An Unum lawsuit was filed by a South Carolina woman against Unum Life Insurance Company alleging the company wrongfully denied long-term disability benefits under her employer’s plan.

Long-term disability insurance provides financial benefits to employees when they are unable to work due to a disability regardless of whether that illness or injury is work-related.

Unum Insurance policyholder Sarah A. filed her Unum lawsuit on July 1, 2016.

Until February 2015, Sarah was employed with CareCore National LLC, and as an employee was provided with long term disability insurance via a plan which was fully covered by Unum.

According to the Unum lawsuit, Sarah became disabled because of certain problems from which she suffered and was forced to cease working and file a claim for long-term disability benefits.

But Unum denied Sarah’s claim for disability benefits. The Unum lawsuit states that Unum’s decision to deny Sarah disability benefits was made while operating under a conflict of interest which significantly influenced the disability insurance provider to deny her claim.

She contends that Unum’s decision was based upon substantial evidence or the result of a “principled and reasoned decision-making process.”

Instead, as per the Unum lawsuit, the decision to deny Sarah’s claim was reached by Unum ignoring relevant evidence pertaining to her claim and instead, relying upon biased information and “flawed expert opinions.”

Sarah appealed Unum’s denial and has fully exhausted all administrative remedies.  She has opted to file a Unum lawsuit in the hopes of recovering her disability benefits to which she is entitled.

Specifically, Sarah is asking the court to consider her administrative records compiled for the case and rule in favor of awarding her payment of full disability benefits, including pre-judgment interest on all benefits due, along with attorney’s fees and costs.

Unum Claim Denial Tactics

Unum and its subsidiaries have repeatedly been found liable for questionable practices relating to denied disability insurance claims.

In fact, Unum has long been accused of improperly denying valid disability benefits claims, mostly from those who held long-term disability insurance policies.

A CBS 60 Minutes report revealed the company established a quota for denied claims and offered incentives to employees who denied valid claims from policyholders.

Among tactics allegedly used by insurers to unreasonably delay or deny disability insurance claims is ignoring professional medical diagnosis or using biased experts, changing policies after a claim is filed, and claiming a person is not disabled and can work, despite a medical diagnosis from a professional.

Such tactics fall under bad faith insurance, and if an insurer has committed bad faith insurance, policyholders whose claims have been improperly or unreasonably denied or delayed may be eligible to file a complaint against the insurance company.

Filing an Unum Lawsuit

Such improper insurance denial tactics may prompt policyholders whose claims have been improperly or unreasonably denied or delayed to file a disability insurance lawsuit against the insurance company.

Filing an Unum lawsuit may be the best way to seek compensation for a denied disability benefits claim and an experienced disability benefits attorney can help.

The Unum Lawsuit is Case No. 2:16-cv-02384-DCN in the U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina, Charleston Division.