Around the world, there are over 3.6 billion people in the active labor force, according to the World Bank. Unfortunately, not everyone enjoys a healthy and uninterrupted work life; many face periods of disability due to unexpected sickness or injuries.

Group income disability insurance products serve as a critical protection method to mitigate severe financial hardship when workers are not able to perform their jobs. The global disability insurance market is large and rapidly growing, estimated at approximately USD4.4 billion and expanding at a CAGR of 11.2% from 2024 to 2033.

While insurers and reinsurers are committed to providing financial relief to the hardworking and honest workers who deserve adequate income protection during the disability period, there is also rising concern that could threaten group disability insurers - with experience potentially contrary to product expectations. There are many factors that are contributing to these assumptions. Are they solid facts or mere misperceptions?

In this article, SCOR’s experts in income disability claims focus on the disability products within the group risk industry, aiming to distinguish between prevalent perceptions and empirical realities and ensure that our product terms and conditions are implemented as expected in practice. Using data from SCOR’s data pool, we investigate two commonly debated problem statements to unveil whether they are fact or myth.