by Russell Hutchinson
There has been, roughly, a quadrupling in the number of people claiming invalids and sickness benefits (both commonly used to provide assistance to the disabled) in the last 20 years.
Demographers, and anyone who is awake, will recall that during that time the population of New Zealand has risen by nowhere near as much.
Indeed, one report went on to state that "...many people on disability benefits do not regard themselves as having a disability, while, at the same time, many people classify themselves as severely disabled, do not work and receive no benefits..."
What? Really - disabled and not claiming? Yes: a report from the OECD that says roughly one in five people with a serious disability make no claim on welfare benefits at all.
Thinking about insurance, I am darned sure that we'll find similar stuff.
All those declined disability insurance (DI) claims that give underwriters such good anecdotes for dinner out are certainly proof of the former.
What's more, some of the public relations problems our industry suffers from probably stems from the confusion created by different definitions of disability.
Out of all the research I have come up with a new, informal, ranking of disability, in increasing order of severity:
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