Disability Insurance Benefit Tips

For all intents and purposes, yes. Despite any concern an insured may have with their employer knowing any information about their disability, or concerns over what an employer/former employer might say, understanding your occupational duties is paramount to the claims review process.Generically, disability insurance policies define Disability to mean (1) a medical condition (2) prevents you from performin...

Yes, as it can change the "standard of review" a court must apply at trial from the "arbitrary and capricious" standard of review to a "de novo" standard, which in turn increases the chances of success at trial.Arbitrary and Capricious Standard in Disability Insurance Cases and Discretionary ClauseIn the majority of ERISA governed long term disability policies, the insurance company adds a "discretiona...

For all intents and purposes, no. The law is pretty clear that following a final denial of benefits no additional information can be added to the administrative record in anticipation of trial, as the administrative record consists only of the evidence that was before the carrier when it rendered its final decision to deny benefits.A recent ruling by a Federal Magistrate Judge from New Jersey in the case o...

Disability Attorney Gregory Dell discusses malingering and what it means in the context of your claim for disability benefits. Simply put, "malingering" is a medical term which means that you're either faking or exaggerating your medical condition. It is not uncommon for a disability insurance company to allege that you are exaggerating your symptoms for the pur...

It is common practice for insurance companies to find ways to limit the amount of money they have to pay to claimants. If you are receiving long-term disability benefits from a policy governed by ERISA, you have most likely been required to also file for Social Security Disability Income benefits. Insurance companies write this requirement into their policies so they can reap the benefits of any past money awa...

Attempts to garnish disability benefits for outstanding debts are not uncommon. However, depending on the basis for seeking garnishment, the amount that may be garnished could be limited under the Consumer Credit Protection Act.In an interesting recent decision from the United States Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit in United States of America v. Joyce Ashsraft, the Court reviewed for the first time wh...

Insurance companies often deny Waiver of Life Insurance Premium requests caused by a disability due to the any occupation definition of disability. If your waiver of premium request has been denied, it is essential to take immediate action.Disability insurance attorneys Stephen Jessup and Gregory Dell have created a video in which they discuss Waiver of Life...

There are only a handful of states that will allow an insured to bring a claim against a disability insurance company for bad faith claim handling or bad faith denial of benefits. In a recent video, Disability Attorneys Cesar Gavidia and Gregory Dell discuss common examples of Bad Faith Disability Insurance Claims. Bad faith claims are not permitted under group ...

If your policy is an employer provided group disability policy governed by ERISA, then any proceeds you receive from a settlement based on "No fault" auto insurance may very well be subject to repayment as "Other Income Benefits." This situation came to light in a recent federal court case in Michigan against Life Insurance Company of America (LINA-more commonly known as Cigna) and serves as a warning to any c...

Almost every Group (ERISA) Long Term Disability Benefit Plan contains a provision which limits the length of time disability benefits will be paid for a mental/nervous or mental health condition. If a disability results from a mental health condition, benefits are typically limited to 24 months and can even be limited to just 12 months. For this reason, disability insurance companies go to extra lengths to att...

The Medical Daily journal recently reported a "breakthrough" regarding research into the cause of Fibromyalgia. Fibromyalgia, as a diagnosis, has instigated much controversy in the medical community, with many believing that the disease was only in the patient's head.Researchers from a biopharmaceutical company, Intidyn, along with Albany Medical College, found that the ultimate cause of Fibromyalgia pain ...

In order to file a claim for short-term and/or long-term disability, the insurance company requires that you obtain treatment from a medical doctor that specializes in your particular disability. It is equally as important to find a doctor who is willing to clearly document your restrictions and limitations in the medical record and to periodically fill out forms called Attending Physician Statements (APS) to ...

On a daily basis, the law firm of Dell Disability Lawyers receives countless calls from claimants who have failed to file their administrative appeals within the required 180 day. Unfortunately, under ERISA regulations, once the 180 day time limit has expired the insurance company is not required to accept your appeal. If your insurance company refuses to accept the untimely appeal, your claim will be closed a...

Lloyds of London disability insurance policies are often very restrictive and are different than most disability insurance policies available from just about every other company. When shopping for disability insurance one will discover that there are multiple insurance companies that can offer a variety of different disability insurance policies, and all can contain different definitions, language and coverage...

If you are a resident of California, Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, or Pennsylvania you may be eligible to have a previously denied Cigna long term disability claim re-evaluated. Pursuant to the May 13, 2013 Cigna Regulatory Settlement Agreement, Cigna must reassess long term disability insurance claims that were denied to residents of Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, or Pennsylvania between January 1, 2...

Occasionally, the issue arises of a disability insurance company misstating the terms and coverage of a disability insurance policy, either verbally or in written correspondence. Most of the time the misstatement is a simple mistake, and due to the claim specialist failing to proofread their letter. Sometimes the misstatement is made on a mistaken belief. Generally, misstatements made in correspondence from a ...

The ability for a Judge to remand, or "send a claim back" to an disability insurance company for further review is another unique characteristic of an ERISA based disability insurance lawsuit. In turn, the Court has three options in ruling on a case: 1) award benefits to the plaintiff, 2) agree with the insurance company denial or 3) remand the case back to the insurance company for further review. It is very ...

The Administrative Record (also known as a claim file) consists of all the information provided by a claimant to support disability during the course of a claim (to include claim forms, medical records and employment information) or information collected by or created by an insurance carrier during the course of its review of a claim for entitlement to benefits. The Administrative Record spans the time from wh...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xPPjITGHhesHiring a disability insurance attorney will put someone on your side who can navigate the complexities of disability insurance law and battle for the best possible outcome for your case. We know the reasons why the disability insurance companies deny claims. Dell Disability Lawyers specialty is knowing what the di...

A recent D.C. Court ruling in an ERISA long term disability denial lawsuit sparks the question: If a claim for disability insurance benefits has been denied, is the claimant required to file an ERISA appeal with the insurance company, or can the claimant bypass the appeal process and, upon denial, move forward and file a civil lawsuit under ERISA? The general answer is that in almost every case a claimant must...