Long term disability (“LTD”) insurers have made it a habit of taking too much time to decide if claimants are entitled to benefits. Don’t let it happen to you.
A claimant with cardiovascular impairments from Huntington retained us after Lincoln Life denied his LTD application. We appealed.
LTD claims are governed by a federal law called ERISA. After an appeal, ERISA requires the insurance company to decide if a claimant will receive benefits, or request an extension of time, within 45 days. If the insurance company fails to do so, then its decision will be deemed denied.
When Lincoln Life failed to decide the claimant’s appeal in 45 days, we sued in federal court. Afterwards, Lincoln Life continued to add documents to the claim file that, not surprisingly, were adverse to the claimant’s application.
We filed a motion to preclude Lincoln Life from including the belatedly created documents from the administrative file record that the district court judge will review when deciding if the claimant is entitled to LTD benefits. Magistrate Judge Locke granted the motion, and his decision can be found with the Court Decisions under the Resources tab on our website.
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