Secura Insurance Hit with Lawsuit Over Benefits Denial

A Wisconsin woman has filed a lawsuit against Secura Insurance Co. for allegedly denying the disability benefits that the insurance company owes her, in violation of federal law. 

Sara Christensen began working at Secura in July 2010, at which time she signed up for the Secura Insurance Company Welfare Benefit Plan offered by her employer. According to her lawsuit, the purpose of the benefit plan is to provide a financial safety net if or when an employee becomes disabled by providing employees with a percentage of their monthly earnings, which for Christensen is $2,440.36.

On May 23, 2012, however, Christensen was forced to step down from her position at the insurance company due to disabilities that she developed, making it so that she could no longer do her job.

At that point, she became eligible to receive long-term disability insurance benefits as defined by the plan. She received the disability benefits until November 20, 2012, at which point Secura cut off her benefits entirely and has not paid her any benefits since, the lawsuit says.

Christensen has followed the appeals process as laid out by Secura — submitting all necessary medical documentation as well as any other information that Secura requested, yet the insurance company has yet to reinstate her benefit payments.

The Wisconsin woman claims in the lawsuit that Secura did not fairly consider the issues brought up in her appeals, that it ignored the medical evidence she provided regarding her disability, and that her case was not given a “full and fair review” by the insurance company.

In addition, she claims that Secura did not tell her about the additional medical documents that it needed, they did not adequately explain why her benefits were denied, and they selectively reviewed Christensen’s medical records. In spite of Secura’s insistence to withhold the disability benefits from her, she still remains disabled according to the definition under the benefit plan.

Christensen is charging Secura with violating the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) under which the disability benefit plan offered by Secura falls under, requiring insurance companies to provide coverage as agreed upon with their clients.

Secura is being asked to retroactively pay all benefits it has withheld from Christensen since denying her benefits in November 2012 as well as reinstate her benefit payments going forward in addition to interest, attorney fees, and whatever other compensation the court decides is appropriate.

The disability insurance lawsuit is Sara Christensen v. Secura Insurance Company, Case No. 1:13-cv-01040-WCG, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, Green Bay Division.

If you or someone you know had insurance benefits run out prior to when they should have as a customer of Unum Life Insurance Co. of America, legal options are available.  Learn more and get a free legal consultation regarding a claim’s eligibility at the Unum/UnumProvident Disability Insurance Claim Denial Class Action Lawsuit Investigation.  Experienced legal professionals are available to determine if you have case, so act now.