An Indiana woman filed a lawsuit against Unum Life Insurance Company of America for allegedly using illegal tactics to deny her disability benefits.

Due to an accident, plaintiff Penni Abney had applied and was initially approved for short-term benefits, but was later denied her long-term benefits, she explained in her Unum lawsuit.

Previously, Abney was fully employed at Vandor Corporation for a number of years but stopped working on May 3, 2013, due to unspecified health conditions.

Abney applied for short-term benefits, which was approved by Unum to received maximum benefits under the plan.

On Nov. 10, 2013, her short-term benefits expired, and she then applied long-term benefits, due to that fact that her health conditions included multiple impairments.

Under Unum’s plan, she was eligible due to years dedicated to Vandor, as well as being qualified under the medical terms of the insurance plans.

In both instances, Abney had followed administrative procedures and submitted all medical testimony in a timely manner.

While the Indiana woman was approved for short-term benefits, she was officially denied long-term benefits on January 31. Abney immediately appealed this denial, emphasizing the fact that she currently suffers from numerous impairments that would qualify her for approval.

She resubmitted the medical testimony from initial application, along with additional evidence from her physician. Despite all the evidence presented to Unum, the defendant denied her appeal and has allegedly refused to acknowledge the need of the plaintiff for long-term benefits. At this time, the plaintiff reportedly has no way to earn comparable levels of any income at all, while incurring massive medical debts.

As of now, Abney has no way of paying off the medical debts and has exhausted all administrative options to resolve this issue. Abney’s attorneys are accusing Unum of wrongfully denying Abney’s benefits, and thereby wrongfully refusing to pay an insured participant under their insurance policy and plan.

Her lawyers further went on to say that these actions were arbitrary and capricious, and that Unum had more of a financial interest in denying the claim, rather than approving it. Therefore, Abney is suing Unum Life Insurance Company for allegedly using bad faith insurance practices to deny her claim.

This Unum Lawsuit is Penni Abney v. Unum Life Insurance Company of America, Case No. 1:14-cv-01475-WTL-MJD, in the U.S. District Court of Southern Indiana, Indianapolis Division.

Overview of Unum Claim Denial Tactics

Unum is the oldest and largest disability insurance company in America, and provides disability insurance to much of the world.

Though reputable, policyholders have been suing this company for years for allegedly denying claims on untrue statements, insufficient evidence, false testimony, and essentially any other excuse.

The tactics Unum has been accused of using against claimants include but are not limited to:

• Changing policies after claims are filed (and without the authorization or knowledge of policy holders)
• Improperly investigating the claim and obtaining opinions from unqualified witnesses
• Misreading medical records, often by its own independent medical examiners
• Demanding repeated requests for independent medical examinations or denying a claim without any medical examination
• Refusing to acknowledge certain disabilities, especially mental disorders, fibromyalgia, and chronic fatigue syndrome
• Arguing that the claim is a pre-existing condition
• Denying a claim with the intent to wear the claimant down to a lower settlement
• Partially paying a claim for total disability
• Use of detectives, friends, co-workers and neighbors in an attempt to discredit the disability