When Disability is Defined as Income Lost
Some disability insurers are offering a type of coverage that doesn't define disability in terms of an occupation, but rather in terms of income lost. Say you are hurt and have to take a job that pays 50% less than the one you had before the injury.
A disability policy based on income would replace some, but not all, of the income lost because of the job change. A common threshold is the policy will start paying after you've lost 20% of your income. In the previous example, such a policy would replace 80% of the income you lost.
Most disability insurance comes with some built-in protection for the policyholders in that the insurers offering the coverage guarantee your policy will be renewed. "Guaranteed renewable" policies mean that if you pay your premium, your insurer can't cancel your coverage or change the terms.
Further, the insurer can't increase your premium unless it does so for everyone who has a risk characteristic (age, job type, etc.) similar to yours.
* Note. The best option for disability insurance is a non-cancelable policy, which takes all the elements of a guaranteed renewable policy and adds a very important feature: a guarantee that the premium won't be increased. At least until you are 65.
