Disability Insurance Testimonials

Without disability insurance, I would have lost my house

"I was going out to the garage and got tangled up with my two dachshunds. I ended up with a spiral break on my right leg and needed extensive surgery." explains Terri about how a simple accident led to a very serious situation. Things became more complicated when her leg didn't heal properly and she needed additional surgery.

Fortunately, Terri was able to take advantage of receiving disability insurance benefits when she was off work completely and while working part-time from home. "I was worried because I didn't think I'd be able to make my mortgage payments. But it all worked out because the disability insurance kicked in and I continued to get paid."

"It just made life so much more comfortable knowing that I wouldn't have to worry about paychecks or anything because I knew I would be protected. Without disability insurance I would have lost my home."

I was able to focus on getting better

Jill's diagnosis of breast cancer was a shock on many levels -- physically, emotionally and financially. After a double mastectomy and many chemotherapy sessions, Jill found herself with a severely-weakened immune system made worse by her diabetes. She was unable to work for over 11 months.

One bright spot in this ordeal was having long-term disability insurance, "There wasn't an interruption in my paycheck. I would have had to change my lifestyle if it hadn't been for the insurance payments." Jill found that she was so wrapped up in the effects of the cancer and its treatment that it was hard to think about anything else, "Because of the disability coverage, I was able to focus on getting better and staying positive. I didn't have to worry about money issues."

Jill definitely recommends disability insurance to others, "You owe it to your family and those you care about to have it. It should be automatic. We have no idea what is going to happen. You have to be ready."

A really rough ride

A typical Friday night ride on his motorcycle took an atypical turn for Nathan last year. A car pulled in front of him and he ran into it, the force throwing him nearly 30 feet. The doctors had never seen a shoulder blade shattered so badly. He also had a vertebrae in his spine that had a compression fracture. Nathan's dominant arm was totally immobilized and it took several sessions of physical therapy to get him back up-to-speed.
It was a good thing Nathan had disability insurance through his employer to help him get through things. His supervisor took care of getting the ball rolling. Nathan found the coverage particularly helpful during his rehabilitation, "I don't know how I would have made it without the benefits kicking in for the time I missed."
A young man, Nathan never thought about being disabled. After his experience, he has a different take on things. "I don't know how anyone can live without it. I would encourage anyone to get disability insurance."

A happy occasion that got scary

Donna was thrilled when she became pregnant after undergoing in-vitro treatments. Unfortunately 27 weeks into her pregnancy, due to complications her doctor put her on bed rest. After having her baby via a C-section, Donna continued to suffer serious effects which resulted in additional surgeries.

Donna's situation would have been much worse if it weren't for two factors – the support she received from her family and having Principal Life's short-term and long-term disability insurance, "I don't know what I would have done, not only without the disability insurance, but without my family." Donna ended up missing more than nine months of work. She was eventually able to ease back into things by working part-time and gradually transitioning to full-time.

Today, both Donna and her daughter are healthy, but she hasn't forgotten the benefits she received, "A lot of people don't realize how lucky we are to have both short-term and long-term disability coverage. I would have lost my home. I had my parents to lean on, but if it hadn't been for the disability insurance, I don't know how I would have paid the medical expenses and everything. Financially, it would have been totally devastating."

Less stress is just what she needed

Jennifer's problems began in the 25th week of her pregnancy when she stepped into a pothole and broke her leg. That led to blood clots, pre-term labor and being put on bed rest for several weeks before having her son. Overall she was off work for 13 weeks.

Jennifer summarizes her predicament this way, "If I hadn't had disability insurance, we wouldn't have been able to make our mortgage payment or pay any of our bills. It would have been catastrophic had I not had that coverage in place."

Perhaps one of the most important benefits of having short-term disability insurance was how it affected her emotional state, "When you're pregnant, injured and going into pre-term labor, having the additional stress of not being able to pay your bills would have been horrible. It was bad enough that I was in this situation. I can't imagine how much worse it would have been with additional stress on top of it. I may not have been able to make it to the 35th week of my pregnancy and the healthy delivery of my son.

You never expect a disability to happen to you

"At the age of 39, I suffered a heart attack." Jon is proof that disabilities don't care how old you are. His heart attack resulted in a hospital stay and 18 sessions of cardiac rehabilitation.

It's a good thing Jon had short-term disability insurance, "It was a great relief to know that despite all of the changes that were going on in my life, I would still be able to meet my financial responsibilities. Without my disability benefits from work, this time would have been much more stressful – exactly what I didn't need at that time!"

Jon notes that his manager, the claims specialist and HR personnel worked well together to assure that his claim experience went very smoothly. Jon recommends that friends and family seek out employers who offer disability coverage or purchase an individual disability policy on their own, "You never expect something like this to happen, it is nice to know there is a safety net to help if it does."

It's nice having someone watch your back

After purchasing life insurance, Ann and her husband knew they wanted to protect her husband's income from a disability as well, so they bought an individual disability income (DI) policy. Over the years, they kept the policy up-to-date by periodically increasing coverage. Later Ann's husband began working for an employer that also offered group disability insurance benefits.

In 2000, Ann's husband was hit by a semi truck that crossed the median on the interstate and he was air lifted to a local hospital. He sustained multiple injuries, went through five surgeries and was hospitalized for almost two months -- eventually undergoing extensive physical therapy to learn how to walk again.

Ann says her agent was extremely helpful, working with them to complete forms and was instrumental in making the claim process go smoothly. The combination of group and individual disability insurance allowed the couple to focus on him getting better, rather than worrying about finances. Ann says, "We know first hand how important disability insurance can be and we wouldn't be without it. It's nice to have someone watching your back."

Why did Ann tell her story? "This whole experience had a big impact on us and I guess I'm just happy to share our story. Some good things came out of a bad situation. If our story can help convince even one person to buy disability insurance, that's just another good thing to come out of this."

Testimonials may not be representative of other clients’ experiences and are not indicative of or a guarantee of future benefits.  No one has been paid for these testimonials.