Should I speak with an attorney prior to filing my long-term disability insurance claim?

Many clients will call our office and say that they are thinking of applying for long term disability but they are not sure if they will get approved. And we regularly work with clients to do a review of their policy, to advise them of things that they can or cannot do in order to be entitled for benefits.

It’s the rare case of somebody who gets hit by a bus or has a major catastrophic event that prevents them from being able to work. And it’s more common for the persons who have had a chronic medical condition, such as a chronic neck problem or a chronic back problem or a chronic shoulder problem or any other part of the body that’s been bothering them for a while and they have continued to work through with the pain and they are not sure now, that, if they were to stop working because the pain has become unbearable, whether or not the disability company will approve their claim. And one of the first things we tell these people is that, we need to advise them as to what their policy says and we regularly encourage people to call us, send us a copy of their policy and we’ll provide them with a free review of their policy and let them know what their rights are before proceeding any further.