A man has recently filed a lawsuit against Unum Life Insurance Company of America, stating the insurance company prematurely halted his disability payments.

Plaintiff John H. of Pennsylvania has filed a lawsuit because he was denied the Unum disability benefits he says he was owed.

The suit against Unum Life Insurance Company of America states the insurance company prematurely terminated John’s disability payments while he continued to be disabled under the terms of the plan.

The plaintiff received a right knee replacement surgery on or about April 14, 2015. For the following 12 months, John was disabled from his regular employment under the terms of his group disability policy.

He applied and received short term disability benefits through Oct. 21, 2015. He received notice in early November that he was not longer eligible for benefits under the policy beyond Oct. 21, 2015.

According to his lawsuit, he actually was still eligible for Unum disability benefits after that date and through April 14, 2016.

According to the lawsuit, his premiums had been paid and he had completed the obligatory steps needed under the insurance contract that should have enabled his benefits to continue.

Still, Unum insisted he no longer met their criteria for disability benefits and continued to deny him any further compensation.

By denying the disability benefits when they did, the lawsuit states Unum’s actions were “arbitrary” and “capricious” while also in violation of the law.

Unum Disability Benefits Historically Denied

Unum has faced a lot of heat for allegedly denying valid claims or terminating disability benefits too early since 2002. That is the year legendary television program 60 Minutes interviewed Unum employees who said they were rewarded for reaching a claim-denial monthly quota.

A doctor even claimed Unum fired him because he refused to assist Unum by denying benefits to injured claimants. Other doctors have stated they, too, were encouraged to falsify medical records of disabled people to make them appear healthy on paper. That was how Unum allegedly could deny the claims.

Over the years, 3,000-plus lawsuits over denied Unum disability benefits have been filed and many have been successfully settled for hundreds of thousands, even millions, of dollars in compensation.

Reports of claimants who have taken all the proper steps to obtain their benefits, but still had them taken away, are not uncommon. Even those covered by the FMLA (Family Medical Leave Act) have struggled to obtain or maintain disability benefits.

Claimants report of phone interviews every two months to ask about a recovery prognosis when even their own doctors are not certain of when patients will be deemed eligible to resume work in the future.

One woman who underwent two brain surgeries said that her Unum representative has tried from the beginning to stop her Unum disability benefits.

If you or someone you know has been denied a disability claim, had your benefits reduced or terminated early, you could benefit from legal action to collect the funds that you have been denied.

The Unum Disability Benefits Lawsuit is Case No. 3:2016-cv-01573, in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania.