I’ve gone through a number of “re-inventions.” One of my first clients sold extended service contracts for cars. His business grew from 5 to 500 employees. And I became his general counsel.

That job taught me almost everything I know. One of the things I learned about was “breakage.”

Breakage happens when people buy something—but don't use it. Chips purchased at a casino but never redeemed are an example.

Breakage is incredibly common in the extended service contract business. (Extended service contacts are like warranties but they’re sold (like an insurance policy against breakdown and repair costs) by someone other than the manufacturer.) Almost 50 percent of consumers forget—by the time their car needs repairs—that they have coverage.

There must also be significant breakage when it comes to disability coverage. But it's probably not a product of “forgetting.” It’s a product of not knowing they have it.

My job is to help people recover from at-fault drivers and their own underinsured motorist carriers. Because it’s “adjacent,” I also try to help people figure out if there is insurance coverage available to pay for treatment. But the topic of disability coverage rarely comes up.

This week I was introduced to an attorney who knows all about disability coverage. Here's some information she shared:

• Most large employers offer short term and long term disability coverage. It covers about 60% of salary. Different policies have different rules, but if your doctor is supportive, you can file for disability benefits through your work (or personal) policy for depression, anxiety, PTSD, long covid, fibromyalgia, POTS, chronic fatigue, etc. Not just broken bones.

• Claims don’t need to be made right at the time you’re injured or get sick. If you knew there was something wrong but your doctors couldn't diagnose it, and three years later you get a diagnosis and your doctor agrees you're disabled, you can file a retroactive disability claim back to when you first had symptoms.

• You also don’t have to still be employed to make a claim under the policy. If your doctors support it, and you can show treatment during the period when you were working, you don't still have to be an employee. You can also file for disability benefits if you're being terminated or have been terminated. Lots of people are terminated because they can't do the requirements of their job — often they can't do it because they're disabled and trying to push themselves to do more than they can.

• People who don't have work-related disability coverage may be able to apply to obtain benefits under the Washington Family Medical Leave Act (which pays up to three months of benefits) or Social Security Disability Insurance.

Please let me know if you have questions. I’m happy to try to answer them or make a referral to an attorney who can.