Compare disability insurance quotes for software engineers
One request returns a side-by-side comparison from Guardian, Principal, MassMutual, Ameritas, and The Standard, sized against your full compensation rather than base salary alone. No fee and no obligation.
For a software engineer, the disability insurance quote that matters is the one sized against documented total compensation rather than base salary, since equity and bonus are where senior tech income actually lives. Seaworthy runs Guardian, Principal, MassMutual, Ameritas, and The Standard together and shows what each will count and issue. The comparison is free and the premium carries no markup.
What a tech quote comparison includes
Every request is priced by all five carriers at once, and the comparison covers software engineers, developers, engineering managers, product managers, and data scientists. The first row below is the one that moves the outcome most for a senior package.
| What we compare | Across the five carriers | Why it matters in tech |
|---|---|---|
| How your total compensation is counted | Which parts of a tech package each carrier will insure, from base and bonus through vested equity. | Benefit size follows documented earned income, so the composition of your package decides your maximum more than your title does. |
| Occupation class for engineering roles | The class each carrier assigns software engineers, developers, product managers, and data scientists. | Office-based technical work sits in one of the most favorable classes on the white-collar scale, which shapes both the premium and which riders you can attach. |
| Own-occupation definition | Whether the contract pays when you cannot do engineering work, even if you take other employment. | Cognitive and repetitive-strain conditions rarely stop every kind of work, so the definition decides whether a partial recovery ends the claim. |
| The gap left by employer coverage | How your company's group long-term disability plan offsets what each carrier will issue on top of it. | A group plan is typically sized to base salary and belongs to the employer, so it shrinks as a share of your pay each time equity grows, and it stops entirely at a job change. |
| Mental and nervous benefit structure | Whether the plan covers mental health for the full benefit period by default, and what a 24-month cap saves if you accept one. | All five deliver full-period coverage to technology roles, through mechanisms that differ enough to be worth reading on each quote. |
| Premium and premium structure | The quoted premium and whether the contract is noncancelable, meaning the company cannot raise the rate or change the terms as long as premiums are paid. | A noncancelable contract issued in your twenties or thirties locks that rate across the decades when your income multiplies. |
The technology coverage hub goes deeper on roles, risks, and contract mechanics at disability insurance for tech professionals, with a role-specific page for software engineers and a provision-by-provision carrier comparison in best disability insurance for software engineers.
How carriers count equity-heavy compensation
Carrier income guidelines define earned income as salary, wages, commission, and bonus, and none of them name equity as its own insurable category. What follows is how the pieces of a technology package generally translate into insurable income.
| Compensation component | How carriers generally treat it |
|---|---|
| Base salary | Counted directly |
| Bonus and commission | Counted, typically averaged over about two years |
| Vested RSUs | Reported as W-2 wages, so generally counted when documented and recurring |
| One-time or cliff vesting | Weighed cautiously, since carriers look for recurring income |
| Unvested RSUs and unexercised options | Not counted |
| ESPP discount | Not counted |
| Dividends and capital gains | Excluded as unearned income |
In our experience, a short vesting history is the most common reason a tech quote comes back smaller than the applicant expected, which makes it a timing problem rather than a permanent ceiling. The full treatment of equity, including startup and pre-IPO situations, is on the RSU and equity compensation page.
Why tech quotes usually price well
Software engineers, developers, product managers, and data scientists are classed as low-hazard cognitive workers, which puts them in one of the most favorable occupation classes carriers write. Premiums generally run below what the medical market pays for equivalent coverage, and technology roles also sit outside the high-risk occupational group, so full-benefit-period mental health coverage is available across all five majors.
Mental health coverage is where a tech buyer most often loses value by accepting a default. Several carriers offer a small premium discount in exchange for a 24-month cap on mental and nervous claims, and taking that discount without reading what it costs is a common way to end up with materially weaker coverage than the savings justify. On some contracts the full benefit period is an election you have to make, so it is worth confirming on each quote rather than assuming.
How the comparison works
Tell us five things
Role, income, state, gender, and date of birth. Equity and bonus details, plus your employer's group plan, sharpen the sizing.
We run all five carriers
Quotes are run simultaneously against your role's class, with each carrier's income treatment applied to your actual package.
You decide with the full picture
You receive the side-by-side comparison, usually within one business day. Nothing goes to a carrier until you choose to apply.
No fee, and no change to your price
Seaworthy is an independent brokerage. The agency is compensated by the carrier only when you decide to place coverage, so the comparison itself costs nothing, and the premium is identical whether you apply through Seaworthy or directly with the carrier.
Prefer to talk it through first? Call (800) 518-1190.
What our clients say
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Tech quote questions
Is there a fee for a software engineer disability insurance quote comparison?
No. Seaworthy is compensated by the carrier when you choose to place coverage, so the comparison costs you nothing. The premium is the same whether you apply through Seaworthy or directly with the carrier, because commissions are built into the rates state insurance regulators approve.
What documentation do I need for equity income to count?
Two years of tax returns is the backbone of the file, paired with vesting statements or an equity portal export showing what vested and when. Carriers are looking for a recurring pattern rather than a single large event, so a steady quarterly vest documents far more easily than one cliff. If your vesting history is short, applying now on documented base and bonus, then increasing later under a future increase option, generally produces a better result than waiting for the record to build.
I work at a pre-IPO startup and much of my package is equity. What can I insure?
The insurable figure is your documented earned income, which for most startup employees is base salary plus any cash bonus. Illiquid or unvested equity does not size a benefit. A policy purchased now with a future increase option lets you raise coverage as vesting income becomes documentable, without new medical underwriting, which is the structure that fits a career where income steps up sharply.
Does my employer's group LTD cover enough?
For most senior engineers it does not, and the shortfall widens as you are promoted. Coverage is generally calculated on base salary while your compensation shifts toward equity, and these plans typically apply a monthly ceiling that senior packages clear easily. Benefits are taxable when the employer funds the premium, and the plan ends at your last day rather than following you to the next company. An individually owned policy is portable and pays tax-free benefits when you fund the premium with after-tax dollars. Tax treatment varies by situation, so confirm the specifics with a tax professional.
Can I get coverage on an H-1B or other work visa?
Generally yes. All five major carriers consider work-visa applicants, though treatment differs by carrier and visa type, and some apply case-by-case review or add a foreign-travel exclusion. Carriers differ meaningfully here, so running all five at once is worth more to a visa holder than to a citizen applicant with an otherwise identical file.