If your disability policy was issued and paid for by your employer, it is likely governed by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, commonly referred to as ERISA. ERISA is a complex statute that even scares off many experienced insurance attorneys. If your claim for disability benefits, made under an ERISA plan, is denied, you are not allowed to immediately file a lawsuit to collect your past due benefits. If you do, the court will dismiss your claim. Instead, you are required to appeal that claim decision to the very company that denied your claim in the first instance.
When appealing the denial of a short-term disability or long-term disability claim, many claimants make the mistake of handling the appeal without the assistance of an attorney. This can be a costly mistake, as the appeal is the most important part an ERISA claim because it likely represents a claimant’s final opportunity to present evidence to support his or her claim. Further, claimants who try to handle their own appeal often harm their claim.
One reason for this is that when you appeal the denial of your claim for benefits, the insurance company NEVER TELLS YOU that, if your case goes to trial, you will likely not be allowed to offer new medical records or other evidence to support your claim. Instead, you will be limited to the documents already in the insurance company’s file, called the Administrative Record. Thus, the worst thing you can do is simply tell the insurance company that you disagree with their decision and would like to appeal without offering any new evidence or arguments for disability. Such appeals are doomed to fail. You will need to offer new evidence and/or information, not only to support your appeal, but also to use later in court.
Also, you usually only have 180 days after the denial to appeal the claim. The sooner you contact an attorney to assist you, the sooner that attorney can obtain your file, see what is missing and work with you to ensure that the Administrative Record contains sufficient medical evidence to support your claim. An attorney can also ensure that you file your appeal in a timely manner. A failure to complete your appeal in time could mean that you waived your right to bring a lawsuit challenging the claim decision.
An experienced ERISA attorney can also help identify problems with the insurance company’s decision, and raise those issues with the insurance company. That way, at trial, the Court will see that the insurance company was made aware of its errors, but failed to correct them. In addition, when confronted with the arguments of experienced ERISA attorneys such as those from McKennon Law Group PC, the insurer or administrator will often reverse itself and approve the claim for benefits.
Accordingly, when appealing a claim decision under a short-term disability insurance policy, long-term disability insurance policy or life insurance policy or plan governed by ERISA, the best thing you can do to increase your chances on appeal is to immediately hire an experienced ERISA attorney to help you fight for your benefits.
