Today’s video explains how disability appeal lawyers can really help when the insurance company denies your claim. One of the main ways we assist is to fully “load the administrative record” with favorable evidence during the appeals process.
What does “load the record” mean, and why is it so important?
You know that to file a successful initial disability claim includes a lot more than just filling out forms. This holds true for appealing a long term disability insurance denial.
Appeals require insight and knowledge of how to use the forms – and also how to supplement the appeal beyond the insurance company’s paperwork. To launch the best possible appeal, disability insurance attorneys will position your case for success with additional medical, vocational and financial evidence.
It all boils down to proving you are disabled: you meet your policy’s guidelines and your claim was incorrectly rejected. The evidence you submit in your disability appeal is key.
A long term disability appeal attorney is able to cut to the chase and take the most efficient path to acquiring medical and vocational records, job description evidence, plus written statements from family, co-workers and friends, and much more to support your claim.
Disability Appeal Lawyers Know What it takes to Overturn Denied Claims
First we respond to every question or point raised by the insurer that led to the claim denial. Then we load the administrative record with evidence helpful to your claim. In addition, we take many precautions to protect you.
- Additional testing may be in order. As appropriate, our attorneys arrange for our own IME (independent medical exam) or FCE (functional capacity exam) or other medical testing (CTs, MRIs, blood work) that can help confirm you are disabled, or fulfill demands for “objective medical finding” stated in the insurance policy.
- Disability appeal lawyers will draft the appeal to argue against any distortions or misrepresentation of the evidence by the insurer, such as unfair claim handling procedures or slanted in-house medical reviews.
- We will connect your disabling condition(s) to a full and complete account of your job’s actual duties, including job description evidence under the Department of Labor’s Dictionary of Occupational Titles – not the generic job description given by the insurance company or your employer.
- You may be dealing with unwilling or too-busy physicians, who prefer not to get bogged down in the insurance company’s endless requests for data. We work closely with your physicians, medical and vocational experts to help ease any difficulties in completing their statements in the best possible light, and protect them from harassment by the insurance company.
But the Insurance Company Does Not Require I Do All of This!
That’s right, and it is one reason so many long term disability appeals are denied. The forms and information presented to claimants by the insurance company generally make no mention of submitting specific additional evidence.
In fact, the appeal forms sent from your insurance company may be composed in such a way as to encourage responses from you that could lead to a denial. This includes prompting a poorly prepared or insufficient appeal.
Experienced disability appeal lawyers know the insurance company’s thinking and strategies. Most insurers do not want to pay your benefits. Claims are often denied for the wrong reasons, regardless of the claim’s validity.
In these cases, we use the law to protect you. For example,
- If the insurer hires private investigators to record you engaging in activities which they can use to prove you are not disabled, we are there to counter these false accusations.
- Insurance companies are famous for not responding to your calls, or delaying needed correspondence or stonewalling you in other ways. Representation by good disability appeal lawyers can prevent this from the start.
It is not unusual for the insurance company to deny an appeal.
This is especially true in the case of group disability claims, where ERISA law rules and the insurer has nothing really to lose. If the insurer denies the claim on appeal, the next step is a lawsuit in court.
In ERISA-based cases, you will not be allowed to submit any new evidence. But because your lawyers took care of you, you will know that your appeal is loaded with all the evidence you would want the court to review, should it come to that.
Call the Disability Appeal Lawyers at Marc Whitehead & Associates
When illness or injury stops you from earning a living, long term disability insurance is a critical safeguard for you and your family
Our law firm can help you take care of everything from preparing and filing your initial claim, to representing you in federal court if the insurance company does not play fair.
Contact us to learn how can assist you. With so much at stake, we are ready to help when you need us.
Ask Us About Your Claim Today.
If you were denied long term disability benefits, Social Security Disability or Veterans’ Disability Compensation, we are prepared to help you now. 1-800-562-9830