Unum Life Insurance Company is the oldest disability insurance provider in America, providing policies to over 17 million Americans. The company, however, has garnered a nasty reputation of denying disability claims under alleged bad faith insurance circumstances.

Bad faith insurance refers to any circumstance in which an insurance company denies a claim for invalid or insufficient reasons. An insurance policy is a contract between the individual and insurance company, in which both parties are expected to act in honest and good faith towards each other.

But this is not always the case in situations in which a claimant follows all claim filing rules and submitting all required paperwork, but is still met with rejection. Many legal experts state that disability insurance claim denials are becoming increasingly common.

Insurance companies have been found to be denying disability insurance claims for the most minor of reasons, or no reason at all.

To show an insurance company acted in bad faith, the policyholder must prove that the insurance company’s decision was unreasonable, by exhibiting various forms of evidence and had failed to honor the insurance policy itself.

If a claim denial is found to be in bad faith, punitive damages could be assessed to the insurance company. Some examples of bad faith claim denial tactics include:

• Changing policies after claims are filed without consulting or informing the policyholders
• Illegally investigating the claim and obtaining opinions from unqualified third party “experts”
• Misreading medical records, mostly by independent medical examiners
• Repeatedly demanding requests for independent medical examinations or denying claims without proper medical reasoning
• Refusing to acknowledge the injury, or claiming it was a pre-existing condition
• Repeatedly denying a claim with the intent to wear the claimant down for a lower settlement

While insurance companies have a right to deny a claim, they can only do so if the claim does not meet the requirements of the company or is found to be fraudulent. If a policyholder suspects that they are victim of a bad faith claim denial, they should keep records of all documents and communications relevant to the claim.

The policyholder should also write a letter and send it to the director of claims of the insurance company, citing the provisions in the policy that illustrates why the claim denial is unreasonable. Additionally, the policyholder should write the same letter to the commissioner of the Department of Insurance in their state, and ask for them to review and assist in the matter.

If the insurance company still continues to deny the insurance claim under unreasonable circumstances, then the policyholder may have to pursue legal action. In this case, the policyholder should hire a specialized lawyer and discuss possible settlement options with the insurance company. If a settlement is not reached, then the case could potentially progress to court.

Unum Life Insurance Company is one of the most commonly named disability insurance companies in these lawsuits, with numerous policyholders complaining that they had been victims of bad faith claim denials.