In our previous blog, we discussed reasons why your insurance company may have denied your benefits for Short Term or Long Term Disability. In theory, it is hoped that these Insurance Companies are able to see that you are disabled without initiating extensive, time-consuming tasks to prove so. Unfortunately, that is not always the case when dealing with Long Term Disability.
Do Long Term Disability Insurance Companies Investigate Claimants?
Insurance Companies sometimes keep surveillance on someone who is claiming long term disability. They might hire an investigator to monitor your daily activities, along with social media such as Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, or Snapchat. Some of these investigators might uncover information that could prompt your Insurance Company to deny your claim. With this, we suggest our clients put their social medical accounts in a private setting and be aware of the posts they make. However, we are not suggesting you delete anything already present. This might be considered spoilation of or tampering with evidence.
In some cases, the insurer can deny your claim altogether due to the nature of your condition. Insurance companies seem to not like conditions such as chronic fatigue, Fibromyalgia, or Long-Haul Covid, which they view as being based solely on subjective complaints. Indeed, some policies actually have a limitation on the period of time benefits will be paid on claims involving conditions based on self-reported complaints without any hard evidence for a doctor to assign objective findings. It is important to give clear, strong documentation that supports your claim of not being able to work.
Why Your Insurance Company may have Denied Your Benefits
Insurance Companies have a denial mindset. This renders them particularly susceptible to error in their benefit determination. When a
claimant is denied, it is imperative that an in-depth explanation is given by the insurance company. Governing federal regulations require this. In most cases, claimants are protected by the ERISA guidelines, which force claims representatives to make a decision within a certain amount of days. This strict timeline and the number of claims a Representative has to handle often causes multiple errors, or for the representative to make a hasty decision without all the vital information needed for your claim.
If you have been denied or have any questions about your Short Term Disability or Long Term Disability claim, go ahead and give Herbert M. Hill, P.A. a call and we would be delighted to answer any questions you may have. If you would like, after discussing your case, we can set a conference. In most circumstances, that conference would be free of charge but in no circumstance would you be under any obligation to hire me nor would you feel any pressure from me to do so.
Contact Herbert M. Hill, P.A. for Help With Your Disability Insurance Claim
Herbert M. Hill, P.A. is a law firm located in Orlando, Florida with a practice extending throughout the state of Florida. While the vast majority of cases handled are for disability insurance benefits, areas of practice include employee benefit claims of all sorts. The firm handles any claims arising under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (“ERISA”) for disability benefits, medical benefits, retirement benefits of any sort, including pension, 401k, termination agreements or the like as well as claims arising under private disability policies.
