A policy owner suffers an injury that renders him incapable of performing one or more important job duties. Any decrease in income resulting from this injury would make him eligible for benefits under which provision?

• A. Total disability
• B. Residual disability
• C. Partial disability
• D. Rehabilitative provision

Answer: (C)

When a disability does not prevent you from working entirely but does stop you from performing all the important duties of your job, you’re in a partial disability situation. The insurance plan provides benefits to replace part of the income you lose due to that partial impairment, often in proportion to how much earnings drop. So, if an injury keeps you from certain key duties but you can still work in some capacity and your income decreases as a result, partial disability benefits would apply.

Total disability would require you to be unable to perform any duties of your occupation, with little or no earned income. Rehabilitative provisions relate to training or education to return to work, not to ongoing income replacement. Residual disability can be similar to partial disability in effect, but it typically uses a specific earnings-loss threshold to trigger benefits, whereas partial disability is defined by not being able to perform all duties but still having some work capability.