When it comes to disability insurance, there are significant premium differences if you are a woman. Your premiums are going to be approximately 40% more than your male counterparts.

Why is this? The answer is risk. Rates are set based on claims history. Women are 40% more likely to become disabled before they turn 65 than their male counterparts. As such, their premiums are 40% more. This can vary from company to company so it is important that work with a broker who will compare rates for you from several companies.

For life insurance, women pay less than men since they have longer life expectancies.

So, if you are woman looking to purchase an individual disability policy, the first thing you should do is look for a unisex policy. This is a policy that is gender neutral. For women, this will save you approximately 40%. Most individual policies are gender distinct.

Unisex policies are typically available through employer sponsored discount programs. To initially set them up properly, you would need to work with a qualified disability insurance broker who can help you. It typically requires 2 or 3 (depending on company) people from the same employer to purchase a policy. These policies will also add an additional 15% discount so this ends up saving women 55%.

It is important to make sure that your unisex rates are permanent and apply to future increases. Some policies only offer unisex rates on the base policy but do not apply to future increases. Make sure you ask your broker to make this distinction for you so you don’t find out later with sticker shock when you go to increase your policy in the future.

For men, unisex rates are more expensive than gender distinct rates. However, this is offset by the employer sponsored discount.

The other way to save on premiums is to look for existing discounts already in place. For example, Set for Life Insurance has spent years putting together the largest portfolio of discounted rates in the country. Especially if you are a physician, dentist or CRNA working in a hospital setting or are affiliated with a hospital, you may be eligible to take advantage of these discounts if you submit your application through Set for Life.

For more information about disability insurance for women, contact Set for Life Insurance today!