Always be Honest About Your Limitations (Long Term Disability Attorney Tip #2)
GREG DELL: Hi. I’m attorney Greg Dell and I’m joined today by attorney Stephen Jessup, and today’s disability benefit tip is going to be always be honest about your limitations. And Stephen, some people might say, of course I’m going to be honest. But a lot of disability claimants that we see are worried about them not saying enough, or not conveying enough about, this is what’s going on.
Or if I really tell them I felt OK for three hours of the day and I wasn’t IN horrendous pain the whole day I’m not going to get approved. Can you talk about why is it so important to always just be honest and tell it like it is about your limitations or pain complaints.
STEPHEN JESSUP: You know, when it comes into disability claims a lot of it is credibility. Credibility with the insurance company, also with your doctor. So being honest with your doctor so they can believe your subjective complaints. When we’re talking pain we’re talking about a uniquely subjective condition for you and how you feel, so the doctor has to believe it.
And if you try to, what we say, sell it too much, it’s going to raise a lot of scrutiny with insurance companies. That’s why I’d even during independent medical evaluations, sometimes doctors will try to see if they can elicit a response they know that shouldn’t it be there to see if the person is trying to prove it too hard. So honesty is the best policy, and being consistent. Because at the end of the day, your credibility is going to play a large part in your disability claim and how the insurance company is going to look at you.
GREG DELL: So let’s dial in and talk about– because they hear us saying always be honest and the person watching this and saying, well, where would I be dishonest? Where are the complaints usually viewed, and the limitations viewed in writing by the disability companies?
STEPHEN JESSUP: Medical records. So a, making sure your doctors are putting it in there. They’re going to find a lot of your problems there in that, that’s what they’re going to be looking for. But the other big thing where are the insurance companies try to catch people are on the claim forms. Sometimes people say, I can never do this. I’m always doing that, or I always have to do this.
And if they do video surveillance and catch you doing the opposite of that, they’re going to say, well, if I can’t believe you here why should I believe these other items? So the two places where they’re going to look to see that– and that’s why you also want consistency between what you report to the insurance company and what you report to the doctor– are your medical records and any forms you’re going to fill out for the carrier.
GREG DELL: Right. and then also obviously if you ever speak to the claimant on the phone, most of the phone calls are recorded so you need to be–
STEPHEN JESSUP: Field interviews, independent medical evaluations, yeah.
GREG DELL: Lots of places. So if you’re in a situation with a long term disability claim, feel free to call Stephen, myself, any of our disability attorneys. We always provide initial free consultation. We’re available to represent you anywhere in the country. We encourage you and we’d love for you to subscribe to our YouTube channel.
We put out these disability benefit tips on a weekly basis and we have lots of helpful videos about your disability insurance company, your medical condition, your occupation. The more information you have, the better position you’re going to be in to protect your benefits and get your disability benefits paid. So should you need us in the future, we look forward to speaking with you.