Three Reasons to Hire a Long-Term Disability Lawyer Before Filing a Claim
If you have sustained injuries or become ill and cannot work, you will want to file a long-term disability claim with your insurance provider. Unfortunately, insurance companies are usually not considerate about the situations of their claim applicants. In fact, you might end up with a denied claim. Usually, the company will assert that applicants don’t have the conditions that qualify for LTD. If this happens to you, it’s important to seek the services of a disability lawyer. Here’s why:
Insurance Companies Will Deny or Delay Claims Unfairly
Insurance providers will act in bad faith to deny or deny claims. They may require excessive and unnecessary documentation, delay a claim for an unreasonable amount of time and invalid reasons, as well as pay lower disability benefits than the long-term disability policy states.
They Gather Evidence Unfairly
Some insurance companies that sell long-term disability insurance will perform surveillance on people who apply for benefits. For instance, they assign an investigator to follow a claimant and take a video of their activities such as shopping for groceries or even bending down to pick up something. Then, they will use this visual evidence to justify a denial of a claim or argue that the applicant misrepresented their condition. Insurance companies will only show the highlights from the recordings they got to try to damage the disability claim of a person.
They Won’t Tell You Some Important Things
Your insurance company won’t tell you that your record will be closed when an administrative hearing is to be held on your claim. This means that you cannot add more records to your file. The insurer will keep this information from you to prevent you from ensuring your medical records that support your claim are on file before the hearing.
Often, it is best to hire an experienced lawyer before you file for benefits or get denied for long-term disability. At the outside of a claim, the insurer may ask you to submit information that it will later use against you. Also, it may try to have you sign releases for some kinds of information that will later facilitate its investigation of you. The majority of long-term benefits applicants will comply with each request for information that insurance companies make. By working with a good disability lawyer, you can be sure you are protected against the tactics used by insurance companies for denying or delaying claims.
