Disability insurance is supposed to provide payments to a person who becomes disabled or too ill to work, but that isn’t always the case. Disability insurance claims are often denied in bad faith, a legal term used to describe an insurer breaching its contract with the policyholder.

In a bad faith insurance lawsuit filed against Lincoln National Life Insurance Company in federal court in California, a worker no longer able to complete his duties is seeking the reinstatement of his disability insurance benefits, alleging that he has continued to meet the definition of the plan’s policy.

William Fountaine initially filed his disability insurance claim and began receiving disability insurance benefits on Oct. 28, 2010. However, just under two years later, Lincoln National Life Insurance Company claim denial specialists cut off his payments. The firm argued that Fountaine no longer met the definition of disability pursuant to the long-term disability plan it provided to him through his employer, WDC Exploration and Wells, a drilling company based near Sacramento.

However, according to the San Bernardino man’s disability insurance lawsuit lawyer, his client filed a timely appeal that was met with a denial on Apr. 23, 2013, and a second request for continuation of benefits that was denied on Jan.17, 2014, “despite overwhelming evidence of a covered [long-term disability] claim.”

The claims made in the bad faith insurance lawsuit are similar to those of beneficiaries seeking back benefits from UnumProvident disability plans. Unum class action lawsuits allege that the companies and their claim denial specialists fail to properly interpret the policies or capriciously stop payment of benefits even though the claimants are still disabled pursuant to the definition outlined in the plans in which they are enrolled.

It is important for people who believe their disability claims have been wrongfully denied to examine the policy that governs their benefits. For example, some company’s plans only make monthly payments if a former employee is unable to perform any kind of work, while others only require claimants to provide medical evidence they are no longer able to to their current job.

The disability insurance class action lawsuit is William Fountaine v. The Lincoln National Life Insurance Company et al., Case No. 14-cv-00497, U.S. District Court, Central District of California.