Surprising facts about disability among adult Canadians

We all know that accidents and illnesses are facts of life. They could happen to anyone anytime. Disability insurance can provide you with financial security by replacing a portion of your earnings when an accident or illness causes you to become disabled and unable to work or earn an income.

If you were suddenly unable to work and had less money coming in – plus additional money going out to cover medical expenses and other bills related to your disability – where would the money come from to replace your lost income? You might say yes, I understand it, but what is the possibility that disability could happen to me? It is more than you would imagine. Please take a moment to look through the information that we have gathered for you… and then it’s up to you to have disability insurance or not.

Surprising facts about disability among adult Canadians

Disabilities related to pain, mobility and agility are the most common

Problems related to pain, mobility and agility affect the largest number of adults 15 years of age or older. Close to 3 million Canadian adults (approximately 11% of the total population aged 15 and over) reported one of these limitations. Problems related to mobility, such as walking, climbing stairs, or carrying an object a short distance, are often associated with agility problems or with pain. Women are more likely to experience pain and mobility limitations.

Over a million adult Canadians have sensory disorders

With respect to sensory disorders (seeing, hearing or speech), approximately 5% of Canadian adults reported that they had a hearing disability. Close to 3.2% adults had seeing disabilities and about 2% stated that they had a speech disability.

The prevalence of most types of disabilities increases with age

As indicated by overall disability rates, most types of disabilities increase with age. This proved to be true for disabilities associated with mobility, agility, hearing, seeing and pain. However, this pattern is not seen for all types of disabilities. For example, disabilities associated with emotional, psychological, or psychiatric problems peak at 3.3% for adults aged 45 to 64 and then decrease in proportion to 2.1% for adults aged 75 and over. Learning disabilities are not more common in people as they age. Thus, population aging has no effect on the number of learning disabilities, unlike such disabilities as mobility, agility and pain that become much more common in an older population. Activity limitations related to memory difficulties are the most common non-visible limitation for people aged 65 and older, affecting 10% of all persons with disabilities in this age group.

Most adults with disabilities have multiple disabilities

In fact, 81.7% of adults living with disabilities have several, as opposed to only 18.4% who report having just one disability.

Severity of disability

There are ten types of disabilities among adults and the level of severity will increase with the number of disabilities affecting each individual. More than one third of adults with disabilities experience mild limitations. Nearly 2 million Canadians aged 15 and over have a severe or very severe disability

The most common form of disability among working-age adults are activity limitations related to pain

Pain and discomfort is the most common activity limitation for the working-age population with disabilities, affecting three out of four persons (74.4%). Looking at all working-age Canadians, this indicates that 8.6%, or 1.8 million persons, experience pain and discomfort-related disabilities. Women are more likely to report activity limitations related to pain and discomfort. One in three Canadians aged 65 and over experience mobility limitations

Why should you consider a personal disability insurance plan?

A serious illness or sudden accident can happen in an instant – leaving you unable to work and earn money. While your other health insurance can help with the medical bills, you may need disability income protection insurance to help replace lost income. If you lost your ability to earn an income, you could also lose the lifestyle you have created for yourself and your family.

Different insurance companies offer different insurance plans that can help you preserve your income in case if you become disabled. There is a range of benefit and premium options to suit your particular situation: age, sex, occupation, smoker/non-smoker, income level and other factors. The maximum insurance coverage is to provide a certain percent of income, determined at the moment of signing the contract, usually 65-75%.

What do your disability insurance costs depend on?

Your monthly payments will depend not only on coverage, but also on other conditions such as:

• Occupation: obviously, it is more expensive to insure a truck driver than an accountant.
• Age: the older you are the more expensive the insurance is.
• Sex: disability insurance is more expensive for women (see the statistics above).
• Disability insurance is cheaper for non-smokers.
• A waiting period (elimination period): how many days must elapse before disability benefit payment become payable – 30, 60, 90, 120, 180, 360, or 720 days. The longer the elimination period the cheaper the monthly payment. However, it may be crucial to have the benefits paid from the first day, especially if there are no reserve funds for a rainy day.
• A benefit period: for how long an insurance company is going to pay you in case of your disability: 2, 5, 10 years or until 65 years of age. The longer the benefit period the higher the monthly payment.

Disability Insurance is a form of insurance policy that insures the beneficiary’s earned income against the risk that a disability creates a barrier for a working individual to complete the core functions of his or her job. Your earning potential is a far more valuable asset than your car or even your home. The lifestyle you enjoy, your children’s college education, and your savings for a comfortable retirement all depend on your ability to earn a living. Disability insurance is designed to protect you from the possible loss of income.