Did you know there’s an easy way to figure out how much your LTD policy would be worth after a social security offset?  We can walk you through a way to figure out how much your net LTD would be after calculating any social security disability money you may receive if you are approved for SSD.

What is an SSD offset?

Your disability insurance policy most likely contains a section discussing “other income offsets”.  In other words, any other money you receive for being disabled.  The insurance company generally gets a dollar for dollar offset for that money.  For the sake of easy math, if your disability insurance would normally pay $2,000, but you receive $1,000 from social security disability, the insurance company likely would only owe you the difference of $1,000.

How do I find out what my SSD offset would be?

Log in to the social security website at ssa.gov (that’s ending in GOV, not com) and log in if you have created an account.  If you have never created an account, complete the registration process.  Once you are logged in, you will have access to your social security statement.  In your social security statement, there is a section that says “Disability Benefits” and will list an approximate number of what your social security monthly payment would be if you were to become disabled right now.  Once you know this number, simply subtract it from your long-term disability benefit and that would approximately be the net amount.

(Please note: the steps above may not work for you if you have already filed your SSD application)