Unum, the largest disability insurance company in the U.S., has reportedly caused hundreds of thousands of people with legitimate disability insurance claims to be denied insurance. This is an alleged systematic claim-denial policy that increases the company’s profit, while denying often-necessary insurance for legitimately disabled persons across the country. Other companies, many of which are subsidiaries of or are otherwise connected to Unum, have also given customers cause to file claims of bad faith insurance.

Employees and former employees of Unum and its subsidiaries have reported they were told to deny insurance claims simply to fulfill a company quota.

Some injured parties have decided to file Unum lawsuits for bad faith insurance, gaining thousands or in some cases even millions of dollars in settlement money.

One plaintiff who has filed a Unum claim denial lawsuit (Case No. 15-cv-01050 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia) was an associate attorney since mid-2009. At the time of hire, the plaintiff became insured under a long-term disability plan (LTD) from Unum. The plaintiff took a medical leave of absence from her position due to suffering from trigeminal neuralgia, a neuropathic disorder involving intense facial pain from the trigeminal nerve.

The plaintiff’s original medical leave of absence lasted from July 2010 through March 2011. According to the Unum lawsuit, the plaintiff filed a claim for benefits under the LTD Plan, which Unum denied in February 2011. Unum made this claim denial decision because the plaintiff “had received treatment for her medical condition in the months prior to the effective date of her coverage under the LTD Plan,” and so according to the company, her condition was preexisting, thus excluding her from benefits.

However, in April of 2011, the plaintiff returned to her position at the law firm, where she performed her regular job duties. The LTD Plan defines the term “material and substantial” duties as duties which are “normally required for the performance of [the] regular occupation; and cannot be reasonably omitted or modified.” If a person is able to perform such “material and substantial” duties, then they are not qualified as disabled according to the LTD Plan.

The plaintiff had a modified work schedule to account for her medical troubles, but continued performing all the “material and substantial duties” of an associate attorney after her medical leave of absence, and so Unum’s claim denial decision based on the plaintiff’s supposedly preexisting condition was declared wrongful and erroneous.

The plaintiff filed this Unum lawsuit for bad faith insurance “to recover benefits lost under the LTD plan, enforce her rights under the LTD Plan, and to clarify her rights to future benefits under the LTD Plan.” The plaintiff also requests that Unum pay the costs of the Unum lawsuit and further relief.

This plaintiff and others like her have filed Unum claim denial lawsuits, often gaining significant settlement money on their behalf.

If you have been unfairly denied insurance by Unum or one of its subsidiaries, you may be eligible to file a Unum claim denial lawsuit to seek compensation.