Allison Bell
July 12, 2024 11:59 AM
Only 48% of adults aged 55 and older were able to pick out the correct statement from the list.
The majority of U.S. adults know nothing about private disability insurance, according to results from a new online disability insurance literacy survey commissioned by Policygenius, a web broker that helps people get private disability insurance quotes online.
Participants were 2,353 US adults aged 18 years or older.
An outside research firm presented multiple-choice questions that included descriptions of private disability insurance, critical care insurance, the government’s Social Security Disability Insurance program, accident insurance, and several other types of plans.
Only 36 percent of survey participants answered correctly, indicating they understood that the product is intended to provide an income to people who become disabled, rather than a lump sum payment or full payment of medical expenses when someone is injured.
What it means: If you don’t sell disability insurance or don’t discuss disability insurance with your customers because you’re afraid they won’t qualify for it, your customers may never know that private disability insurance exists or how Social Security Disability Insurance works.
Disability: According to the Disability Income Awareness Council, about 5% of U.S. workers experience a disability of six months or less each year, and about 25% of 20-year-olds will be out of the labor force for at least a year by the time they turn 65 because of a disability.
Findings: Older participants performed better than younger participants, and higher-income participants performed better than lower-income participants, but no group performed particularly well.
The percentage of respondents who could identify private disability insurance was 22% for those ages 18-34 and 48% for those ages 55 and over.
By income, 30% of people in the $40,000 or less category answered the question correctly, compared to 44% in the $80,000 or more category.
Credit: Adobe Stock