Man Files Lawsuit After Problems with Unum Disability Insurance

Plaintiff Samuel V. has initiated a lawsuit over Unum disability insurance, arguing that he was not treated fairly or lawfully by the life insurance company.

The lawsuit alleges that the plaintiff was an Unum disability insurance policy holder under a group plan through his employment with Valero Services Inc.

Samuel says that policy provided long term disability benefits equal to the lesser of 60 percent of his pre-disability earnings or $10,000. The lawsuit points out that given the plaintiff’s pre-disability salary, he was entitled to long term disability benefits of a minimum of $4,867 per month.

The plaintiff says he became officially disabled under the policy after an serious vehicle accident in 2014. He says that he has suffered a 20 percent or more loss in his index earnings due to an injury or sickness and because he is limited from performing the substantial and material duties of his regular occupation because of that same sickness or injury.

According to the Unum Life Insurance Company website, their disability insurance policies could entitle policy holders to between 50 and 60 percent of their salary if they suffer a debilitating injury.

The plaintiff in the lawsuit says that he has suffered from many different ailments over the course of numerous years, including chronic axial back pain, lumbar spine degenerative disc disease, chronic low back pain, adjustment disorder with depressed mood, plantar fasciitis, pre-diabetes, high density lipoprotein deficiency, dermatitis, pulmonary embolism, stress and post-traumatic stress disorder, lumbar facet arthropathy, and chronic low back pain, among others.

He alleges in his lawsuit that he attempted to continue working as long as possible until he was no longer able to do so because of his emotional and physical injuries. He says he was significantly injured in the 2014 vehicle accident that caused severe emotional and physical pain, including an L1 level burst fracture.

He says he missed a total of seven months of work prior to returning to his job. He says he returned to work despite a problem with consistent low back pain.

The lawsuit alleges that Unum repeatedly responded to the record submitted by the disability applicant, claiming that the records from the treating physicians were not sufficient enough to support a claim for disability.

The plaintiff then initiated an appeal of the denial of his claim in December 2017, arguing the various reasons why he believed Unum’s claim decision was incorrect. However, the company upheld their decision to deny him disability benefits.

The Unum group has been subject to serious complaints from consumers and a rising number of lawsuits. More than 86 recent complaints have been filed with the Better Business Bureau directly in relation to the Unum Life Insurance Company.

Lawsuits blame the company for unfair denial of owed disability benefits from consumers who were active in policies they thought would protect them. Many of those consumers found they could not get the help they needed when it came time to activate their disability policy.

The Unum Disability Insurance lawsuit is Case No. 2:19-at-00061 in the U.S. District Court, Eastern District of California.