A denied long term disability benefits lawsuit has been filed against Unum Life Insurance Company of America.

Through his employer, Covenant Transport, plaintiff John C. says he purchased a long-term disability insurance policy on April 28, 2015.

John says that on May 19, 2015, he became totally disabled because of lower back pain, lumbar degenerative disc disease, and other physical impairments.

Lumbar degenerative disc disease is the term given to a compromised disc that is supposed to act as a shock absorber in the back. When the disc’s cushioning deteriorates, lower back pain becomes an issue.

His application for disability benefits was approved in December 2015, and he began receiving disability payments. But in May 2016, Unum notified John that he was being denied long term disability benefits after the insurance company reviewed his claim.

John appealed that termination of benefits in November 2016. Unum overturned its previous decision, but only approved John’s benefits from the original termination date of May 2016 through November 2016.

Denied Long Term Disability Benefits Led to Legal Action

John’s disabilities persist, and he has exhausted the administrative steps that exist to reinstate his benefits.

John now claims that Unum’s denial of benefits was “arbitrary and capricious, constituted abuse of defendant’s discretion under the plan, and derogated plaintiff’s right to disability benefits under the terms of the plan.”

Unum Has Denied Other Disability Claims

Allegations of unwarranted denials of claims or early termination of benefits by Unum date back to 2002, when the television program 60 Minutes interviewed Unum employees who said they were rewarded for reaching a claim-denial monthly quota.

A physician even claimed Unum fired him because he refused to assist Unum in its quest to deny benefits to injured claimants. Since that program appeared, other doctors have come forward, stating they were encouraged to falsify medical records of disabled people to make them appear healthy on paper. That way, Unum could deny the claims.

More than 3,000 insurance lawsuits have been filed against Unum, and many have been successfully settled for hundreds of thousands, even millions, of dollars in compensation for denied long term disability benefits.

Unum was founded in 1848 as Union Mutual. The company merged with Provident in 1999, and that same year, it became the first insurance company to offer an employee assistance plan with group disability coverage.

Unum shares are trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol UNM. According to the investor relations page of Unum’s website, the company is a member of the Fortune 500 and is a constituent member of the S&P 500 and the S&P Life and Health index, among others.

If you believe you were denied a valid claim, or if you think you had an unfairly early termination of disability benefits, you could benefit from speaking with a legal representative.

The Denied Long Term Disability Benefits Lawsuit is Case No. 3:17-cv-00432-MCR-GRJ in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida, Pensacola Division.