Principal Life Disability Denial of Truck Driver Reversed by Washington Federal Judge
This is an interesting long term disability benefit case that was litigated in the Washington Federal Court against Principal Life insurance. As we see with a lot of ERISA disability lawsuits, the insurance company denies a claimant’s long term disability claim when the definition of disability changes from OWN OCCUPATION to ANY OCCUPATION. In this case, Principal paid benefits during the Own Occupation phase (24 months) and then cut benefits when the definition of disability changed to any occupation. This Principal disability policy had an earning qualifier definition of disability during the Any Occupation period. The policy defined any occupation as a gainful occupation that allows you to earn equal to or greater than the income you were earning while working. This is not the usual definition of any occupation, which is defined as the inability to perform any occupation for which you have experience, education or training.
In this case, Principal determined that the truck driver claimant could do several jobs in the future that would pay at least as much as he was earning. The claimant argued that the Principal must look at what he can do right now and that a disability claim is a continuous real team determination of eligibility. A Washington Federal Judge determined that Principal’s evaluation and review of the claim was unreasonable. The court reversed the claim denial.
Our disability insurance attorneys have helped hundreds of Principal Life claimants nationwide. We did not handle this claim, but we track and report on every major disability case nationwide. Contact us for a free immediate consultation with a disability attorney.
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Policy Holder Rating
Sorry, Principal. My residual and renewal commissions aren't "earned"
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Principal will do anything not to pay
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Principal is absolutely ridiculous. I'm in financial harship after not receibing my full pay from work and exhausting my long term sick
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Principal owes me 60k
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I lost everything when Principal terminated my benefits without calling or emailing me
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I cant but feel I am being starved out and given the runaround.
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Principal owes me 4k
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I've never worked with people that are so obviously stalling before. Bunch of crooks
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Q: Can Principal deduct my social security payment from my monthly Principal disability benefit payment?
Q: Is child support arrears considered an income offset for Principal LTD?
Q: Why did Principal not back me when Social Security did?
Q: What is the difference between time period of the claim while approved and the time period of the claim while denied?
Q: Will Principal harass me if I don't accept their buyout? And, is it standard for a buyout to be lower than the full benefit paid over time?
Q: Can Principal's independent physician determine what I can and cannot do?
Q: Do I have to pay Principal back once I receive back pay from SSA?
Q: Can Principal take away my deceased husband's 3 month survivor benefit? They justified it saying he was eligible for SSDI when he didn't even apply.
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