Guardian Disability Insurance Review

Welcome to our comprehensive Guardian Disability Insurance review page. The Guardian Life Insurance Company of America is renowned for its commitment to providing robust and reliable disability insurance options. Here, we dive into the key features and benefits associated with Guardian’s disability insurance policies.

A Quick Company Overview

Guardian began as the Germania Life Insurance Company of America in 1860, and was then renamed “The Guardian Life Insurance Company of America” in 1918. Guardian merged with Berkshire Life Insurance Company in 2001, expanding their presence in the individual disability income insurance market. Today, the company insures millions and has an industry history of financial stability.

Guardian Insurance Financial Ratings

Notable Guardian insurance standings include Aa1 from Moody’s, AA+ from Standard & Poor’s and A++ from AM Best. Additionally, Marketwatch has given the company one of the industry’s highest ratings at 4.6 out of 5. Investopedia also named the insurer its best overall 2024 pick for disability insurance. Guardian is also rated 99 out of 100 in COMDEX score.*

Moody’s Investors Service	AM Best	Standard & Poor’s
Aa1	A++	AA+
High Quality	Superior	Very Strong
2 of 21	1 of 15	2 of 20

* Comdex is not a rating, but a composite of all ratings that a company has received from the major rating agencies (AM Best, S&P, Moody’s, and Fitch). Comdex percentile ranks insurance companies, on a scale of 1 to 100 (with 100 being the best), helping consumers and financial professionals compare the overall financial health. Guardian’s rating is as of December 31, 2023, and is subject to change.

Guardian Insurance Products

The insurer offers robust illness and injury coverage underwritten by its subsidiary, the Berkshire Life Insurance Company of America. In addition to Guardian Berkshire disability insurance, the parent company offers life, dental, vision, critical illness, accident and hospital indemnity insurance.

Guardian’s Provider Choice Disability Insurance Policy

Individual long-term disability insurance policies from Guardian contain several built-in features that make them highly attractive.

The Best Definition of Disability — Enhanced Specialty True Own-Occupation

Guardian’s Enhanced Specialty True Own-Occupation definition of total disability is a distinctive provision within their disability insurance policies, setting them apart in the industry. This definition will include the common True Own Occupation coverage that other top companies offer, considering you totally disabled if you are not able to perform the substantial and material duties of your specialty — even if you are gainfully employed in another occupation.

However, there may be instances where you can continue to work in your own specialty. Guardian’s enhancements, or additional ways to qualify for total disability, are specifically for MDs or DOs:

If most of your income is from hands-on patient care, and you can no longer perform hands-on patient care, you will be considered totally disabled even if you are still gainfully employed in your practice, performing other duties, or working in another occupation.
Similarly, If most of your income is from surgical procedures and you can no longer perform your surgical procedures, you will be considered totally disabled even if you are still gainfully employed performing the other duties of your specialty or in another occupation. It’s important to note that ‘surgical procedures’ are defined as medical interventions involving an incision with instruments, normally involving anesthesia and/or respiratory assistance that you regularly perform during the 12 months prior to disability.

Non-Cancelable and Guaranteed Renewable Coverage

Individual long-term disability coverage from Guardian is non-cancelable and guaranteed renewable. This feature provides benefits like:

Premium stability: Guardian cannot increase your premiums unless you have a graded premium or increase your monthly benefit amount. This measure provides financial predictability and stability over the life of the policy.
Coverage assurance: Guardian cannot change the terms or provisions of the policy — the coverage you initially agreed upon remains intact.
Security against cancellation: Guardian cannot cancel your policy as long as you pay the premiums, giving you peace of mind that your coverage will be there when you need it most.

Built-In Benefits

Guardian provides the following built-in benefits within their individual long-term disability insurance policies:

Unemployment premium suspension: You have the option to stop making premium payments for up to 12 months if you are unemployed. Your policy will not be canceled, but you won’t be eligible for coverage during that time.
Presumptive total disability benefit: While the policy is active, Guardian will consider you totally disabled, even if you’re still able to work, if you lose your eyesight, hearing, speech, or the use of both hands, both feet, or one hand and one foot.
Waiver of premium: You won’t be required to pay a policy premium while you’re disabled and collecting benefits, or for six months after your claim ends.
Waiver of elimination period: Guardian will waive the elimination period if you become disabled within five years after the end of a previous disability that lasted more than six months and for which benefits were paid.
Hospice care benefit: If you’re ever admitted into a hospice program, Guardian will consider you totally disabled and waive the elimination period.

Available Guardian Insurance Riders

Riders are policy endorsements that can add extra peace of mind to your protection. Essential information to understand about them includes:

Riders can add benefits not included in the base policy, such as cost of living adjustments or the ability to increase your benefit without additional medical underwriting.
These extras provide options to tailor the plan to personal circumstances, such as adding coverage for partial disabilities.
Riders enable policyholders to adjust the coverage as needs change over time, ensuring the plan remains relevant and effective.
Availability depends on state regulations and age restrictions.

The Most Popular Riders

Guardian’s policies are highly customizable with popular rider options such as:

Residual or partial disability rider: This rider ensures you can collect a portion of the monthly benefit if you are partially disabled. Guardian’s policies have two options to select from — basic or enhanced.
Cost of living adjustment (COLA): This inflation protection ensures that your benefit payouts increase each year when you’re disabled and collecting disability income. Guardian offers three COLA rider options — 3% compound, a four-year delayed 3% compound, or a 3-6% tied to changes in the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U).
Future increase rider: A future increase rider helps keep pace with your earnings, allowing you to increase your coverage as your wages grow even if your health has changed. You can raise your potential monthly benefit without additional medical underwriting in exchange for higher monthly premiums. Guardian provides two options to customize your policy with future increase riders — a Benefit Purchase Rider (BPR) and a Future Increase Option (FIO).
Automatic increase benefit rider: This option is available at no additional cost and automatically increases your potential monthly benefit payouts by 4% every year for the first six years to help protect your future earnings. While this rider is free, premiums will increase as benefits increase.
Catastrophic disability rider: This rider provides income benefits above the policy’s base monthly amount if you experience a disabling illness or injury that prevents you from completing two out of the six activities of daily living, results in cognitive impairment or qualifies you for presumptive disability. Guardian’s two options include an Enhanced Catastrophic Disability Benefit rider or a Basic/Severe Disability Benefit rider.

Additional Rider Options

You have numerous other options to create a fully tailored insurance solution with Guardian:

Lump-sum disability benefit: This add-on provides a “bonus” one-time payment at age 60 to help pay future expenses. The amount is usually a percentage of all claims paid throughout the life of the policy.
Graded lifetime benefit for total disability: This option provides a lifetime benefit for continuous total disabilities beyond the policy’s expiration. The lifetime monthly benefit amount is based on your age at the time the continuous total disability begins.
Retirement protection plus disability benefit: This option helps replace contributions you would have made to a defined contribution plan while you were totally disabled and not gainfully employed. The rider’s monthly benefit will be paid into a trust, which you can then access at age 65.
Student loan protection: Many younger medical professionals have student debt that could be financially prohibitive if they experience a work-impacting disability. This rider pays a monthly benefit directly to the lender in addition to your base policy benefit.
Supplemental benefit term: This rider provides an additional layer of benefits above and beyond your policy’s monthly benefit but for a specified term period. This feature helps keep your financial goals on track and serves as a financial cushion while you’re still growing your savings and assets.

Explore Guardian Physician Disability Insurance Options With DrDisabilityQuotes.com

DrDisabilityQuotes.com is an independent insurance agency committed to providing unbiased advice and service. Our agents specialize in helping medical professionals like you find the disability insurance coverage that’s ideal for their unique needs. We’ll gather your options and thoroughly review them with you so you can confidently decide what policy and riders suit you best. Getting started is fast and easy — request your quote online or contact a team member directly for personalized assistance.

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