According to recent disability insurance claim denial lawsuits and consumer reports, the popular American insurer Unum Life Insurance Company has made a habit of denying legitimate disability insurance claims to numerous policy holders.

While insurance companies are generally not popular with American consumers, they are expected to be a source of stability when the need arrives. Specifically, disability insurance is vital to people who can no longer work due to injury or illness, and insurance companies are expected to be there for the policyholder on such an occasion.

In most cases, insurance companies abide by their obligations to their policyholder and approve disability insurance claim benefits. Unfortunately, several big-name insurance companies in the United States have been accused of  wrongful disability insurance claim denial. To name an example, Unum  is facing numerous disability insurance claim denial class action lawsuits for allegedly practicing bad faith insurance by denying disability claims.

Unum Life Insurance Company has been accused of systematically denying legitimate disability insurance claims for over two decades, earning scorn from the majority of the United States. Unum is currently the largest disability insurance provider in the world, and the oldest in the United States, with 17 million Americans signed up for their policies. Unfortunately, as implied above, this company has been repeatedly accused of refusing to give disability insurance benefits to people in dire need, while they legitimately qualify for these benefits.

Overview of Unum Claim Denial Tactics

Policyholders who file for disability insurance claims often need the promised benefits as a source of income because they are unable to work. Through various disability insurance lawsuits, insurance experts have identified several tactics Unum has used over the years to delay or deny disability claims. Some of the most common methods mentioned in these cases include, but are not limited to:

• Misclassification: It has been alleged that Unum has its representatives misclassify claims in order to disqualify policyholders from being eligible for these benefits. The company allegedly does this by using legally ambiguous and misleading language on the insurance policies, which can allow the company to misclassify the claims because the claimant seldom understands the original policy.
• Altering the Policy: Unum has also been accused of making changes to its policies without properly notifying the policyholders or getting their consent. Allegedly, these changes are often made during the time the coverage is enacted in order to limit the benefits the policyholder is receiving. Other times, these changes are allegedly made prior to the disability claim or soon after they are submitted, thereby disqualifying the claimant from any benefits.
• Misuse of Medical Experts: One of the most commonly cited tactics by Unum lawyers is the insurance company’s alleged use of independent third party medical examiners in reviewing the claims, in order to discredit them. This deceptive action has been allegedly done without the policyholder’s knowledge or consent, with these examiners being unqualified and having no prior knowledge to the claimant’s condition.
• Delay Tactics: Unum has been accused of using various delay tactics in order to limit the policyholder’s options in the claim processing. Most commonly, Unum repeatedly requests additional information from the claimant or asks a policy holder to submit redundant and unnecessary forms. By requesting repeated information, the insurance company increases the chances of error development in the filing process, leading to an excuse to deny the claim. This strategy allegedly allows Unum to avoid paying benefits to legitimate claims and leaves policyholders with limited options to pursue their claims.
• Refusing to Acknowledge Disability: The company has been accused of failing to acknowledge the claimant’s disability, whether or not the claimant submits sufficient medical evidence to prove it. Unum is especially notorious for allegedly refusing to recognize mental disorders, fibromyalgia, and chronic fatigue syndrome as legitimate conditions that cause disability due to the stigmas associated with these conditions.
• Arguing that the Condition is Pre-existing: Almost all of Unum’s disability policies state that claimants are eligible for disability benefits if it is due to an illness or injury that the claimant was not born with. The company allegedly tries to misclassify the condition as pre-existing, combining different claim denial tactics.

Many policyholders who were denied their disability insurance claims have filed an Unum lawsuit or joined an Unum class action lawsuit.