresentation on the application
Disability applications ask detailed questions about medical history, income, and occupation duties. Misstating any of these can result in denied claims or rescinded coverage, particularly during the contestable period.
State knowledge
What to know about disability insurance in Florida and Georgia.
Florida
No state income tax
No state DI program
Standard regulation
Florida has no state income tax, which simplifies the after-tax math on disability benefits. For an individually owned disability policy paid with after-tax dollars, benefits are generally received income tax-free at both the federal and state level, which makes the effective replacement ratio meaningfully higher than the gross percentage suggests. Florida also doesn't operate a state-mandated short-term disability program (unlike states like California or New York), so Florida workers without employer-provided short-term disability are entirely responsible for that coverage themselves.
Georgia
State income tax applies
No state DI program
Standard regulation
Georgia regulates disability insurance under standard NAIC approaches, similar to Florida and most other states. Like Florida, Georgia doesn't operate a state-mandated short-term disability program, leaving short-term coverage to individual or employer-provided plans. Federal tax treatment governs benefit taxability (after-tax premium produces tax-free benefits; pre-tax employer-paid premium produces taxable benefits). We write disability coverage in both states from our offices in Saint Augustine and Saint Johns.
Limits
Coverage structure and benefit period to consider.
The first decision on disability coverage is short-term versus long-term, and the answer for most working professionals is both. Short-term disability bridges the gap between when you stop working and when long-term disability begins, typically with a 7 to 14-day elimination period and a benefit period of 3 to 6 months. Long-term disability is the more critical of the two because the financial impact of a multi-year disability is much larger than a few months of recovery. Long-term policies typically have a 90-day elimination period and pay to age 65 or 67.
The definition of disability is the second major decision. Own-occupation ("own-occ") pays benefits if you can't perform the substantial duties of your specific occupation, even if you could work in a different field. Any-occupation pays only if you can't perform the duties of any occupation reasonably suited to your training and experience. Own-occ is more protective and more expensive; any-occ is cheaper but harder to claim under. Modified own-occ uses own-occ for an initial period (typically the first 2 years) and transitions to any-occ afterward. For most skilled professionals, true own-occ is worth the premium.
Elimination period (waiting period) and benefit period are the next levers. Longer elimination periods reduce premium meaningfully; the right length matches the emergency savings you can rely on before benefits start. Most professionals choose 90 days. Benefit period choice depends on age and goals: to age 65 or 67 is the most common for working-age buyers, with shorter benefit periods (2, 5, or 10 years) available at lower premium when the broader coverage isn't needed.
Riders matter on disability more than on most lines. Cost of living adjustment (COLA) keeps benefits up with inflation on long claims. Future Increase Option (FIO) lets you increase coverage as income grows without new medical underwriting. Residual or partial disability pays a partial benefit if you can work at reduced capacity. Catastrophic disability adds extra benefit for severe disabilities. We walk through which riders make sense for your specific situation.
Bridges short recoveries
Short-term
Typical 7 to 14-day elimination, 3 to 6-month benefit period (sometimes up to 1 year). Designed for surgery, childbirth, broken bones, and other shorter recoveries. Often provided through group coverage at work.
Critical for long disabilities
Long-term
Typical 90-day elimination, benefit period to age 65 or 67. Designed for serious illnesses and injuries that prevent working for years. The more critical of the two coverages for most professionals.
Common scenarios
Situations where individual disability is the right answer.
Self-employed professional or business owner
No employer-provided coverage means no group disability backstop. Individual disability is essentially the only coverage protecting the income that supports the household.
High-income earner above group caps
Group long-term disability often caps at a monthly maximum that doesn't fully cover higher incomes. Individual policies fill the gap above what group provides.
Single-income household
When one income supports the household, the financial impact of that earner becoming disabled is total. Disability coverage at appropriate levels is one of the most important risk management decisions.
New parents with mortgage
A growing family with new financial obligations is the moment disability coverage becomes most critical. The combination of childcare costs, mortgage, and other expenses makes income protection essential.
Job change or losing group disability
Group disability ends when you leave the job and rarely converts to individual coverage. Adding individual disability ahead of a job change ensures continuous protection.
Skilled professional with specialized income
Surgeons, dentists, attorneys, executives, and similar professionals have income tied to specific occupation duties. Own-occupation coverage is especially valuable when the specific work is what produces the income.
Premium and underwriting
What goes into your disability premium.
What affects your premium
Age, gender, and occupation are the three biggest factors in disability premium. Premium rises with age (younger buyers pay meaningfully less for the same coverage). Women typically pay more than men for individual disability because claim experience is higher for women in many policy structures. Occupation class (typically rated 1 through 5, with 1 being lowest-risk desk professions and 5 being heavy manual labor) affects both pricing and definition availability. Class 1 occupations typically qualify for the most favorable own-occupation definitions; class 5 occupations may not qualify for true own-occ at all.
Income and benefit amount drive the rest of the calculation. Most carriers will issue up to 60% to 70% of gross income (sometimes lower for very high earners), with monthly caps that vary by carrier. The benefit period chosen (5 years vs to age 65 vs to age 67) and elimination period chosen (90 vs 180 days) both significantly affect premium. Riders (COLA, FIO, residual disability, catastrophic) each add premium based on the additional value they provide.
Health is the next factor and disability underwriting is significantly stricter than life insurance underwriting. Conditions that wouldn't affect a life insurance application can result in exclusion riders, table ratings, or declination on disability. Shopping across multiple carriers is especially valuable when health conditions are involved.
Ways to manage premium
Disability premium can be managed through the structure choices made at issue. The major levers are elimination period, benefit period, and rider selection.
Longer elimination period
Choosing 180 days instead of 90 days for the elimination period reduces premium meaningfully. The right length matches the emergency savings you can rely on before benefits begin.
Shorter benefit period
A 5-year or 10-year benefit period costs less than a benefit period to age 65 or 67. Trade-off is leaving the long-tail catastrophic risk uncovered. Often the wrong place to save unless other resources will cover later years.
Buy younger and healthier
As with life insurance, age locks in once the policy is in force. Buying earlier produces meaningfully lower premium and avoids the risk of becoming uninsurable later due to health changes.
Right-size the riders
COLA, FIO, residual disability, and catastrophic riders each add premium. Selecting only the riders that match your actual situation (income growth trajectory, partial disability risk, etc.) keeps premium efficient.
Multi-life discounts may be available for professional groups (medical practices, law firms, accounting firms) that purchase disability coverage for multiple employees at once. We walk through whether multi-life pricing applies to your situation.
Decisions
When you actually need each coverage.
Short-term, long-term, or both?
Long-term disability is the more critical coverage because the financial impact of a multi-year disability is much larger than a few months of recovery. If you can carry only one, long-term is the answer. Short-term disability bridges the gap between when you stop working and when long-term benefits begin (typically 90 days). Many professionals have short-term through their employer and add individual long-term coverage separately.
Own-occupation or any-occupation?
True own-occupation is more protective and more expensive. It pays benefits if you can't perform your specific occupation, even if you could work in a different field. Any-occupation pays only if you can't perform any occupation reasonably suited to your training. For skilled professionals (doctors, attorneys, executives, specialized trades), own-occ is almost always worth the premium. For more general occupations, modified own-occ or any-occ may be a reasonable trade-off.
What benefit period should I choose?
For working-age buyers, benefit period to age 65 or 67 is the most common because it covers income through planned retirement age. Shorter benefit periods (2, 5, or 10 years) reduce premium but leave the long-tail catastrophic risk uncovered. Cutting benefit period to save premium is usually the wrong trade-off unless other resources will cover the later years.
Is group disability through work enough?
Rarely. Group long-term disability typically caps at 50% to 60% of income (often with a monthly maximum that disadvantages higher earners), is taxable when the employer pays the premium, uses an any-occupation definition, and ends when you leave the job. Supplementing group with an individually owned policy (own-occ, after-tax premium for tax-free benefits, portable across jobs) is the standard recommendation for most working professionals.
Carriers
Carriers we work with for disability insurance.
We write disability insurance through multiple appointed carriers including specialty individual disability writers and major national life insurers with strong disability books. The right carrier depends on age, occupation class, income level, health profile, and which policy definition and rider structure makes sense for your specific situation.
Each carrier has a different sweet spot. Some carriers are particularly competitive for medical and dental professionals; others have stronger pricing for white-collar professionals generally; others have more flexible underwriting on specific occupations or health conditions. Disability underwriting varies meaningfully between carriers, so shopping across multiple carriers is particularly valuable.
Mutual of Omaha
Principal Financial
The Standard
Guardian
Ameritas
Carrier appointments vary by line and state. Available disability carriers depend on your specific situation, occupation, income level, and underwriting eligibility.
Questions
Disability insurance questions we hear a lot.
What is disability insurance?
Disability insurance replaces a portion of your income (typically 60% to 70%) if you become unable to work due to illness or injury. It comes in two main forms: short-term disability (covers a few months up to about a year) and long-term disability (covers years, typically up to retirement age). Disability coverage addresses what most working-age adults statistically face more often than premature death during their working years: an illness or injury that interrupts earning power.
How likely am I to become disabled during my working years?
More likely than you'd expect. The Social Security Administration has long stated that a meaningful share of today's 20-year-olds will experience a disability event before reaching retirement age. Most disabilities aren't from accidents but from illnesses (cancer, heart disease, multiple sclerosis, musculoskeletal disorders, mental health conditions). Disability claims are statistically more common during working years than death claims for the same demographic.
What's the difference between short-term and long-term disability?
Short-term disability (STD) typically pays benefits for 3 to 6 months (sometimes up to 1 year) with a short elimination period (often 7 to 14 days). It's designed for shorter recoveries: surgery, childbirth, broken bones. Long-term disability (LTD) takes over where STD ends and pays for years (commonly to retirement age) with a longer elimination period (typically 90 days). LTD is the more critical coverage because the financial impact of a multi-year disability is much larger than a short recovery.
What does "own occupation" mean?
Own-occupation ("own-occ") disability coverage pays benefits if you can't perform the substantial duties of your specific occupation, even if you could work in a different field. Any-occupation coverage only pays if you can't perform the duties of any occupation reasonably suited to your education and experience. Own-occ is more protective and more expensive; any-occ is cheaper but harder to claim under. Modified own-occ uses own-occ for an initial period (often 2 years) and transitions to any-occ afterward.
How much disability insurance do I need?
A common target is enough coverage to replace 60% to 70% of your pre-disability income, which is roughly what most carriers will issue at maximum. The exact amount depends on your post-tax income needs, existing group disability coverage through work, other income sources, and your monthly expenses. The goal is enough coverage that a multi-year disability doesn't force you to liquidate retirement savings or sell the home.
What's the elimination period?
The elimination period (sometimes called the waiting period) is the number of days you must be disabled before benefits begin. Short-term disability often has a 7 to 14-day elimination period; long-term disability typically has a 90-day elimination period (sometimes 180 days for a lower premium). Choosing a longer elimination period reduces the premium meaningfully. The right length matches the amount of emergency savings you can rely on before benefits start.
How long do disability benefits last?
Benefit period varies by policy. Short-term policies typically pay 3 months to 1 year. Long-term policies pay 2 years, 5 years, 10 years, until age 65 or 67, or for life depending on the policy. "To age 65" or "to age 67" is the most common long-term benefit period for working-age buyers because it covers income through the planned retirement age, after which Social Security retirement benefits take over.
Do I need disability insurance if I have it through work?
Group disability through an employer is valuable but rarely sufficient by itself. Group long-term disability typically caps at 50% to 60% of income (sometimes with a monthly maximum), benefits are taxable when the employer pays the premium, coverage ends when you leave the job, and the definition of disability is often any-occupation rather than own-occupation. Many professionals supplement group coverage with an individual long-term disability policy that they own outright, with own-occupation definitions, that follows them regardless of job changes.
Are disability benefits taxable?
It depends on who paid the premium. If you pay disability premium with after-tax dollars (typical for an individually owned policy), benefits are generally received income tax-free. If your employer pays the premium with pre-tax dollars (typical for group coverage), benefits are generally taxable as income. This matters significantly for the after-tax replacement ratio. An individually owned policy at 60% gross can effectively replace more after-tax income than a group policy at 70% gross.
What about Social Security Disability?
Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) is a federal program for workers who become totally disabled. It has strict definitions (must be unable to engage in substantial gainful activity due to a condition expected to last at least 12 months or result in death), a lengthy approval process, and a high initial denial rate. Average benefits are modest relative to most working-age incomes. SSDI is a meaningful backstop but isn't a substitute for individual or group disability coverage for working professionals.
What if I'm self-employed?
Self-employed professionals are often the buyers who need disability insurance most because there's no employer-provided coverage and no group structure to fall back on. Disability for self-employed buyers is typically structured around documented income (typically 1-2 years of tax returns), with carriers verifying earnings before issuing coverage. Coverage amounts are based on net earnings, and own-occupation definitions matter especially for self-employed professionals whose income is tied to specific work.
Doesn't workers' comp cover this?
Workers' compensation only covers injuries and illnesses that arise from the job. Most disabilities are caused by conditions that have nothing to do with work (cancer, heart disease, autoimmune conditions, depression, accidents away from work). Workers' comp also pays a different benefit structure (often medical plus a lower wage-replacement component). Disability insurance covers the broader category of inability to work regardless of the cause.
Can I get disability insurance if I have health conditions?
Disability insurance is more heavily underwritten than life insurance, and carriers are stricter about pre-existing conditions. Many conditions result in exclusion riders (the condition itself isn't covered as a cause of disability but other causes are) or table ratings (higher premium). Some conditions result in declination. Shopping across multiple carriers is important when health conditions are involved, since each carrier underwrites differently.
How fast can I get a disability insurance quote?
Initial quotes can be generated the same day from age, occupation, income, gender, tobacco use, and coverage parameters. Underwriting can take a few weeks for individual long-term disability policies because of the financial verification (tax returns or pay stubs) and medical underwriting required. Group plans and simplified-issue individual policies can move faster, though with potentially less favorable terms.
Related
Coverage that pairs with disability.
Ready to talk through your disability options?
Tell us about your situation, give us a call, or request a free quote. We'll review your current group coverage if any, size the right individual policy, and compare quotes across multiple appointed disability carriers.