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A Minnesota man has filed a disability insurance lawsuit against Unum Life Insurance Company of America for allegedly using bad faith insurance practices to deny his disability benefits.
Plaintiff Douglas Lenhart had been previously employed by Safety-Kleen Systems Inc. as a vacuum sales and service representative, but had to stop working due to an injury.
According to the Unum claim denial lawsuit, Lenhart’s job is classified as a heavy occupation because it required him to drive a commercial vacuum truck, in order to drop off the employer’s merchandise to customers. Additionally, it was reported that he worked as a full-time employee, and was promised long-term disability benefits.
Unfortunately, the Minnesota man eventually suffered severe health complications, and reportedly had to cease working on June 8, 2012. When he initially applied for his disability benefits, he submitted testimony from his physicians that stated he was unable to perform the occupational duties of his job due to his health issues, and would be unable to earn any sufficient income in any other occupation as well.
According to the Unum lawsuit, Lenhart had filed for his benefits in a timely manner and had been approved for long-term disability benefits, following the mandatory elimination period as provided in Unum’s policy. For a little over a year, Unum had given the plaintiff monthly disability checks on an easy schedule, but had suddenly stopped in 2014.
On January 7, Unum sent a termination notice letter to the plaintiff, stating that his long-term disability benefits would be terminated the next day.
In the letter, Unum had declared that Lenhart was not permanently disabled, and that he could perform the duties of his job. He appealed Unum’s decision, and followed all administrative procedures when submitting all medical testimony and any additional supporting evidence.
Despite meeting all of Unum’s requirements and submitting sufficient medical evidence, the company still denied Lenhart’s disability benefits and reportedly issued the appeal denial letter on May 27. Lenhart has exhausted all administrative options to remedy the situation, and has had to resort to filing legal action.
Lenhart is suing Unum for allegedly using bad faith insurance practices and wrongfully denying his long-term disability benefits.
The Unum Claim Denial Lawsuit is Douglas J. Lenhart v. Unum Life Insurance Company of America, Case No. 0:14-cv-03323-RHK-FLN, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota.
Overview of Unum Claim Denial Tactics
Unum Life Insurance of America is the largest insurance company in America, and the largest provider of disability insurance in the world. Unum is currently insuring more than 17 million policy holders in the United States, and more than 25 million people worldwide. Despite the numerous amount of claimants the company would ideally cover, Unum continues to be listed as one of the worst businesses in America.
The insurance company has been the subject of numerous disability insurance lawsuits filed by jilted policyholders who allege that the company used unscrupulous tactics to deny their disability benefits.
Bad faith insurance tactics Unum has been accused of illegally using against policyholders to deny their disability benefits include:
- Making changes to the plan without the authorization of the policyholder
- Changing policies after the policyholder’s claims are filed
- Failing to notify the recipients about these changes
- Improperly and inappropriately investigating a claim
- Obtaining opinions from unqualified third parties
- Having contract medical examiners read over and misinterpret medical records
- Using these third-party medical examiners to deny a claim when the policyholder did not provide a medical exam, or giving the policyholder insufficient time to obtain a medical exam
In general, Unum claim denial lawsuits are filed individually by each plaintiff and are not class actions.
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