Underpayment of claims is, sadly, a very common practice. One of the typical methods of underpayment is the purchase of policy benefits by the insurance company. The company will run calculations in order to be able to do offer that as a fairly speedy resolution to the disability claim.For example, let’s say you have a …
Underpayment Offers from Long-Term Disability Insurance Companies Read More »
By Long Term Disability Lawyer Ray Bourhis Many long term disability insurance policies contain provisions regarding both Total and Residual (Partial) Disability benefits. Typically, the policies define Total Disability as the inability to perform the substantial and material duties of your regular occupation; Residual Disability is defined as the inability to perform “some” of …
In Kuntz v Aetna, 2013, the Federal Court found that for Aetna abused its discretion in having based its disability claim denial in a mental health impairment case on a paper review of the Claimant’s medical records. Other courts have referred to denials based on such paper reviews as being arbitrary and capricious if not …
Psychiatric Disability Paper Review Finds Aetna Abused Discretion Kuntz v Aetna Read More »
So what do you really think. Ray Bourhis? If an insurance company defrauds or cheats a policyholder out of the benefits the policyholder is owed, and if, as a result, the policyholder his or her home or their life savings, or is forced to hire a lawyer to obtain the benefits they are owed, the …
California Long Term Disability Bad Faith Law – A Fair Deal for Policyholders Read More »
Drug or alcohol addiction or abuse is clearly a disabling condition qualifying for long term disability benefits. If a claimant with a drug or alcohol addiction goes through a rehabilitation program, the question is, whether the disability continues even after the program has been successfully completed. The answer to this question …
Drug and Alcohol Addiction – Long Term Disability Read More »
While every Long-Term Disability (LTD) policy includes a definition of total disability, many states (including California, Arizona, and Florida) have their own legal definition of total disability. What happens when these two definitions conflict? The answer is that state law will override the policy definition and will be used instead in the determination of whether …
Warning: Financial Planners Important Information for Financial Planners : Long Term Disability from Ray Bourhis onVimeo. Waiver of Premiums Premiums with LTD policies are usually fixed for the life of the policy. Once a claim is approved, a Waiver of Premium provision that exists in most policies is triggered and it is no longer necessary for the insured …
By Ray Bourhis and Alexander MacDougall The issue of determining the present value (PV) of insurance policy benefits can be as complicated as it is important. Issues that come into play include: The monthly benefit The life of the policy The claimant’s age at the time he or she became disabled The existence of mortality …
Punitive damages are damages that can be awarded in a law suit with the intention of punishing a party for acting improperly as a means to either reform that party’s future behavior or to cause other actors who may be behaving similarly to stop. So even though it is not a court’s objective to compensate …
Understanding Punitive Damages in Long Term Disability Cases Read More »
By Ray Bourhis and Alex MacDougall When you first learn that you have a disability that will interfere with your employment, you have an important decision to make regarding the filing of your claim; whether you should go it alone or whether you should engage the services of a disability insurance attorney to assist you …
