Management Consultants, especially independent contractors, require a certain kind of disability insurance. Because there can be several months between projects ('on the bench"), it is important that the policy not require the consultant to be currently on a project for a certain number of hours per week in order to be claim eligible.

Additionally, earnings may fluctuate from year to year based on the project and bench times, and so the benefit formula for partial disability claism (which are based on loss of income) should allow for dips and long breaks in the calculation of pre-disability earnings so as not to penalize the consultant for bench time.

A related issue is the sedentary nature of consulting. It is somewhat likely that an illness would force a slowdown in work rather than an abrupt stop. In these situations, it would be important to be able to pivot the basis of claim to loss of income, in which case it matters a great deal how pre-disability earnings is calculated.

To the extent a management consultant has accounts receivables, it may be important to be able to qualify as disabled without a minimum loss of earnings requirement so that that the clock on the Elimination Period starts ticking - and benefits begin to accrue - as soon as possible.

Finally, because the pipeline will thin out during a period of disability, it may be difficult to restore the earnings stream upon recovery. Rebuilding may take time. Therefore it may be important to have loss of income benefits that continue upon recovery.