Short-term disability insurance (also known as STD) is a branch of general disability insurance policies. This type of insurance covers potential disabilities only for a short period of time. That is, if you happen to be unable to work for a limited period, the insurance will cover a percentage of your salary; this continues until you are again able to work or until the deadline of the coverage expires.

Specifically, short-term disability policies are designed for people who do not have the financial background that would enable them to make it through a temporary disability situation. This means that those policies are only designed to cover a period of time that lasts no longer than one year. A typical example is a woman who is about to give birth. She is going to be unable to attend her job for at least three months. If she were not financially strong enough to handle a loss of salary, then short-term disability insurance would definitely help her.

Disability policies will cover injuries caused by accidents as well as illnesses that prevent you from being able to work. Again, the coverage will only be valid for a pre-specified, short period of time; as soon as that period of time is over, your short-term disability policy is no longer obliged to support you.

As a side note, this type of policies never supports you with your full salary; they will only provide you with a percentage of your original salary. Percentages usually range from 45% to 60%, and they never go above 70%. This is a factor that someone who seeks such a policy should consider very well before he chooses.

One important thing to know is that when you claim temporary disability, depending on the reason that you present, the payment may come earlier or later. Although first payments usually come after two weeks, injury disabilities are paid almost immediately. On the other hand, it takes a few days in order to prove that an illness is really preventing you from being able to work.