Disability Insurance Benefit Tips

This is a question that should be answered by a tax advisor. As disability insurance lawyers we are not authorized to give tax advice. The general rule is that if you use post-tax dollars to pay the premiums, then the disability insurance benefits should not be taxable.Bill Bischoff, recently wrote the following article on this issue for smartmoney.com:Disability Insurance: Long-term disability coverag...

The answer to this question depends on the language contained within your long term disability insurance policy. In most disability claims that are governed by ERISA there is an offset provision for other disability related benefits such as SSDI, Worker Compensation or Veteran Benefits. There have been several court opinions around the country that have found that if a claimant is receiving VA benefits for a d...

What amounts to a business decision for your disability insurance company is a life decision for you as a disability benefit recipient. Your disability insurance company views you as a piece of paper, some medical documents, a persistent headache, and a drain on their bottom line. Your monthly disability payment is your home, your groceries, your health care - your livelihood; and you don't trust your disabili...

One of the first things our disability insurance attorneys will do with every disability claim is to determine whether or not the disability insurance policy is governed by ERISA. The analysis to determine if a disability plan is exempt from ERISA is complicated when a disability claimant received their policy through their employer. If you purchased your disability policy from an insurance agent or through an...

Almost all disability insurance policies provide a disability insurance company with the right to have the insured examined by a physician of their choice. The disability insurance companies can select any physician and a claimant must attend.These exams are commonly referred to as Independent Medical Exams ("IME EXAM"); however many courts refer to them as ...

The discretionary clause is a contractual term in a disability insurance policy that provide insurers with sole discretion in deciding if, when, and what benefits are due under the insurance policy.These clauses are only detrimental to a claimant if the policy is governed by ERISA. An example of a discretionary clause in a disability policy would state, "The administrator (insurance company) has sole discr...

As a disability claimant it is important to be aware of any limited benefit periods which may unfairly limit your benefits to two years. Once considered "fringe" conditions not commonly understood by many- especially Group Long Term Disability insurance companies, Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) have become more prevalent, spurning widespread acknowledgment and recognition of these debilitating...

Nationwide Disability Insurance Attorneys Gregory Dell and Stephen Jessup discuss the numerous reasons that ERISA is an unfair law that can negatively impact the thousands of people that file disability insurance claims each year.If your disability insurance coverage was obtained from your employer, then it is likely that your claim will be governed by ERISA...

If your disability insurance policy is governed by ERISA then your disability lawsuit will be filed in Federal Court.If you have an individual disability insurance policy, then it may be possible to file your lawsuit in either State or Federal Court.There are pro and cons to both state and federal court which must be evaluated on a case by case basis.The federal government has created a basic tutor...

In this episode disability insurance attorneys Gregory Dell and Cesar Gavidia of Dell Disability Lawyers discuss Mass Mutual Disability Insurance Company and their handling of long term disability insurance claims.Unlike many other long term disability insurance companies, Mass Mutual usually handles their long-term disability claims in a reasonable manner. ...

Whether you have an individual disability insurance policy or an ERISA governed group disability policy, the disability insurance company's only obligation is to pay you disability benefits on a monthly basis if you continue to satisfy the definition of disability. Some of the disability insurance companies have a business strategy of reducing their long term risk on a disability claim and will offer a lump su...

Disability insurance companies are notorious for conducting video surveillance of disability insurance claimants. A disability company will rely on 30 seconds of video footage in order to deny a claim. For example, we had a client with a neck injury that was observed swimming and turning her head for 30 seconds. As a result the disability company denied her benefits and claimed that if she could swim, then she...

Disability attorney Gregory Dell discusses how disability insurance companies evaluate a claimant's eligibility for disability benefits on a month to month basis and how a disability lawyer can assist a claimant throughout the process.Insurance companies act differently to lawyers than they do to individual claimants. The insurance companies are trained to k...

ERISA stands for the Employer Retirement Income Security Act and it was a Federal law that was passed in the early 1970s which was supposed to make it more affordable for employers to be able to offer long term disability coverage as well as health insurance for employees.In reality in my personal opinion, what happened is that, a lot of individuals, while they got a low price for this type of coverage, th...

The Department of Labor has drafted regulations which provide that a disability claim must be resolved, at the initial level, within 45 days of receipt of a complete application; a plan may, however, extend that decision-making period for an additional 30 days for reasons beyond the control of the plan.If, after extending the time period for a first period of 30 days, the plan administrator determines that...

Disability insurance attorney Cesar Gavidia discusses whether a claimant must sign the Social Security Disability reimbursement agreement requested by the disability insurance company.I often get phone calls asking me, "Do I have to sign the Social Security reimbursement agreement that was just sent to me by the insurance company?" You really have to look to...

Disability attorney Cesar Gavidia discusses what options a claimant may have if they are unable to pay for their doctor's visits.Insureds often find themselves in the dilemma of not being able to afford their doctor visits, but pursuant to the terms of their disability policy or the long-term disability plan, they have to be under the reasonable care of a ph...

Disability attorney Cesar Gavidia discusses whether your disability insurance company will pay your doctor to fill out the attending physicians statement requested by your disability insurance company.Clients ask me if the insurance company will pay for their doctor to fill out the Attending Physician Statement. The long and short of it is no, the insurance ...

Disability Insurance Attorney Gregory Dell discusses the popular question of whether disability insurance companies deny all claims for long term disability benefits.Some people will come up to me and say, "I heard I would have to be paralyzed in order for a disability insurance company to pay benefits." I think you may be surprised by my answer.The answ...

Disability Insurance Attorney Stephen Jessup discusses the situation where a disability claimant with multiple disability policies has the claim approved by one disability company but denied by a different company. It is a common occurence where a claimant may have multiple individual disability insurance policies or a group disability policy and an individual p...