A Florida man has filed claim denial lawsuit against Unum Life Insurance Company, for allegedly practicing bad faith insurance and wrongfully denying his benefits.

Gerald claims in his Unum lawsuit that he has met the insurance company’s requirements to qualify for long-term disability benefits, and that his claim was wrongfully denied.

Before he became disabled, Gerald was fully employed and had completed all occupational duties until he could no longer physically do so.

Like many companies in America, his employer had contracted Unum to provide their employees with long-term and short-term disability benefits, in the event an employee became injured or disabled to the point that they were prevented from working in their current occupation or other job.

Since he has become disabled, Gerald has been unable to make sufficient income and will be unable to work in a similar occupation. He was declared disabled on Nov. 21, 2014, and filed for long-term disability benefits soon after, according to the Unum lawsuit.

At all times relevant, Gerald had followed all administrative procedures and had submitted all necessary paperwork by the designated deadline.

Included in these documents, were medical testimony from his doctors, confirming that he was no longer able to work for his previous employer and that he would be unable to work in the future.

Despite submitting all paperwork and medical evidence, Unum still denied Gerald his long-term disability benefits. Gerald immediately appealed this, once again submitting all the required paperwork and statements from his physicians. However, his appeal was met with the same result.

According to the disability insurance lawsuit, Unum did not provide a sufficient reason for the claim denial, with the Gerald’s lawyers accusing the company of denying the claim under biased circumstances.

Ultimately, Unum lawsuit states that his claim denial was done in the best interest of the defendant, and not their client, and therefore, was a bad faith insurance decision.

Overview of Unum Claim Denial Allegations

Gerald is one of millions of Unum policyholders who has faced a claim denial from the insurance giant.

Unum Life Insurance Company is the largest and disability insurance provider in the United States, providing over 17 million Americans disability insurance.

Here are some of the claim denial tactics used by Unum:

• Changing policies after claims are filed and without notifying policy holders
• Improperly investigating claims and obtaining opinions from unqualified third parties
• Misreading medical records, often by Unum’s own medical examiners
• Repeatedly demanding requests for independent medical examinations to make the claim filing process more difficult
• Refusing to acknowledge the policyholder’s disability
• Arguing that the disability is a pre-existing condition
• Using detectives, friends, co-workers and neighbors to try and discredit the policyholder’s claim

Currently, Gerald has not received any payments for his long-term disability claim and is seeking all payments owed to him from the company, plus any interest. Gerald has also been unable to earn adequate income to support his lifestyle, consisting of basic necessities and medical expenses.

This Unum lawsuit is Gerald B. v. Unum Life Insurance Company, Case No. 5:15-cv-00369-MMH-PRL, in the U.S. District Court of Middle Florida, Ocala Division.