As we face challenges due to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) please follow the the recommendations of the CDC and your local medical community. I am available to my clients and new clients by phone, email, teleconferencing and if necessary and safe, in person meetings. The best way to contact me is direct email: jonathan@erisaattorneys.com. Stay well and help others in need.

Has Your Insurance Company Denied
Your Disability Claim?

Whether an insurance company, employer, union or other ERISA governed
plan has denied your insurance claim, we can help.

Hiring an ERISA Attorney for a Long-Term Disability Claim

 ERISA AttorneyAn ERISA attorney can help with pursuing a long-term disability (LTD) claim after suffering an injury or illness that prevents you from working.

Why Insurance Companies Might Want to Deny Claims

If you suffered an injury or illness and cannot work, it is a possibility that the LTD insurance company will deny you benefits. Because of that, it is important to have help from an ERISA attorney. With a disability claim seeking Social Security disability benefits, you will be dealing with an impartial entity in the federal government. Insurance companies, however, are not going to be impartial. The insurance company has more at stake in LTD claims because the cases that are approved will cut into the company’s bottom line. If they are able to deny claims, they will have a greater profit margin.

LTD Companies Might Use Underhanded Tactics to Justify a Denial

The LTD companies might use strategies that many would consider unfair to deny benefits to claimants. An example would be if the LTD company conducts surveillance on people who have filed to receive benefits. The claimant might be followed by an investigator who will record the claimant. This can include such activities as buying groceries, bending over to pick something up, taking out the garbage, and more. This evidence can later be utilized by the company to deny an LTD claim. They can even try to argue that the claimant was making false representations regarding the condition. A video recording can be an unfair strategy since it doesn’t always show the situation in its entirety. The video might show the claimant doing certain simple chores outside the home, but it does not show the person needing frequent rest after performing these activities. The LTD company can pick and choose clips from the recordings that are convenient to the goal of denying the claim and this does not present the whole picture.

Why an ERISA Lawyer Can Be Helpful

Since LTD companies will use these underhanded tactics, it is even more important to have an ERISA lawyer to protect you. An attorney can be beneficial to your case even before you file it. When the LTD claim is made, the insurance company is likely to ask you to provide information that you might not believe is significant. That same information can later be used to damage your claim because you did not have help from an attorney advising you of what to say and what not to say. The LTD company might ask you to sign releases to give them access to various pieces of information. This information can harm your case as they conduct an investigation. The majority of claimants will be agreeable when asked for information. An attorney can say why certain pieces of information might be better left out. Before the hearing, having legal assistance is an even bigger key. The LTD company will not inform you that when the administrative hearing is about to be held regarding your claim, your record will have been “closed.” That means that you will not be able to add any information to the file later. This can provide a benefit to the insurer by stopping you from adding valuable information that can help your case. The insurance company banks on you not knowing precisely how the process works making it harder for you to receive benefits.

Call an Experienced ERISA Attorney

If you need assistance with an LTD claim, call (866) 396-9722 to speak to ERISA attorney Jonathan M. Feigenbaum, Esquire today.

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