A large number of workers develop serious illnesses or suffer severe injuries that leave them unable to return to their former jobs. In order to protect themselves, some savvy workers elect to purchase long-term disability coverage. This insurance pays a percentage of your former income for the term that you purchased as long as you are unable to go back to your job because of your disabling condition. Some insurance companies will deny claims when they are filed, leaving it up to the claimants to appeal. The experienced lawyers at Osterhout Berger Disability Law help residents of Fort Lauderdale, Florida with their disability claims and appeals.
Appealing a Denied LTD Claim
If your company decides to deny your claim, it will mail you a letter notifying you about its denial as well as its reasons for doing so. Your letter will also outline the procedure you must follow if you choose to appeal the company’s denial. You must follow the company’s internal appeals process. The court will not allow you to file a lawsuit against the company unless you have already gone through its established in-house appeals procedure. Your letter will also include a deadline by which your appeal must be filed. Don’t miss it, or else you will not later be able to seek benefits under your policy for your disabling condition.
Common Issues & Recommendations
There are several errors that you should avoid with the appeals process. You should not just send off an appeal without reviewing the information contained in your file. This means that you should request a copy of your file as soon as you receive your denial notice. Make sure to tell the insurance company that you want all of the communication about your claim to be conducted in writing. This helps you by establishing documentation of what was discussed about your claim. You should keep copies of everything that you send to the company as well as everything that you receive. Send any documents or letters to the company by return receipt, certified mail.
Don’t stop seeing your doctor. Some people who have disabling conditions stop going to the doctor because they believe doing so is pointless. If you are not getting medical care for your condition, the insurance company may believe that you are not truly disabled.
Getting the Benefits you Deserve
With the help of the experienced lawyers at Osterhout Berger Disability Law, you may have a better chance of getting your claim approved. It is important that you make certain to be completely honest about your symptoms and your functional limitations. Some people make the mistake of thinking that if they exaggerate their symptoms, that their claims will be likelier to be approved. However, insurance companies may instead believe that you are malingering and use that as a basis for denying your claim and its subsequent appeals.
Your lawyer will review your file and make recommendations about the steps that you need to take. Make sure that you do what your attorney asks. In many cases, people do not have sufficient evidence to support their claims in their disability files. Experienced lawyers will thus want you to build the evidence that is most favorable to you in your file, and they might ask you to get additional tests and evaluations. This may help you to win your appeal in the company’s internal appeals process without ever needing to file a lawsuit against the company.
Contact the experienced attorneys at Osterhout Berger Disability Law to schedule your consultation.
