What Is Supplemental Long Term Disability Insurance? 
A supplemental disability insurance is a personally owned long term disability policy usually purchased to supplement a group employer sponsored long term disability plan . You are basically `` supplementing '' your existing group plan with a personally owned policy . The reason this is necessary is because most group plans only cover 50 - 60 % of an employees income . A supplemental policy will provide additional coverage in addition to the group plan . The amount of supplemental disability coverage you can purchase is limited based on the insurance carriers guidelines . This is determined by the amount of your income your group plan covers and weather or not you pay for your group plan or your company does . As a general rule , most carriers wo n't let you insure more than 70 % of your gross annual income . 