Question
Does Metlife pay Disability payments ahead? Example: December payment is for January.
My LTD company is Metlife. I turned 65 and my payments end at age 65. My last payment is Oct. 29th when I turned 65 Metlife sent a letter verifying this. I received a payment on Sept 30th and Metlife states that payment is for Oct. I have been on LTD with Metlife since 2001. I have always been paid at the end of the month and I was never informed that my payments were for the following month. Metlife claims that they make their payments ahead. The payments are offset by SS which pays behind, so this makes no sense. I can't believe an insurer would pay ahead because people do not always remain disabled and the the insurer would be chasing down over payments. Can you answer my question does Metlife make LTD payments ahead?
Answer
Peg, most disability insurers pay monthly disability benefits in arrears, in other words, payments are made for the prior month. Unfortunately, I cannot tell you why MetLife is paying you in advance except that perhaps they are accelerating your benefit payments since you are already 65 and likely do not have many more payments remaining. I do not believe that advancing disability benefit payments is standard operating procedure by MetLife or any disability insurer so you may have been misinformed by the representative. You may contact MetLife and ask to speak with your claim representative instead of a customer service agent for a better explanation as to why they are advancing your benefit payments.
