Unum Faces Long Term Disability Lawsuit Over Woman’s Allegedly Unfair Denial

Unum Life Insurance Company of America again faces another recent long term disability lawsuit over the alleged unfair denial of a woman’s disability benefits.

Plaintiff Belvia A. files the long term disability lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina. The lawsuit was filed on Dec. 20, 2018.

According to the long term disability lawsuit, Belvia is a 54-year-old woman who suffers from a number of conditions including being racked with migraine headaches almost 15 times per month. She says she also suffers from degenerative disc disease (DDD) of all three portions of the spine including the lumbar, thoracic, and cervical spine.

Other conditions she has endured include a history of mini strokes, fibromyalgia, and chronic pain syndrome, the lawsuit states.

Due to these afflictions, Belvia says that she has been unable to perform the tasks related to her employment. In fact, between 2015 and 2017 she says that she left active employment and began receiving long term disability benefits to help support her.

However, she reports that Unum terminated her long term disability benefits because they found her able to perform “past sedentary and skilled work.” The company allegedly ignored the opinions of Belvia’s physicians and specialists that state otherwise.

“All of these physicians and experts support inability to perform any gainful activity,” the complaint says. “Substantial objective and clinical evidence proves inability to perform any gainful activity including sedentary work. After exhausting her plan administrative remedies… [Belvia] now files this action.”

Overview: Long Term Disability Lawsuit

Often, the filing of a long term disability (LTD) lawsuit is an effort of last resort. Most consumers have then exhausted all other administrative remedies to appeal denial decisions made by Unum. Thousands of claimants have filed a long term disability lawsuit against Unum, the single largest disability insurance company in the country.

Individuals argue of unfair denial of their benefits and unfair treatment by the company. They claim that although they are qualified for LTD benefits, specifically under the terms of their policies, Unum still denies them their rights to their benefits. Claims made against Unum accuse them of unreasonable delays in claim processing, underpayment of insurance benefits, and unfair denial of insurance disability claims.

Unum specializes in providing both short-term and long term disability benefits. As a Tennessee-based Fortune 500 company, it manages a number of subsidiaries including Provident Life and Accident, First Unum Life, Colonial Life & Accident, and Paul Revere Life Insurance.

The lawsuits and claims made against Unum state the company’s sole purpose in denying consumer benefits is to place revenue and profit above consumer needs.

In recent years, Unum has made more than $10 billion in annual revenue. However, allegations of bad faith continue to follow the company as claims continue to be made against them. Unum has even been featured as part of a televised segment on 60 Minutes to address claims of bad faith practices.

The segment showed former adjusters of the company warning that often they would be rewarded for by denying consumer’s disability benefits. The televised feature also aired former employees describing just how “intense” the work environment was and how much pressure there was to deny consumer claims. Physicians who had worked for Unum were also shown having said that they were fired for refusing to cooperate with the company and deny consumer disability benefits.

Belvia’s Long Term Disability Lawsuit is Case No. 5:18-cv-00599-BO, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina, Western Division.