If you have disability insurance from Trustmark Companies, you may feel secure that you will be financially protected if you ever suffer a disabling injury or illness. This type of insurance replaces portions of your income when you are not able to work. Trustmark denies some valid benefits claims, however. If your claim is denied, the professional disability attorneys at Osterhout Berger Daley are here to help.
Trustmark was founded in 1913 and is based in Lake Forest, Illinois. It has more than 6,000 employees. Trustmark offers a broad variety of products through its subsidiaries. Through Trustmark Voluntary Benefit Solutions, the company sells employer benefits packages including disability income insurance.
Workers are able to purchase short- and long-term disability insurance from Trustmark. The short-term plans pay benefits over a limited period of time after you have completed an elimination period. The company’s long-term disability insurance pays benefits for longer durations, depending on your policy’s provisions. The products have level payments, and the individual plans are also portable.
Short-term disability insurance from Trustmark is fairly customizable to fit your needs. While the main purpose is to protect your income in the event you become disabled and unable to work for short period of time, this insurance company knows that not all plans fit every situation. You can choose between getting a flat dollar amount or a percentage of your earnings. You can even add in additional benefits like covering pre-existing conditions or terminal illnesses. These are unique features as most insurance companies have one standard policy. Keep in mind that there are some features that are the same as any other policy. You’ll have to go through an Elimination Period before you can start collecting benefits. If you don’t opt to add the Pre-existing Condition Benefit, the Terminal Illness Benefit, or the Mental Illness/Drug and Alcohol Coverage Options, then you won’t be covered for any of these conditions under the standard policy. It’s extremely important to read your policy in full to understand what you’re entitled to and what you’re limited to under your plan.
Long-term disability insurance from Trustmark is identical to its short-term disability policy, but the length of time you receive your benefits and the amount of money you receive are greater. You’ll get the option to customize your policy if you so choose. However, if you do choose to keep the standard policy, you’ll have certain exceptions and limitations to consider. Whichever way you choose to structure your policy, make sure you read the policy carefully.
Going through the claims process with any insurance company can be quite cumbersome. There’s a lot of paperwork that needs input from multiple people. If any piece of paper is missing any information, that gives insurance companies an easy way to delay or deny your claim. There are plenty of insurance companies that readily take advantage of tiny mistakes on claim submissions. In order to avoid this from happening to you, you’re going to want to submit the claim properly the first time.
If you find yourself in a position where you have to submit a disability claim to Trustmark, you can easily do so via fax or email. You can download the forms online. You’ll need to fill most of the information out yourself, but you will need the last page to be filled out by your attending physician. Make sure that they fill their part out completely and accurately. After you submit the form either by fax or email, all you can do is wait until you hear back from the insurance company.
If you haven’t heard from the insurance company for more than ten days after submitting your disability claim, you may need to contact Trustmark’s Claims Customer Service number. A representative should be able to give you a status update of your claim. If you’re not getting clear answers to your inquiry, the insurance company may be intentionally delaying your claim to avoid paying. If you believe this to be your case, you may want to consider contacting an experienced disability lawyer. Our disability lawyers at Osterhout Berger Daley have experience in this area and would happily provide you with a free consultation.
If your disability claim is denied, Trustmark will mail you a notice. When the company receives your claim, it will investigate your form and put all of the information it gathers in your claim file. Your notice will explain the company’s reasoning that led to the denial of your claim. It will also explain your right to appeal and give you a deadline for filing it. Contact the insurance company and request your file so that you have the evidence that was collected. You’ll then want to consider contacting an experienced disability lawyer to help you through this process. If you choose one of our experienced disability lawyers at Osterhout Berger Daley, they will want to read your file and your letter. Make sure to bring them with you to your appointment.
While going through the appeals process, don’t try to make untrue claims about the severity of your symptoms. Doing so may make it much harder for you to recover benefits because it will be used as evidence of malingering. You should be honest with Trustmark, your doctor and your lawyer. It is also important that you don’t ignore the appeal deadline. If you do, you will not be able to recover your benefits later. The law mandates that you must go through Trustmark’s internal appeals process before you will be allowed to file a lawsuit in court. In many cases, our lawyers are able to win our clients’ appeals while they are still in the company’s internal process without the necessity of a formal lawsuit.
Because you will only be able to rely on the evidence in your file if you are forced to sue Trustmark, it is important for you to add evidence to it that supports your claim. Your lawyer may thus ask you to keep all of your medical appointments and to follow the recommendations given to you by your doctor. You may also be asked to submit to more medical exams. Finally, your lawyer might want you to ask for letters from your doctor, family members and your former employer about how your condition limits you. When you add these types of documents to your file, they will bolster your claim and increase the likelihood of your success on appeal. The experienced attorneys at Osterhout Berger Daley are dedicated to helping disabled workers with securing disability benefits from their disability insurance companies. We help with the initial claims as well as with appealing denials of benefits. Contact Osterhout Berger Daley today to learn more about the rights that you might have and to schedule your consultation with our experienced legal team.
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