A Florida woman is claiming in a lawsuit against Unum that her disability benefits have been wrongly denied.

Plaintiff Natasha A. had disability insurance through Unum starting on Jan. 1, 2013. She bought it through her employer, Baptist Health South Florida.

Beginning Jan. 13 of that same month, Natasha says she became completely disabled because of cardiomyopathy, obstructive sleep apnea, morbid obesity and other exertional and non-exertional impairments.

According to this lawsuit against Unum, in May 2013 Natasha made a timely application for disability benefits under her insurance plan.

On July 15, 2013, the plaintiff’s application for benefits was approved by Unum and she began receiving benefits. She received these benefits through July 9, 2016.

At this time, Unum reviewed her case again and made the decision to deny her benefits. According to her lawsuit against Unum, Natasha appealed their decision in January 2017.

On Feb. 15, 2017, Unum made it clear that they were going to uphold their previous decision and were going to continue to deny her the benefits she believes she deserves.

Because of her continued cardiomyopathy, her sleep apnea, her morbid obesity and other impairments, Natasha says she remains disabled and completely unable to perform the work that is necessary for her job.

The plaintiff believes that Unum’s denial of benefits were arbitrary and capricious and abused the right of the insurance company to use their discretion regarding cases. According to this lawsuit against Unum, she believes her rights to disability benefits under the plan were derogated.

Natasha’s isn’t the first lawsuit against Unum for claims of wrongfully denying disability benefits. Many others have filed a lawsuit against Unum for similar problems. Unum has been found liable on many occasions for questionable practices regarding denial of claims for disability.

The question is, has Unum participated in bad faith insurance tactics?

At times, they have been accused of unreasonably delaying claims or denying them altogether by ignoring sound medical diagnosis. They also have been accused of using their own, purportedly biased experts to make decisions regarding the ability of the insured to perform work.

Others have claimed they change policy rules after a claim is filed. Unum has also been accused of claiming a person is in fact able to work even though a medical professional has stated otherwise.

If these claims are true, claims like these fall under what is called bad faith insurance. Those who have been wrongfully denied disability benefits and who are insured under bad faith insurance carriers may have eligibility to file a complaint against their insurance company.

If you believe you have been wrongfully denied disability benefits and are insured by Unum, you may be entitled to legal compensation.