Question
Do we have any legal action against Unum?
In 2018, my husband was shot in the line of duty (police officer). The department uses Unum for their disability insurance. Month after month, Unum would deny our claim. It took around 2 years for them to finally approve anything. We sent everything they requested and after awhile, they finally gave us a lump sum that back paid from when we first filed. A little over $32k was deposited in July of 2023. Today, 1/12/24, we received a letter stating that we now need to pay it all back, plus taxes equaling out to $33k+. They want the money back by 1/29/24. We don’t want anything else from them, but we do not have the ability to pay them back as we paid off our debts with the amount they gave us in July. They’re now claiming we made too much money, but we gave them everything when we first sent it all off. After my husband was no longer able to work, he took a job at our church and ran a polygraph business on the side to supplement what the church couldn’t pay.
Answer
I am sorry to hear of Unum’s actions here and how they have treated your claim, especially in their long delay in approving benefits. However, there is a possibility that money could be owed back to Unum depending on the amount of money your husband made while disabled at his job and business. It all depends on when your husband made the money and how much money he made. Most LTD policies allow someone to be disabled and work, however, if the person makes too much, then it could reduce the amount of LTD owed/paid or cause the person not to qualify for benefits at all. Please feel free to reach out to us for a free consultation so that we can learn more about your claim.
