Guardian

• High Financial Strength Ratings
• Quick Quotes
• Range of Insurance Product Options
• Competitive Individual Disability Insurance Features
• Range of Individual Disability Insurance Riders
• Group Short-term Policy Advantages

High Financial Strength Ratings

Guardian has received high financial strength ratings from several rating agencies, including A.M. Best. These ratings indicate that Guardian is financially stable and will likely be able to meet its claims obligations.

Financial stability matters because when you file a disability claim, the monthly benefit payouts typically last several years. You want to choose an insurance carrier that is in a financially strong position.

Since high financial strength ratings are common among top insurers, Guardian's high ratings help make it competitive.

Quick Quotes

You'll benefit from quick online quotes for long-term disability insurance when you work with Guardian. Its quote process is one of the fastest in the industry and only requires some basic information like profession, income, age, and gender. 

Once you see your quote, you can customize the disability policy by adjusting the benefit amount (how much you'll receive each month), benefit period (how long you'll receive benefits), and waiting period (how long you have to wait before receiving benefits).

You can also adjust your quote by including additional features like protecting against inflation, including partial disability coverage, and extra benefits for student loans.

The other advantage of using Guardian's quote software is that no contact information is required before you can view cost estimates.

Range of Insurance Product Options

Guardian offers a range of disability insurance products, which allows it to meet the needs of many individuals and businesses. Its offerings include the following:

• Short-term disability (groups)
• Long-term disability (individuals and groups)
• Supplemental disability (individuals)

Guardian does not require a medical exam for its supplemental disability insurance policies.

Competitive Individual Disability Insurance Features

Guardian's individual disability insurance policies can vary. However, you can find the following features with these policies:

• Waiver of premium (no need to pay premiums when you're receiving benefits)
• Hospice care benefit (elimination period waived)
• Unemployment premium suspension (policy payments and coverage paused while unemployed)
• Occupational rehabilitation, modification, and access (extra benefits for occupational rehabilitation and modifications at work)

These features make a Guardian disability insurance policy advantageous. Many insurers offer additional benefits for rehabilitation and work accommodations with their group policies, so it's nice that Guardian offers this benefit with its individual policies.

The unemployment premium suspension and hospice care benefit features are difficult to find elsewhere.

Range of Individual Disability Insurance Riders

In addition to its beneficial features, Guardian also offers a good selection of riders that you can add to your individual disability insurance policy. Its optional riders are competitive for the industry.

• Future increase option (purchase additional coverage without new underwriting)
• Cost of living adjustment (adjust benefit for inflation)
• Catastrophic disability benefit (up to full income replacement if disability meets certain requirements)
• Student loan protection (extra benefits to cover debt repayment)
• Retirement protection (replace retirement contributions)
• Unemployment waiver of premium (retain coverage without premium payments while unemployed)
• Social insurance substitute (coordinate benefits with Social Security Disability and support from other social programs)

Group Short-Term Policy Advantages

Guardian Disability Income Select™ is a voluntary option that employers can include in their benefits package. It includes benefits for partial disability.

This group disability insurance policy is flexible for both employers and employees.

Employers choose the benefit amount, duration, and waiting period. Employees can select how much income they want protected.

In some states, employees may be able to take their disability insurance coverage with them when they change employers.

Usually employer benefits don't continue with employees when employment is over, so the possibility of keeping your short-term coverage makes Guardian advantageous to employees.

• Insufficient Customer Insight
• No Individual Short-Term Disability Insurance
• Limited Online Policy Information for Certain Products

Insufficient Customer Insight

Best Company does not have many Guardian disability insurance reviews. Due to this lack of reviews, conclusions on the customer experience and customer satisfaction are not available.

No Individual Short-Term Disability Insurance

Guardian does not offer individual short-term disability insurance. If you're interested in your own short-term disability insurance policy, you'll need to find another insurance provider.

Limited Online Policy Information for Certain Products

Although Guardian provides a good amount of information on some of its products, it does not offer very much on its supplemental disability or group long-term disability policies. If you're interested in these products, you'll need to work with Guardian to learn more.