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"The supplemental disability market is largely an untapped market," says Gerald Radican, senior partner, Capital Financial Partners, a MassMutual agency in Vienna, Va.
Sales of supplemental disability insurance are often lackluster because many employees think their employers regular coverage would give them 100% of income, says Radican. "In reality, its about 60% net and for highly paid employees, its less."
Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company, Springfield, Mass., estimates about half of its long-term disability insurance sales are made through worksites.
Electronic enrollment is a key reason why the companys sales have sparkled in that channel, maintains Radican.
"It helps us to show employees the gross and net effect of disability insurance on their income and helps them visualize the gap between working and disabled income," he says. "I like to get them up to 70% or 75% of their normal net income. We use technology to customize that information to each individual."
Employees can access the information online by themselves while on their home computers, or they can sign up or get more information while meeting with a laptop-equipped agent in the workplace. "Its all right there in front of them," he says.
Capital Financial recently sold LTD policies to many workers in a 105-employee company using face-to-face meetings with agents. "We showed them exactly how much supplemental coverage they can buy," Radican explains. "They completed the application online, and they had coverage that night."
A few preferred to sign up later at home via computer, he notes.
"We gave them a password so they could log on, and I gave them a worksheet with numbers they could enter. They could also call me and ask me to sign them up."
MassMutual generally targets employers of between 50 and 150 employees for worksite sales, Radican says.
