In this video Marc Whitehead, board certified disability Attorney, explains how to start a Long term disability insurance claim.
As soon as you realize that you are having serious medical problems and that it is not going away you need to file for disability insurance benefits. Unfortunately a lot of people just don’t know where to start or what to do. After all, how many of us really read through all of the documentation we got when we were first hired at our company. If you have even heard of ERISA law that chance of you really understanding it and knowing the specifics are really slim.
What are the steps to start your disability insurance claim? In order to begin your claim the first thing you need to do is to request the proper forms from the Human Resources department of your employer. These forms should be called disability benefits forms. Your employer is required to give these to any employee that asks for them.
Next: You need to make an appointment with your doctor and take the Attending Physicians Form with you. After your doctor examines you they’ll indicate whether or not they think you’re disabled and what condition you’re suffering from.
Once you complete all the forms they have to be sent to your insurance carrier. You’ll also have to turn in a list of all the physicians you are currently seeing. Your insurer will use this information to investigate the claim. This is a process that can take some time but ERISA law does offer you some protections that prevent insurers from dragging the investigations out indefinably. Once the insurance company has completed their review of your application, they will contact you stating whether you are approved or whether your benefits have been denied and explain the next steps in the process. In this case you will receive a letter of denial stating why they felt you did not qualify for disability benefits. At this point you have 180 days to build your case for disability and file what is know as the Administrative Appeal. This is critically important because not only are you arguing your case to the insurance company but you are also arguing you case to the federal judge who will decide your lawsuit should it become necessary.
At this point it is vital to have an experienced ERISA attorney to develop vocational and medical evidence in your claim. If your claim is denied contact an experienced ERISA disability attorney immediately. Having good representation from the beginning of your appeals process will help you raise the chances of having a denial over turned.
Marc Whitehead & Associates has over 20 years of experience in Long Term Disability claims denials and we can assist you to get the benefits that you deserve.
