Appealing a Denial of Disability Benefits From New York Life Insurance

Disability insurance from New York Life Insurance can help to protect your finances if you are ever disabled and unable to work. If you have become disabled and have submitted your claim, you might be disheartened if the company denies it. The experienced team of lawyers at Osterhout Berger Disability Law is proud to help people with appealing their denials from New York Life Insurance.

Background on New York Life Insurance

New York Life Insurance was founded in 1845 and is headquartered in New York City. The company has more than 12,000 employees and is one of the biggest life insurance companies in the world. Its annual revenues average more than $26 billion, and it has in excess of $550 billion in assets that are under management. It sells a variety of insurance and financial products, including disability insurance.

Disability insurance from New York Life Insurance

New York Life Insurance sells several different short and long term disability insurance products. They offer group plans through employers as well as portable individual plans. If you become too ill to work or suffer a disabling injury, the insurance will pay benefits to you to replace a portion of your lost income. Short-term disability insurance will pay benefits after you exhaust an elimination period for a short time. Long-term disability insurance will begin paying benefits after a longer elimination period and after your short-term benefits end. The duration of the benefits will depend on your policies.

More about short-term disability from New York Life Insurance

Short-term disability insurance helps you keep a percentage of your income on a weekly basis in the event you become injured or fall ill and can no longer work. Typically, you’ll have to go through an elimination period before you can start collecting benefits. You may even have to go through a waiting period, but this is set by your employer and if you’ve been employed by your company for more than 90 days, you have most likely past the waiting period already. The specifics of your short-term disability plan will be laid out in your policy, so be sure to read through that carefully. It’ll explain how long you have to wait until you can start collecting benefits and it should also specify the types of illness and injuries New York Life considers to be disabilities. There are certain conditions that insurance companies considers to be pre-existing and won’t cover those under short-term disability plans. You’ll want to understand what these are before you apply for benefits.

More about long-term disability from New York Life Insurance

Long-term disability insurance is very similar to short-term disability plans except the benefits are larger, the duration is longer, and the time to wait until you can start collecting benefits is more. Another difference is that you’ll receive benefits on a monthly basis rather than a weekly basis. One positive aspect of long-term disability insurance is that if you elect to have both short- and long-term disability insurance, you can be collecting benefits from the short-term disability plan while you go through the elimination period for the long-term disability plan. You just won’t be able to collect benefits from the long-term disability insurance until the benefits from the short-term disability plan are finished. You’ll also want to make sure to read the policy for your long-term disability insurance very carefully to understand how it works and what your entitled to under the plan.

What you need to know about New York Life disability claims

When it comes to submitting disability claims to New York Life, you’ll want to make sure that all of the forms are filled out accurately and completely. You’ll also want to make sure that you provide all of the paperwork the insurance company requests. If not, the insurance company will find incomplete claims as grounds for delaying or denying a claim. We’ve seen insurance companies delay or deny claims for less obvious reasons, but you definitely want to avoid this possibility as much as you can.

How to submit a disability claim to New York Life Insurance

The forms that are required to be completed in order to submit a disability claim include the employee’s statement, the employer’s statement, and the attending physician’s statement. The forms will ask for information about you as the claimant and information about the disability. There may also be additional authorization forms that require your signature that may need to be submitted with the forms. You’ll want to make sure that your portion of these forms are filled out accurately and completely, but you’ll also want to make sure that your employer and physician fill out their sections completely. Any incomplete information will only delay the process.

What to do if New York Life Insurance delays your disability claim

If you feel as though your disability claim is being delayed, you should first reach out to the insurance company to try and get a status update. Your employer should be able to help you get in touch with the company or you can call the customer service line to speak to a representative. If you feel as though you aren’t getting any answers regarding the status of your claim, you may want to consider speaking to an experienced disability lawyer to help move the process along. Our experienced lawyers at Osterhout Berger Disability Law have dealt with many insurance companies regarding disability claims and spot the tactics these companies use to delay paying benefits. Your lawyer can work on your behalf to try to get your benefits paid to you in a timely manner.

What to do if New York Life Insurance denies your disability claim

If New York Life Insurance denies your claim, you will be notified by mail. The letter that you will receive will contain several pieces of important information. The company will list the reasons that it decided to deny your claim. Your letter will also inform you about the appeal process and the deadline for appealing the denial. When you receive your letter, ask New York Life to give you a copy of your claim file. Don’t miss the listed deadline, or you will not be able to later try to recover your benefits. If you can’t successfully appeal the denial through the insurance company’s internal appeals process, you may want to take this matter to court. Our experienced lawyers at Osterhout Berger Disability Law are willing and able to help you fight the denial.

Appealing a denial From New York Life Insurance

When you come in to speak with the experienced disability team at Osterhout Berger Disability Law, the attorneys will want to see your file and your letter. After they review the information, they will then determine the best strategy to use for your appeal. You should listen to your lawyer and follow his or her advice. Everything that your attorney will recommend to you will be meant to help your appeal.

If you are forced to file a lawsuit, you will only be able to use the evidence that is contained in your claim file. Your lawyer will want you to help to add as much additional evidence to your file as possible that is favorable to you. He or she may recommend that you keep all of your medical appointments, submit to more medical tests and exams and get written statements from your doctor and others about the functional limitations that your condition causes.

Throughout your claim and appeal, it is vital for you to be honest at all times. Some people mistakenly believe that if they exaggerate their symptoms, they will help their claims. Companies like New York Life are practiced with uncovering evidence of deception. If you are dishonest, the company may use it as evidence of malingering. It is much more difficult to win your appeal if you are believed to be a malingerer. To learn more about the options that you have, contact the experienced disability lawyers at Osterhout Berger Disability Law today.