A recent article published by Bloomberg Law offers a stark warning to disability insurance claimants who use social media. The article by Jacklyn Wille entitled “Facebook Has a New Friend: Disability Insurers” (https://www.bna.com/facebook-new-friend-n73014475033/) discusses insurers’ use of social media to investigate disability insurance claimants.
Qualifying for disability benefits often requires claimants to face many hurdles. An initial claim denial is not the end of the road, though. If you have group coverage, it is likely governed by ERISA, the Employee Retirement Income Security Act. One of the benefits of ERISA is that if a claim is denied, the claimant […]
Is the ability to work only on a part-time basis enough to deny disability benefits? The answer is no, according to the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The case of Van Steen v. Life Insurance Company of North America, 2018 WL 256806 (10th Cir., Jan. 2, 2018), involved Carl Van Steen, who worked as […]
Introduction The starting point to keep in mind when analyzing disability insurance claims handling is that both the insurer and the insured share a desire for accurate claims processing so that meritorious claims receive payment. The recent Supreme Court ruling in Metro.Life Ins.Co. v. Glenn 1 reinforced the need for accurate claims processing, 2 and no one who works in […]
Perhaps the most difficult task in evaluating disability benefit claims is assessing the weight to be given to subjective symptoms. In Cline v. Aetna Life Insurance Co., 2017 WL 5490853 (W.D. N.C., Nov. 15, 2017), the court addressed that issue head-on. The plaintiff, Larry Cline, a commercial pilot for Netjets, suffered from lumbar stenosis and […]
DeBofsky, Sherman & Casciari attorney William Reynolds recently won a significant victory on behalf of one of the firm’s clients. In Watson v. Reliance Standard Life Ins. Co., 2017 WL 5418768 (N.D. Ill. November 14, 2017), the court overturned a disability insurer’s finding that Cheryl Watson suffered from a psychiatric impairment; thus, her benefits were limited […]