A Unum claim denial lawsuit was filed by an Arizona resident who alleges her claim was wrongfully denied and Unum had a conflict of interest in refusing to pay the claim.

Plaintiff Andreia Correia accuses Unum of a bad faith insurance denial. Bad faith is a legal term that means one party in a contract is trying to avoid their legal obligations. In the context of insurance law, this usually refers to an insurance company avoiding paying out on a legitimate disability insurance claim.

According to her Unum lawsuit, Correia began to suffer from cognitive problems stemming from exposure to toxic mold. Correia’s Unum lawsuit states that several physicians who examined Correia reported that she was suffering from cognitive impairment caused by toxic exposure.

However, according to her Unum lawsuit, Unum has repeatedly denied her insurance claim. Correia appealed several times, and Unum denied each of them. Correia’s Unum lawsuit alleges that “Unum improperly ignored and minimized voluminous credible evidence confirming Ms. Correia’s disability.”

The Employee Retirement Income Retirement Security Act, or ERISA, requires a policyholder to exhaust any internal appeals before filing a disability insurance lawsuit, which Correia’s Unum lawsuit states she has.

Correia’s Unum lawsuit alleges that because Unum is the party deciding if her claim is legitimate the company has an inherent conflict in interest. In other words, the insurance company has motive to find her not disabled, since Unum would have to pay out. The Unum lawsuit seeks to eliminate this conflict of interest.

Correia’s Unum lawsuit seeks a number of types of relief, or forms of help from the court. Her insurance claim denial lawsuit seeks to reinstate her long- and short-term disability insurance benefits in accordance with the Unum policy. Additionally, her Unum lawsuit seeks to recoup back-owed benefits, along with interest from the time she filed her claim up until when she filed her lawsuit. Correia also seeks to recover legal costs and court fees associated with filing the disability insurance lawsuit.

Unum controls a greater share of the U.S. and world disability insurance policy market than any other disability insurance company. Several of Unum’s predecessor companies were trailblazers of the industry, offering disability insurance policies to miners and sawmill workers, and pioneering return-to-work programs. However, the modern incarnation of the company has been accused of questionable conduct.

The Unum Lawsuit is Andreia Correia v. Unum Life Insurance Company of America, Case No. 7690, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona.