What to Expect in a New York Life Disability Benefit Denial Lawsuit

You probably feel as if the Appeal review conducted by New York Life was a sham and you never had a chance to have your New York Life disability benefit denial reversed. Your feeling of being called a liar by New York Life and questioning if it is even worth filing a New York Life disability appeal is exactly New York Life’s plan. The sad truth is that the law governing long term disability insurance claims favors disability insurance companies and therefore a high percentage of New York Life disability appeal denials are upheld. New York Life hopes that you will just go away and that they can strong-arm you to return to work out of financial necessity. The good news is that with a strong legal strategy your New York Life disability benefit lawsuit can result in a recovery of your disability benefits.

What Should You Expect In A New York Life Disability Lawsuit?

Through our experience of having helped thousands of New York Life disability insurance claimants nationwide, we would like the opportunity to help you win your New York Life disability benefit lawsuit. In order to help you understand what to expect in a New York Life disability lawsuit, Attorneys Gregory Dell and Stephen Jessup have prepared the New York Life disability lawsuit video above. We encourage you to contact any of our disability insurance lawyers for a free immediate review of your New York Life disability claim denial.

When Can A New York Life Disability Lawsuit Be Filed?

The answer to this question depends on whether you have a policy governed by The Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), a private insurance policy that is not governed by ERISA. If you have a New York Life disability that was provided to you as an employee benefit, then your claim is almost always governed by ERISA. An ERISA disability lawsuit cannot be filed against New York Life until you have received a denial of the appeal you submitted to New York Life. An ERISA appeal usually must be filed within either three years of your date of disability or the date of the final disability denial decision. If New York Life fails to make a timely decision on your appeal you can file suit without having to go through the appeal process., then you can sue them without a decision on your appeal. 

The law governing time periods to file lawsuits is known as the Statute of Limitations and it is an area of law that is regularly changing and not consistent from state to state. In a Non-ERISA disability benefit claim denial an appeal is usually not required by New York Life and most lawsuits can be filed 90 days after proof of loss is due but no later than 3 years after the date of denial. The period of time in which a lawsuit must be filed can be a complicated analysis determined by a combination of the policy language and the law of the state in which the person was denied. The best thing to do in many cases to avoid a statutory problem is to file a lawsuit as soon as reasonably possible.

Our Clients Have Recovered New York Life Disability Benefits in 99% of our New York Life Disability Lawsuits.

As much as we love to beat up New York Life for their wrongful disability claim denials, we know how to set our egos aside. Our goal for every client is to try to resolve their New York Life claim in the most expedient and efficient manner possible. Upon review of your disability denial letter from New York Life we can immediately let you know if you have a claim that we think we can help you with. We look forward to speaking with you to discuss your options against New York Life.

What Are the Most Challenging Issues in a New York Life Disability Lawsuit?

The most challenging aspect of any disability lawsuit is the fact that your New York Life disability benefit denial is likely governed by ERISA, a pro-insurance company federal law that governs almost all employer-provided disability policies. ERISA was designed so that insurance companies could offer affordable benefits to employees and in return have limited lawsuit expenses if a disability claim is denied. If your disability policy was not provided by your employer, then you will not have to worry about the ERISA lawsuit limitations. In our video below, disability attorneys Stephen Jessup and Gregory Dell discuss the reasons why ERISA makes disability lawsuits against a company like New York Life challenging.

Five Reasons ERISA Disability Laws Favor New York Life 

1. No jury trials are permitted;
2. No punitive damages;
3. Very limited discovery;
4. The Judge usually must apply a standard of review that defers to the insurance company’s conclusion that you are not disabled;
5. The Judge can remand the case back to New York Life for any additional chance to review the claim and deny it again;

How Much Does Our Firm Charge to Handle a New York Life Disability Lawsuit?

The proper preparation of a lawsuit against New York Life takes a lot of legal time and our law firm is selective in the type and quantity of cases we accept. Providing the highest level of legal work and personal attention to your claim is a fundamental mode of operation for every lawyer in our firm. We are not high volume social security lawyers that are trying to handle disability insurance claims against New York Life.

We have been handling claims against New York Life for over 30 years. We only handle New York Life disability lawsuits on a contingency fee basis. This means that we charge you a percentage of the disability benefits that we recover on your behalf. If we are not successful at recovering any disability benefits for you, then you do not owe us any attorney fees or cost for the work that we have done on your behalf. 

More than 90% of the disability lawsuits that we have handled against New York Life have resolved in a one-time lump sum settlement. We encourage you to review some of our New York Life resolved case summaries to learn more about our experience. Most of our New York Life disability lawsuit settlements have confidentiality provisions which limit our ability to discuss specific details about the cases.

Collecting New York Life Disability Benefits Is A Reality

Through our 30+ years of experience litigating against New York Life and our daily work on behalf of New York Life disability claimants nationwide, we have seen and we are constantly aware of every claims handling technique used by New York Life. We are one of the few law firms in the entire country that has the experience of going through a jury trial and receiving a favorable verdict against New York Life. As a result of our years of battling New York Life we have established a strong reputation and a unique litigation technique that allows us to cut through the traditional 18 to 24 month delay in resolving a New York Life disability lawsuit.

We encourage you to contact any of our disability insurance lawyers to discuss some strategies for a possible resolution of your New York Life disability denial. It is incredible and sad how many people we see give up the fight following a claim denial as they don’t want to deal with New York Life. Our lawyers make the lawsuit process as simple as possible for claimants by requiring almost no time or effort by the claimant to pursue a New York Life lawsuit. Any of our disability lawyers are available for an immediate free phone consultation to discuss your New York Life claim denial.

What are the Top 10 Reasons for New York Life Disability Denials?

1. New York Life denied the claim based on objective medical evidence
2. New York Life’s in-house doctor denied the disability claim
3. With no exam a third party medical company denied a New York Life claim
4. With functional limitations New York Life denied a disability claim because claimant has the ability to perform sedentary occupation
5. After a compulsory medical exam a doctor hired by New York Life denied the disability claim
6. New York Life denied claim based on a vocational consultant evaluation of employable with other occupation
7. New York Life ignored claimants treating doctor’s opinion of limited work restrictions and denied claim
8. Based on video surveillance New York Life denied disability claim
9. My definition of disability changed from own occupation to any occupation and New York Life denied my disability claim
10. New York Life based your denial on a mental disability and not a physical disability and therefore limited your benefits to 24 months