A Florida chiropractor and Unum Life Insurance Company, have settled a bad faith insurance lawsuit.

Plaintiff Dr. G filed the Unum lawsuit after the insurance company agreed to pay for a few months of long-term disability benefits, but later concluded that the chiropractor should return to work. After that decision, Unum cut off disability payments to Dr. G.

According to his disability insurance lawsuit, Dr. G purchased an individual long-term disability policy after he graduated from chiropractic college. Dr. G alleges that his individual policy states that Unum would pay monthly benefits if he was unable to perform the duties of his occupation due to an illness or injury.

Dr. G claims that over time he began to feel pain in his knees, hands, wrists and right shoulder. An MRI confirmed that the chiropractor had a torn rotator, while an x-ray showed he had developed degenerative osteoarthritis in his knees, hands and wrists.

Dr. G underwent surgery to repair his rotator cuff and took medication to help with his arthritis. However, despite all that Dr. G claims he was still in significant pain and working with patients only made his condition worse.

After Dr. G filed a claim for long-term disability benefits Unum requested a considerable amount of proof. Dr. G submitted profit and loss statements for his private practice, medical records, personal and corporate tax returns, and other documents as evidence. The company agreed to pay for a few months of benefits while it reviewed all of the documents. At the conclusion of their review, Unum judged that Dr. G should go back to work.

Dr. G claims that he tried to get Unum to reverse the decision but the company refused, so he sued the insurance company for breach of contract.

After months of litigation and weeks of settlement negotiations, both parties agreed to a settlement agreement. Dr. G accepted a lump sum in exchange for his long-term disability policy and the Unum lawsuit was dismissed. The settlement amount was kept confidential.

Bad Faith Insurance Denial

Nearly 40 percent of all disability insurance policies in the U.S. are handled by Unum. Millions of American workers will take a portion of their paycheck to pay for Unum disability benefits just in case they ever become disabled. However, the company has faced thousands of lawsuits for allegedly engaging in what is referred to as bad faith practices. 

Unum policyholders have reported that the company has engaged in the following bad faith practices:

• Omitting records from the official record review when the record would show a claimant as disabled
• Changing policies once claims are filed (and without the authorization or knowledge of policy holders)
• Refusing to acknowledge claimants’ disability
• Misreading medical records in order to deny claims
• Hiring biased and sometimes unqualified “experts” to conduct investigations
• Taking favorable opinions of nurses over physicians when it comes to disability reports

Many Unum lawsuits are settled for hundreds of thousands of dollars. If you were denied Unum long-term disability insurance, contact a qualified attorney to find out if you have legal claim.