Disability Insurance Lawsuit Stories

A recent federal court opinion upheld Reliance Standard's decision to terminate a claimant's long-term disability benefits. The Court stated that the existence of both an Independent Medical Examination ("IME") and a Functional Capacity Examination ("FCE") was evidence of a thorough investigation. The Court concluded that the results of those exams and the inconsistent documentation from the claimant's physici...

In this episode disability insurance attorney Stephen Jessup discusses a recent 7th Circuit Court of Appeals case in which MetLife's ERISA disability denial was reversed for numerous reasons. This opinion is a great tool for disability insurance claimants as the court found that MetLife acted unreasonably by:wrongfully requiring objective evidence of a pain condition which can not be proven objectively;ign...

A Federal Appellate Court recently upheld the decision by Eaton Corporation and Broadspire Services to discontinue the long-term disability benefits to Janice Curry after paying for 8 years. In Curry v. Eaton, the Court ruled that Eaton and Broadspire were not "arbitrary and capricious" in denying continuation of her long-term benefits. The Court found that the review of the treating physicians' reports conduc...

This long term disability insurance case against Companion Life is another classic example of a disability insurance company's wrongful use of video surveillance to deny disability insurance benefits. This claimant won her court battle with Companion Life, but she was forced to survive for more than 4 years without receiving any long term disability benefits. Let's take a closer look at the case of Gail Lewand...

In this episode disability insurance attorneys Gregory Dell, Stephen Jessup and Cesar Gavidia of Dell Disability Lawyers discuss Unum and their handling of long term disability insurance claims. Unum has taken over all disability polices sold by Paul Revere, Provident, Unum Provident, and Colonial Life. Unum is the world's largest provider of disability insurance...

When the Court sends a claim back to the long-term disability insurance company for another review, it is no guarantee that the insurance company will grant long-term disability benefits, as the case of Cheryl Schwarzwaelder demonstrates. In a recent case against Metropolitan Life Insurance Company (MetLife), the court remanded the case back to Metlife for further review, which resulted in another claim denial...

Since 2001, Prudential Insurance Company of America has approved and denied the long term disability benefits of Donna Elms on numerous occasions. Despite the approval of SSDI benefits and support from her treating physicians, Prudential wrongfully denied disability benefits. This case is a classic example of the continuous difficulties that a disability company can give a claimant throughout the duration of t...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5Rf0gWu3ksIn this two part episode disability insurance attorneys Gregory Dell Stephen Jessup and Rachel Alters of Dell Disability Lawyers discuss Liberty Mutual Disability Insurance Company and their handling of long term and short term disability insurance claims.From our law firms experience of handling disability clai...

This disability insurance denial by American United Life Insurance Company (American) and Disability Reinsurance Management Services is a classic example of a disability insurance company's effort to convert a physical disability claim into a mental nervous claim only. Most disability insurance policies limit disability benefits to 24 months for a mental nervous condition, therefore disability companies will t...

In my opinion Aetna's handling of our client's long term disability claim is egregious and unreasonable. We share this story with you in order to continuously educate the public about the conduct of many disability insurance companies.My client suffers from fibromyalgia, depression, and multiple other conditions. She has been receiving benefits from Aetna for two years and her definition of disability rece...

A Michigan Federal Judge recently ruled that Prudential Insurance Company Of America's denial of long term disability benefits was arbitrary and capricious. The court found that Prudential ignored the claimant's complaints of pain, failed to evaluate his occupational duties, ignored the opinions of his treating physicians, relied exclusively on a paper review of the medical records rather than examining the cl...

Eight years of battling Sun Life for long-term benefits and the claimant finally prevails. Sun Life should be ashamed for their lack of respect for this disability claimant and their unreasonable claim handling. Sun Life's attempt to use hired gun doctors was shot down by the court. This case is an example of a situation where a person could be disabled yet continue to be at work until the day they are fired. ...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIrHK6wKd_oSun Life was founded in 1865 and they are the one of the top five largest disability insurance companies in the world. They are based in Toronto, Canada, but more than 40% of their business is from the United States. They are a multi-billion dollar insurance company.In this two-part episode disability insuranc...

Our Client, Mr. B worked as a Traffic Central Worker II, often for long hours installing traffic sign throughout Broward County. Despite his strong ambition to work, Mr. B suffered disabling symptoms arising from chronic hepatitis-C, which in turn prevented him from continuing the job he maintained for a number of years.Mr. B made a claim for disability benefits under his group long-term disability policy ...

As an employee of Prudential Insurance Company of America (Prudential), Duane Morgan might have expected more of his employer when he had to take advantage of the long-term disability plan offered as part of his employment package. He had been a senior life representative when symptoms of chest pain, palpitations and dizziness, sweating and shaking, numbness in his arms, high blood pressure, difficulty sleepin...

This case is another example of Prudential Insurance Company's unreasonable reliance on paper file medical reviews in order to deny long term disability insurance claims. A paper review means that Prudential will not examine the disability claimant and will either use their own doctor or hire an external doctor to review the claimant's medical records. Through the use of Pennsylvania disability attorneys, the ...

Hartford claims that the disability claimant did not properly submit an ERISA Appeal and therefore her lawsuit should be dismissed. A recent decision by United States District Court, Eastern District of Arkansas highlights how important it is for long-term disability claimants to exhaust the entire appeals process with the disability insurance company before filing an ERISA lawsuit.When Mattie William's Ar...

MetLife claims that this disability claimant became disabled the date after her employment ended and therefore she is not entitled to any disability benefits. This unreasonable argument by Metlife has unfortunately delayed payments to Ms. Jones for more than 4 years and it remains undetermined if she will ever be awarded long term disability benefits. The worst part about this case is that ERISA laws prevent t...

Our disability lawyers have reviewed hundreds of Hartford disability claims in which benefits were denied due to the definition of disability changing from "own-occupation" to "any-occupation".A decision rendered by the United States District Court for the Western District of Louisiana, Shreveport division, demonstrates how important it is for a claimant who is seeking to support continuing disability unde...

Our long term disability lawyers only handle disability insurance claims against insurance companies; however I thought the findings by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeal in the case of Berry v. Astrue, could easily be applied to any long term disability insurance claim. I have listed below the history of the case and highlights of the court's decision in deciding to reverse the disability claim denial.In Sep...