A disability insurance denial lawsuit has been filed in federal court by a Georgia resident who alleges he was wrongfully denied long-term disability benefits by Unum Life Insurance Company of America.

Plaintiff Casey G. filed this Unum lawsuit on March 10 of this year, claiming he was wrongfully denied disability insurance benefits by his insurance provider Unum. Casey had been a hardworking employee of SP Fiber Technologies for over 20 years, the Unum lawsuit alleges. This employer provided its employees, including Casey, with a group long-term disability insurance plan, which was insured through Unum.

According to the Unum insurance claim denial lawsuit, Casey developed a disability on May 31, 2013, at which time he filed a long-term disability claim with Unum with the hope of receiving the disability benefits due to him as an Unum policyholder. However, Casey claims that “pursuant to the terms of the Plan, he was ineligible to receive [long-term disability] benefits until the expiration of his ‘elimination period.’ The elimination period was 180 days.”

In light of this policy, Casey provided Unum with medical documentation to demonstrate he was disabled during and even after the set elimination period. The Unum lawsuit claims that the many impairments that Casey suffers from due to his long-term disability include, “diverticulitis, hypertension, kidney disease, angina, lower left upper extremity pain, and pain and restrictions related to prior finger amputations.”

Despite the medical evidence provided, Unum allegedly engaged in bad faith insurance denial when they ignored Casey’s evidence and subsequently denied his disability benefits claim.

Casey subsequently appealed Unum’s disability insurance denial. However, on Dec. 2, 2014, Unum yet again denied Casey’s request for disability insurance benefits.

In this Unum bad faith insurance denial lawsuit, Casey is seeking compensation for past unpaid disability benefits, for Unum to pay the month disability benefits to which he is entitled to as a policyholder from this point forward, waive the plaintiff’s premium for group life coverage, payment of attorney fees, among other forms of relief.

This Unum Bad Faith Insurance Denial Lawsuit is Case No. 3:15-cv-00029-DHB-BKE, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Georgia.

Background on Unum Bad Faith Insurance Practices

According to allegations by Casey and multiple plaintiffs, Unum allegedly engaged in a cash flow underwriting scheme during the past couple decades. Cash flow underwriting is the practice of selling many life insurance policies without assessing the future risks for each potential policy holder. Unum would then allegedly profit from the initial premiums and invest the premiums into the marketplace.

However, in order to retain some profits from existing and future disability insurance claims, Unum allegedly developed bad faith insurance denial practices to intentionally deny qualifying policy holders their long term disability benefits. According to Unum lawsuits, the practice still continues today.

Casey is not the only consumer to file an Unum claim denial lawsuit. Many individuals have filed Unum disability insurance denial lawsuits and may even choose to join an Unum class action lawsuit in the future.