A Texas man is suing Unum Life Insurance Company of America, for allegedly practicing bad faith insurance and illegally denying his claim for long-term disability benefits.

Plaintiff Milton M. claims that he was the victim of a wrongful claim denial by Unum. He says that there was no legitimate reason to deny his disability benefits, and that the defendant’s lack of cooperation has caused him unwanted and detrimental pain, suffering, and anguish.

Up until July 2012, Milton was employed by BCD Travel USA LLC and had worked with the company for a number of years. His employment provided him with long-term disability benefits, which would have been ideally provided by Unum if the need had ever arisen.

It is important to note that Unum was entirely responsible in determining whether or not the plaintiff’s claim was acceptable or not. This means that Unum was the claim administrator and fiduciary of the plaintiff’s disability plan, giving them the power to deny or approve the plaintiff’s claim.

Before his benefits were denied, Milton had no reason to fear or expect potential bad faith insurance practices or wrongful claim denial tactics.

In 2012, Milton had become disabled and could no longer perform the occupational duties of his job, forcing him to resign. He immediately filed for long-term disability, submitting all necessary paperwork and medical testimony to vouch for his condition.

Milton’s physician stated that he could not be reasonably expected to work in his former occupation, and would be unable to work a similar job or earn sufficient income. Under these circumstances, Milton completely qualified for Unum disability benefits.

Overview of Unum Claim Denial Allegations

Despite this, Milton had been met with a claim denial from the defendant, which stated that he did not qualify for long-term disability benefits.

In the claim denial letter, Unum did not point out any evidence specifically against the plaintiff, which leads the plaintiff’s lawyers to suspect that the company is acting within bad faith insurance.

In having insufficient evidence for denying Milton’s claim for long-term disability benefits and by acting in the best interest of themselves instead of their policyholder, Unum may have committed bad faith insurance .

According to the Unum bad faith lawsuit, Milton has reportedly exhausted all administrative options in this claim denial process, implying that he most likely tried to appeal the decision but was met with similar results.

This means that all times relevant, Milton has acted within the law and had followed all Unum administrative procedures when filing for his long-term disability claim.

Therefore, for allegedly acting in conflict of interest against the plaintiff and practicing bad faith insurance, Milton is suing Unum. He is seeking all missed payments plus any additional interest or punitive damages.

This Unum Claim Denial Lawsuit is Milton M. v. Unum Life Insurance Company of America, Case No. 6:15-cv-03222-TMC, in the U.S. District Court of South Carolina, Greenville Division.