Many States allow a person to sue an insurance company for a “bad faith” denial or termination of an insurance claim.  If bad faith lawsuits are recognized by the law of your State and your insurance company deliberately decided to deny or terminate your long term disability claim without valid reasons, you may be able to recover money for things like emotional distress, financial harm caused by the insurance company’s conduct, and even punitive damages (to punish the insurance company).

Typically, to establish such a claim, a plaintiff must show that the insurance company had no reasonable basis to deny the insurance claim and the company knew or recklessly disregarded the fact that no reasonable basis existed for denying the claim.  An insurance company, however, may challenge claims that are fairly debatable and will be found liable only when the claim was intentionally denied without a reasonable basis. Because insurers may challenge claims that are fairly debatable, if a realistic question of liability exists, an insurer may withhold payment while determining whether there is a reasonable basis for the claim. Insurers will not be liable for good-faith errors in denying or delaying a claim. Accordingly, recovery is possible only if an insurer both errs in denying coverage and does so unreasonably.

In the context of disability bad faith cases, there are many ways in which bad faith can occur.  Claim denials or termination for financial reasons is an obvious act of bad faith.  While difficult to prove, there are ways to build a circumstantial evidence case against many disability insurers.  Another example of bad faith is a deliberately ignoring valid medical findings and then hiring a biased medical examiner to conclude that there is no disability.

Quadrino Schwartz has a track record of success in pursuing bad faith denials or terminations of long term disability insurance claims.  The lawyers at the firm have over 100 years of combined experience and will form a team to vigorously pursue such claims.

To have your claim evaluated, go to www.disabilityinsurancelawyers.com/contact for a free consultation.

Is it smart to buy disability insurance? And if so, when is the best time to buy it?

Naturally, without understanding your complete financial situation it is not possible to give a straight “yes” or “no” answer, but this post contains some basic considerations and recommendations.

You are far likelier to become disabled for half a year or even more during your working years than you are to die. Even at age thirty you have a one in five likelihood of becoming disabled for a year or longer.

Even one year without revenue could be catastrophic to your financial affairs. At the very best you would need to exhaust your emergency savings. At worst, you will not have enough saved up to cover all of your expenses and have to turn to taking on debt. In some situations, a long term disability can force a person into insolvency.

The best time to get disability coverage is before you are hurt or ill. You want to buy your insurance before anything happens to you, because if you wait, you might not be insurable. Also, the costs are more affordable when you are healthy.

If you have a long term disability and you have filed a disability claim that has been denied, you need to hire highly qualified long term disability lawyers. they can win your case or get you the settlement you deserve. A skilled disability insurance attorney can also help you get through the process of getting your claim approved and avoid a denial in the first instance.

In an ERISA disability case in Chicago, a federal district court judge awarded attorney’s fees of $109,312.75 to the successful complainant, Ms. Holmstrom. After MetLife made the decision to terminate her claim for long term disability benefits, she sued MetLife and her employer’s benefit plan.

Holmstrom willingly discharged her own lawsuit after MetLife offered to consider her second internal appeal. However, after MetLife declined to change its mind, she re-filed her case. After the district court agreed with MetLife’s decision to terminate her claim, she appealed to the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals.

The appeals court reversed the judge and ruled in Holmstrom’s favor. The appeals court found that MetLife had acted arbitrarily and capriciously. The appeals court reinstated Holmstrom’s disability payments benefits but then left the issue of attorney’s fees for the district court to decide.

The court noted that the U.S. Supreme recently ruled, in a case called Hardt, that ERISA’s legal fee provisions allow fees to be awarded to an ERISA litigant who has achieved “some success” on the merits. The court said that Hardt supplanted the 7th Circuit’s standard for ERISA fee awards. The district court ruled that Holmstrom had achieved more than some quantity of success on the merits since the 7th Circuit had reinstated her disability insurance benefits.