No one expects to have trouble with their long term disability claim. A disabling condition, such as cancer, diabetes, chronic fatigue, back injury, PTSD, depression or any serious illness or accidental injury can interrupt or end a person’s ability to earn a living.
Insurance companies are in business to make money for themselves and their shareholders. To escape paying benefits on valid claims, many resort to a playbook of denial tactics, such as insisting that:
- your condition does not disable you from performing your “own occupation”
- you are able to work in another occupation
- your disability is due to a pre-existing condition
- your disability is a “mental” or “nervous” condition, and benefits are therefore limited
- there is no objectively verifiable medical evidence (your condition is based only upon subjective symptoms, such as pain or fatigue)
- their own medical “experts” find that you are not disabled.
- you were not eligible for insurance coverage at the time the disability occurred
Even if your long term disability claim was approved by your insurance provider, that is not the end of the process. We have represented many clients whose LTD benefits were terminated after approval.
Insurance companies look for any reason to stop paying benefits, and may resort to further tactics, hoping to wear you down until you give up. For example, after paying benefits for a year or two, you may be subjected to hidden surveillance, or pressured by continuous or unreasonable requests for more documentation.
What are my options if my long term disability claim is denied or cancelled?
So often, the battle isn’t over the merits of the case, the battle is with the insurance company’s unwillingness to fairly pay claims. To that end, the insurance company has a team of attorneys working on their behalf.
To greatly improve the chances of winning your appeal or even later in litigation, you need the same. It is critical that you have an experienced disability lawyer on your side who has fought and won long term disability claim cases many times.
A disabled claimant is naturally the ideal victim. When you’re too sick to work, you are also too sick to fight the insurance company. Long term disability lawyer Marc Whitehead is dedicated to fighting these cases, changing lives for the better, and making justice a reality for each client.
If your claim for disability benefits is denied, there are deadlines and requirements that you must comply with. Therefore, time is of the essence.
To speak with us about your disability claim, call 800-562-9830 or ask a disability lawyer about your LTD claim online.