Purchasing long-term disability insurance is a smart way to protect yourself in the event that you are seriously injured or contract an illness that prevents you from returning to your former position. Some estimates of the number of workers who are currently in their 20s who will become disabled and unable to work for substantial periods of time range as high as 25 percent. If you have suffered from a disabling condition and need to file a claim with your long-term disability insurance company, you may benefit from getting help from an experienced attorney at Osterhout Berger Disability Law. Our highly skilled team of lawyers proudly represent people in Scranton, Pennsylvania in their disability claims.
Appealing a Denied LTD Claim
If you have filed a claim and have received a denial notice, don’t despair. Insurance companies have incentives to deny claims because doing so minimizes their losses. Your letter will include information about why you were denied and how you can appeal. There will be a listed deadline in the notice, and it is very important that you don’t miss it. If you do, you will be prevented from ever seeking to recover benefits from the company for your condition. You must follow the company’s internal appeals process. You cannot file an appeal in court until you have exhausted the in-house process that your company has established. Most companies have one or two levels of internal appeals that you must go through before filing a lawsuit in court.
Do’s and Don’t
You should understand the things that you should and shouldn’t do when you are appealing a denial of your claim. Don’t give into the urge to fire off your appeal without first reviewing your file and your policy. Try to identify what types of evidence is needed to bolster your claim. Don’t stop seeing your doctor even if you think your condition can’t be helped. Building a record of regular medical treatment of your condition can be vital to your claim’s ultimate success.
Minimize the conversations that you have with your insurance company, and insist that all of your communication is conducted in writing. Photocopy everything that you submit and save copies of all correspondence that is sent to you by the company. To document when and what you send to your company, send it by certified, return-receipt mail. This can be helpful if the company later tries to claim that it didn’t receive something that you sent.
Getting the Disability Benefits you Deserve
One of the most important things that you can do in order to recover the benefits that you deserve is to get help from one of the experienced attorneys at Osterhout Berger Disability Law. When you are working with us, we will ask you to do several things in order to help with your claim. Your attorney may want you to submit to additional examinations and assessments. He or she may ask you to get letters from your doctor, your family and your former employer about how you are affected by your condition. We work to supplement your file with as much evidence that is favorable to you as possible.
Being honest about your pain and symptoms and how they affect you is paramount. If you exaggerate, the company is likely to believe that you are malingering. Claimants who are thought to be malingering are unlikely to win their appeals.
Long-term disability insurance can offer a vital financial safety net for you when you are injured and become disabled. One of the experienced attorneys at Osterhout Berger Disability Law will work closely with you to try to secure the benefits that you deserve. Contact us today to tell us more about your case.
