A Florida woman is suing Unum Life Insurance Company of America for allegedly wrongfully denying her long-term disability benefits that she believes she was entitled to according to her employment agreement.

Plaintiff Madlyn Anders was a full-time employee and had become fully disabled, preventing her from doing her job, the Unum lawsuit says. According to testimony from her physician, she is permanently disabled and will be unable to work in the same or similar occupation again.

Under these circumstances, Anders filed for long-term disability benefits since she met the requirements of the insurance provider — she had worked a sufficient amount of time for the company, was an appropriate age, had full-time status, and had followed every step of the claim submission process. Despite meeting the submission deadline, along with additional pieces of evidence proving her disability, Anders was still denied her disability benefits from Unum.

>>Unum Lawsuits Fight Claim Denials

Anders was officially denied her benefits on October 18, 2012, and has yet to receive any of the disability payments, which she claims Unum owes her. Anders appealed the denial in a timely fashion, but was still denied. The plaintiff has exhausted all administrative actions, according to the Unum lawsuit.

Anders is suing Unum Life Insurance because she claims the company wrongfully denied her benefits. She is seeking reimbursement for all missing payments, plus interest.

Overview of Unum Claim Denial Tactics

Since its founding in 1848, Unum has been established as the largest disability insurance company in the world, as well as one of the oldest insurance providers in the United States.  Despite its legacy, Unum and several other insurance giants have been facing allegations of using unfair denial tactics to turn down insurance claims.

These companies have been hit with hundreds of insurance denial lawsuits for the past two decades. Many of the plaintiffs had filed disability claims for personal injury situations, but had been turned down despite medical evidence, witness testimony, and following submission guidelines. The tactics most commonly cited in Unum claim denial lawsuits include:

• Changing policies after claims are filed, 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 policy holder

Unum Litigation Movement

Under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), Anders is entitled to long-term disability benefits and a reasonable retirement plan due to her work as a full-time employee for an equitable amount of years.  By denying Anders her benefits, Unum has allegedly violated this law.

This Unum lawsuit is Madlyn Anders vs. Unum Life Insurance Company, Case No. 6:14-cv-00267-JA-TBS, in the United States District court of Middle Florida, Orlando Division.