Is it hard to get approved for long-term disability insurance?
If you’re considering filing a long term disability insurance claim, you may wish you knew the answer to the question weighing most on your mind: will I be approved for long term disability insurance? Unfortunately, there’s no quick or simple answer to that question, and your odds of disability insurance approval will depend on factors ranging from the type of disability insurance policy you have (group or individual) to how often you see your doctor. Learn more about what goes into being approved for long term disability insurance and why it’s so important to seek regular treatment from your doctor.
Factors that Make it Difficult to get Approved for Disability Income Benefits
There are a few factors that can make disability insurance claim approval an uphill battle. One of the biggest factors is also one of the most basic – how the disability insurance policy defines disability. A disability insurance policy that provides benefits if the claimant can’t perform their current job will be far more generous than one that only provides benefits if the claimant can’t perform any job. Reading your LTD long term disability insurance policy carefully (and consulting a disability insurance attorney) can give you more information on what level of disability you’ll need to prove.
Group Disability Insurance Policy vs. Individual Disability Insurance Policy
Group disability policies, or ERISA policies, are generally provided by a claimant’s employer. Individual policies are purchased directly from the disability insurance company, usually through an insurance agent. With these disability insurance policies, the mantra “you get what you pay for” is in full effect – ERISA policies are far less expensive than individual policies and, correspondingly, have far stricter limits on coverage.
Under both ERISA and individual long term disability policies, claimants whose claims are denied disability insurance benefits may sue the disability insurance carrier. But with an ERISA policy, before you can file a disability insurance lawsuit, you’ll need to seek an administrative appeal – and once this disability insurance appeal has been decided, the record is closed. This means any information that didn’t make it into the record can’t be considered in deciding whether you’re entitled to disability benefits. Under an individual disability insurance policy, you don’t need to seek an administrative appeal, you have the right to request a jury trial, and your disability claim is subject to a less burdensome standard of review.
Why Medical Treatment is so Important in a Disability Claim
The timing of medical treatment can be a make-or-break moment in a disability insurance claim, particularly those involving chronic or degenerative conditions. If you can show that you’ve been visiting the doctor for years and your medical records establish that your condition has worsened, your disability insurance claim is far more likely to be approved than if you didn’t see a doctor until several weeks after you stopped working.
Every Month a Disability Insurance Claimant has a Duty to Get Medical Treatment Regularly
If you’re not regularly seeing a doctor, it’s time to start. Disability insurance carriers have a financial incentive to deny claims whenever they can, so seeing that you’re seeking medical treatment only intermittently may help the insurer argue one of two things: (1) your disability isn’t that serious (or you’d be seeing the doctor more often); or (2) you’re exacerbating your disability by not going to the doctor. Many disability insurance policies specifically provide, as a condition of the continued receipt of benefits, that claimants continue ongoing treatment until it is determined to no longer provide any benefit. But even if your disability insurance policy doesn’t specifically require ongoing treatment, maintaining regular appointments is still a good idea as it will help you continue to document your condition.
Contact the disability insurance Attorneys at Dell & Schaefer, give us a call or visit our website to get in touch with our team of experienced disability insurance lawyers, who can set up a free consultation to discuss your claim.
Resources to Help You Win Disability Benefits
Submit a Strong Appeal Package
We work with you, your doctors, and other experts to submit a very strong appeal.
Sue Your Disability Insurance Company
We have filed thousands of disability denial lawsuits in federal Courts nationwide.
Get Your Disability Application Approved
Prevent a Disability Benefit Denial
Negotiate a Lump-Sum Settlement
Our goal is to negotiate the highest possible buyout of your long-term disability policy.
Uses every dirty trick in the book
Unum is evil
Every month I get paid on a different date
They will do anything to not approve your claim
Reply
Don't trust them, they like to play games
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New York Life is a joke!
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Reviews from Our Clients







5 Ways We Help Get Your Benefits Paid
Our goal is to get your application for disability insurance benefits approved. Applying for disability insurance benefits can be a difficult process and the information you provide is critical. Most disability insurance companies look at your application in hopes of finding a reason to deny your claim. Your disability company will ask you to complete numerous forms, interview you, request lots of information, speak with your doctors and possibly request to have you examined by their hired gun doctor.
Through our experience of having helped thousands of disability insurance claimants, our disability insurance lawyers will guide you through the entire application process and give you the best chance to get your disability claim approved the first time.
If your disability insurance benefits have been wrongfully denied, then our disability insurance lawyers know exactly what it takes to get your disability claim approved. You only get once chance to submit an Appeal, therefore every piece of evidence that will support your disability claim must be included. The goal is to win your disability benefits at the Appeal level, but while preparing your Appeal you must consider how a federal judge will review your disability claim if your benefit denial is upheld.
Preparing a strong disability appeal package is an art that requires you to understand how the courts interpret your disability policy language, ERISA regulations / laws, and how to strategically present evidence in support of your definition of disability. We encourage you to contact any of our long-term disability attorneys for a free immediate review of your disability denial.
98% of the disability insurance lawsuits filed by our law firm have resulted in either the payment of benefits or a lump-sum settlement agreement. Our disability insurance attorneys have filed ERISA governed and private policy long term disability insurance lawsuits against every major disability insurance company in state and federal courts nationwide and we love fighting for the little guy against the multi-billion dollar insurance company giants.
We have recovered hundreds of millions of dollars for our clients and we would like the opportunity to provide you with a free review of your disability benefit denial. There are many complex factors in a disability benefit lawsuit and the legal battle to win long term disability benefits can be fierce.
Approval of long-term disability is a continuous process as every disability insurance company will evaluate your eligibility for benefits on a monthly basis. You can never let your guard down and assume that your disability company will continue to pay your benefits for as long as you think you need them.
Our disability insurance law firm offers a reasonable flat fee monthly claim handling service in which we handle every aspect of your long-term disability claim and do whatever it takes to make sure you are paid every month.
Let's discuss if a lump-sum settlement or buyout of your disability insurance claim is both available and makes financial sense for you. Our disability insurance lawyers have negotiated more than five-hundred million dollars in disability insurance buyouts and we know how to get you a maximum settlement. A disability insurance company is not required to offer a buyout and not every disability company offers them.
Questions About Hiring Us
We are disability insurance attorneys that know how to get your short or long term disability benefits paid. As a nationwide law firm we have helped thousands of disability insurance claimants throughout the United States to collect hundreds of millions of dollars of disability insurance benefits from every major disability insurance company.
Our attorneys have been able to either get our clients paid monthly disability benefits or obtain a one-time lump-sum settlement in more than 98% of our cases. Our disability insurance lawyers have seen it all when it comes to disability insurance claims and we know exactly what it takes for your disability claim to be approved.
We offer disability insurance attorney representation nationwide and we welcome you to contact any of our LTD lawyers for a free immediate review of your disability claim. We also invite you to visit and subscribe to our YouTube channel where we have more than 900 videos and regularly provide tips to help protect your disability benefits.
Our disability insurance attorneys help individuals that have either purchased a long term disability insurance policy from an insurance company or obtained short or long term disability insurance coverage as a benefit from their employer. We have helped individuals in almost every type of occupation with monthly disability benefit payments ranging from $1,500 to $50,000.
Our clients include all types of employees ranging from retail associates, sales representatives, government employees, police officers, teachers, janitors, nurses, pilots, truck drivers, financial advisors, doctors, dentists, veterinarians, lawyers, consultants, IT professionals, engineers, professional athletes, business owners, and high level executives.
A strong understanding and presentation of the duties of your occupation is essential for securing disability insurance benefits.
Yes. We are a national disability insurance law firm that is available to represent you regardless of where you live in the United States. We have partner lawyers in every state and we have filed lawsuits in most federal courts nationwide. Our disability insurance lawyers represent disability claimants at all stages of a claim for disability insurance benefits. There is nothing that our lawyers have not seen in the disability insurance world.
Since we represent disability insurance claimants at different stages of a disability insurance claim we offer a variety of different fee options. We understand that claimants living on disability insurance benefits have a limited source of income; therefore we always try to work with the claimant to make our attorney fees as affordable as possible.
The three available fee options are a contingency fee agreement (no attorney fee or cost unless we make a recovery), hourly fee or fixed flat rate.
In every case we provide each client with a written fee agreement detailing the terms and conditions. We always offer a free initial phone consultation and we appreciate the opportunity to work with you in obtaining payment of your disability insurance benefits.
No. For purposes of efficiency and to reduce expenses for our clients we have found that 99% of our clients prefer to communicate via phone, email, fax, or video conferencing sessions. If you prefer an initial in-person meeting please let us know. A disability company will never require you to come to their office and similarly we are set up so that we handle your entire claim without the need for you to come to our office.
When you call us during normal business hours you will immediately speak with a disability insurance attorney. We can be reached at 800-698-9159 or by email. Lawyers and staff must return all client calls same day. Client emails are usually replied to within the same business day and seem to be the preferred and most efficient method of communication for most clients.