Unum Provident is the largest supplier of disability insurance in the United States and the world. However, hundreds of lawsuits have alleged that the company has acted in “bad faith,” a legal term meaning that they intentionally attempted to get out of an agreement.

The Unum bad faith lawsuits accuse the insurer and its subsidiaries of failing to honor its contract by denying insurance claims without just cause.

Unum Provident Controversy

Unum Provident is the world’s largest disability insurance company. While the earlier versions of the company were considered revolutionary in their willingness to insure high-risk employees like coal miners and mill workers, the modern incarnation has fallen under intense scrutiny for their practices.

An investigation by the television news magazine 60 Minutes revealed various alleged abuses. This program mentioned the now-infamous “hungry vulture award,” awarded to the insurance agent that closed out the most insurance claims. The California State Insurance Commissioner, John Garamendi, actually dubbed them an “outlaw company” due to the information revealed in lawsuits, media investigations, and other sources.

Bad Faith Insurance Denial

An insurance policy is a type of contract. At its simplest, it is an agreement to pay the policyholder if something bad happens. In the case of disability insurance, it is an agreement to pay out if a person becomes unable to work. However, if an insurance company tries to deny a legitimate insurance claim, it could be said to be acting in bad faith, that it is trying to get out of living up to the terms of the insurance.

>>File a Bad Faith Insurance Lawsuit

To date, hundreds of Unum bad faith lawsuits have been filed by policyholders who say the company suddenly stopped paying out long-term disability payments — or refused to pay them in the first place — in violation of their policy contract.

Alleged Insurance Denial Tactics

Insurance companies like Unum Provident have been accused of using a variety of methods to deny legitimate insurance claims. Lawsuits allege that insurance companies have used in-house physicians to “overturn” medical recommendations by policyholders’ doctors. Insurers have been accused of claiming that a policyholder is not “totally” disabled, and that they could still perform very basic tasks. They have also been accused of endlessly continuing to demand additional information and documentation before declaring a policyholder to be disabled. Still other lawsuits allege that Unum Provident has buried legitimate claims in legal terminology and jargon.