The Council for Disability Awareness (CDA) wants to show insurance agents that conversations about paycheck protection can be warm, positive conversations.
Insurers formed the CDA in 2005 to tell consumers, employers and agents who are new to income protection why disability insurance matters. This year, in spite of the effects of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) on some issuers, and the effects of low interest rates on all, 18 companies have stepped up to help the CDA participate in the 2016 Disability Insurance Awareness Month (DIAM) campaign.
Carol Harnett, the president of the CDA, said she learned something important when CDA board members went around and shared their own experiences with disability insurance.
"Even people in the industry may struggle to talk about this," she said. "Nobody wants to admit to frailty. But disability insurance doesn't have to be about traumatic injury. It can be about happy times."
Disability insurance can be about something positive, like paying for time off to have a baby, Harnett said. She said it can also be about having the resources to better manage difficult times.
The CDA has posted a package of DIAM 2016 materials on its website. The group is hoping agents, including life and health agents who have not been selling much disability insurance themselves, will share its prewritten social media posts and post blog entries, and simply remember to tell any consumers they meet that insuring the ability to earn a paycheck is a fine idea.
The CDA has tied the DIAM materials to four major, underserved market segments. To find out more about where the CDA sees disability prospects ripe for the picking, read on.
1. Millennials
They're young, they're usually healthy, and they usually have no cash.
In the DIAM downloadable guide for young people, the CDA focuses on the basics: Telling young prospects how to get out of debt. The CDA also gives young consumers advice about how to save money, and how to use insurance to protect themselves against the unexpected.
Image: USDA/Ken Hammond
2. Families
In the DIAM guide for families, the CDA talks about what new parents need to know about money.
The guide includes detailed instructions about the topics new parents need to address such as wills, life insurance and disability insurance. The guide also includes links to online calculators readers can use to get personalized ideas about how to proceed.
