The chances of being the victim of a home robbery are one in 36[1]; however, the chances of becoming disabled and losing income during the course of one’s career is one in four. [2] In spite of this, the results from a recent survey show that only 40 percent of Americans have disability income insurance to protect their incomes.

The survey, conducted by Anthem, Inc. to commemorate May as Disability Insurance Awareness Month, underscores the discrepancy in what Americans perceive as potential threats to their well-being and what they do about those threats.

According to the survey, 99 percent of people take significant steps to protect their homes, including locking doors and windows (90 percent), having homeowners’ or renters’ insurance (74 percent), using an alarm system (39 percent) or even having a vicious-sounding dog (31 percent). However, they overlook the protection that comes from disability income insurance.

“At Anthem, it’s our job to help people protect against the things they can’t predict,” said Mike Wozny, president of Anthem’s Life and Disability business. “Income is an important part of a family’s well-being and protecting income is an important part of financial health. This protection can come from items like disability insurance.”

So, how are Americans trying to protecting their incomes if not with disability insurance? While nine out of 10 Americans say they do take steps to protect their incomes – and three quarters say they have savings – only three quarters of those with savings (75 percent) say they could meet their expenses for at least six months. Moreover, one in four (24 percent) Americans say they have no savings at all and, without work, would be unable to pay bills for even one month.

Information on how people can protect their income with disability income insurance at www.antheminc.com.

This report presents the findings of a telephone omnibus survey using the field services of Opinion Research Corporation, from April 16-20, 2015. The study was conducted using two probability samples:  randomly selected landline telephone numbers and randomly selected mobile (cell) telephone numbers.  The combined sample consists of 1,010 adults (18 years old and older) living in the continental United States.  Of the 1,010 interviews, 508 were from the landline sample and 502 from the cell phone sample.

Ayo Mseka
Editor-in-Chief

[1] FBI 2012 crime report – http://www.asecurelife.com/burglary-statistics/

[2] U.S. Social Security Administration, Fact Sheet February 7, 2013 - http://www.disabilitycanhappen.org/chances_disability/disability_stats.asp