Self-employed disability insurance covers individuals who work for themselves in the event that they become disabled and not capable of continuing to provide for themselves. There are two kinds of self-employed disability insurance. One is for long-term disability and the other is for short-term disability. It is more common for people who are self-employed to register for long-term self-employed disability insurance and, for that reason, this kind of insurance is more common and easier to find. There is also short-term self-employed disability insurance for pregnancy, which can be used by women.
Long-term self-employment disability insurance is meant to cover people who are self employed in the event that they are unable to work for a significant period of time. This kind of insurance may also cover people who are rendered unable to work for the rest of their lives. In the event that a person with this kind of insurance becomes disabled, his insurance company will compensate him based on his salary. Depending on the wording of the insurance policy, the insured person may be eligible to receive 100 percent of his salary or just a portion of his salary.
Short-term self-employed disability insurance is meant to cover people who are unable to work for shorter periods of time. If, for example, a freelance illustrator sprained his wrist, he might not be able to work for a week or so while recovering from the injury. During this week, he would stand to lose income.
A woman who is self employed may choose to purchase self-employed disability insurance for pregnancy. This is a way for a woman who is self employed to experience the benefits of maternity leave without being employed by a company that offers this specific benefit. This kind of self-employed disability insurance gives a woman time to recover from labor and spend some time bonding with her new baby before returning to work.
In order to apply for any kind of self-employed disability insurance, a self employed individual will have to establish his salary. This salary will determine how much the insurance company will pay him in the event that he becomes unable to work. It is common for people who are self employed to experience more fluctuation in their salaries than people who are employed by company or corporation. This means that people who hold this kind of insurance may have to update it on a regular basis in order to account for changes in their income.