Disability Insurance Lawsuit Stories

When a disability attorney wins an ERISA claim for his or her client, it is common to ask for pre-judgment interest as part of the appropriate restitution. There is a valid reason for making this request. The disability insurance company prevented the Claimant from receiving their money and as a result the claimant lost interest on the money. Additionally, while the insurance company held back the claimant's m...

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has the opportunity to sign California Assembly Bill 1868 ("AB 1868") and put an end to unreasonable discretionary clauses contained in ERISA governed long term disability policies. Discretionary clauses provides authority to the insurer to determine eligibility for benefits or coverage, interpret the terms of the policy, or interpret the terms of the contract in a man...

Our law firm was recently contacted by an individual that was receiving long term disability income payments from Prudential. This disability claimant has been on long term disability for approximately 12 months. His disability is the result of a disabling knee condition. His Prudential long term disability policy defines "disability" for the first 24 months as the inability to perform the substantial and mate...

A case heard before the U.S. District Court's Southern District in Texas gives us an opportunity to study ERISA pre-emption. George Monkhouse originally filed his suit against his employer, Stanley Associates Inc. (Stanley) in the 506th Judicial District Court of Grimes County, Texas. He claimed that Stanley had failed to provide the disability benefits promised in its short-term disability income plan. The pl...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qgrAkpQgdfMMetLife has more than 50,000 employees, revenues in excess of $40 billion dollars and is one of the top three largest group long term disability insurance companies in the world. MetLife is no stranger when it comes to denying and defending their decisions in court.In this episode disability insurance attorney...

Certain Underwriters at Lloyd's London insurance company took almost two years to make a decision regarding a doctor's disability application for benefits. When he sued, the Court stayed the suit until an arbitration panel could review his claim. This article discusses the how the final disability benefit award was finally settled.Most people don't think of cardiologists developing heart conditions. It is ...

There seems to be a trend recently in which the Hartford disability insurance company is closely scrutinizing long term disability claims regardless of how long a claimant has been on claim. In the past 7 days I have been contacted by two separate claimants that have been on claim with Hartford for over 20 years and are having issues with Hartford. We usually see problems develop with long term disability clai...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_8oD_tAPA4Cigna / LINA (Life Insurance Company of North America) is one of the world's largest Group ERISA long-term disability insurance companies. Through our law firm's review of hundreds of CIGNA / LINA disability claims we have found that most of the disability benefit claim denials are based upon CIGNA's allegations o...

Disability Insurance Attorneys Gregory Michael Dell and Rachel Alters of Dell Disability Lawyers have filed a lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida against Liberty Life Assurance Company of Boston "Liberty Mutual" for failure to pay long-term disability benefits owed to a disability claimant in violation of The Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA)....

A de novo review gives a disability claimant the ability to have the court review their claim denial without any deference to the disability insurance company's denial. This case is an example of the extended legal battle and technical legal argument that took place in order to obtain a de novo review for Ms. Jobe. Ruth Jobe lost her ERISA lawsuit in District Court, because that Court sided with the disability...

When Ruth Jobe lost her ERISA disability lawsuit in District Court, she could have decided that there was no hope for recovering the disability benefits she believed Dearborn National/Dearborn Group had wrongfully denied her. When she listened to the wisdom of her disability insurance attorney and appealed the decision of Judge Laughrey of the Western District of Missouri's Central Division, it proved to ...

As an employee of Wachovia, Sharon Creel had participated in her employer's short-term and long-term disability plan. After she was hospitalized for chest pain and partial paralysis in July 2002, she applied for short-term disability. Her application was approved.When her short-term disability coverage expired in January 2003, Liberty Mutual approved her application for long-term disability benefits, but c...

A decision reached in the Eleventh Circuit of the U.S. Court of Appeals highlights the on-going legal battle that a disability claimant can experience if their claim for long term disability insurance benefits is denied. Sharon Creel had been a group product manager at Wachovia Corporation before her hospitalization for an attack of chest pain and partial paralysis on July 15, 2002. She applied successfully fo...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KmbfIPxWwyoOf the more than 40 disability insurance companies that sell long-term disability insurance coverage, it is my opinion that Hartford is one of the worst disability insurance companies to deal with.Hartford is a "two headed monster" that will hide behind the wall of ERISA disability laws in an effort to unfairl...

Yet, another case that has appeared in District Court demonstrates the challenge long-term disability attorneys face when representing a client when the Court uses the arbitrary and capricious standard to review the decision of a long-term disability plan. Even though the case we are going to consider involves a claim administrator with both discretion to determine whether the claimant qualified for benefits a...

A disability insurance claimant's medical records and the support of a treating physician are vital to supporting a long-term disability claim. The case of Blackwell v. Unum Insurance Company of America highlights this once again. In this article, we will look at one man's medical records and the disability insurance plan's response to the records. There may be lessons to learn in the process.Paul Blackwel...

As a participant in Sears Long-Term Disability Plan, Frank Blankenship's problems began when he suffered a heart attack in August 2003. The Plan administrator, Metropolitan Life Insurance Company (MetLife) initially approved Blankenship's application for short-term disability but denied his application for long-term disability benefits five months later in January 2004.Several months later, MetLife changed...

A long term disability insurance ERISA lawsuit filed against MetLife filed in U.S. District Court's Northern District of Alabama, highlights once again the fact that you cannot depend on a disability plan to do what's best for you. This case shows yet again that disability insurance companies aren't above trying to skew the facts so they can discontinue short-term and long-term disability benefits while mainta...

This case was decided before the United States Supreme Court modified the standards for obtaining attorney fees in ERISA long-term disability lawsuits. To learn more about the criteria for an award of attorney fees visit ERISA disability claimants can receive attorney fees with "some degree of success". Had this case been decided after the US Supreme Court decision, it is possible that attorney fees may have b...

Willcox v Liberty Life Assurance Company of Boston is an interesting long term disability insurance case. Theresa Willcox originally brought her disability lawsuit in the U.S. District Court in Minnesota. When Liberty Life determined that she did not qualify to have her short-term disability benefits extended into long-term disability benefits, she made the usual appeals to the decision. Liberty Life made its ...