Unum Lawsuit Settlements Don’t Stop Claim Denial Fraud

A verdict of $31.7 million against UnumProvident is just one of numerous legal problems that the nation’s biggest disability insurer is currently facing. The organization has had over 2,500 Unum fraud lawsuits filed against them by policyholders. These Unum lawsuits accuse the company of various charges, including breach of contract and fraud, with a minimum of one Unum class action lawsuit currently pending with regulators carrying out inquiries in additional states.

Following a three-month trial, UnumProvident had a $31.7 million verdict returned against them by a jury in Marin County, California. The jury ruled in favor of an eye surgeon from Novato, California, named Dr. Randall Chapman. In 2001, he sued UnumProvident as a result of them refusing to pay the $11,600 monthly benefit called for in a long-term disability policy that had been bought in the 1980s by Dr. Chapman.

According to Chapman, a phobia that he had developed caused him to shake, leading to him to be unable to perform eye surgery. The diagnosis was disputed by Unum’s house physicians, so, in September 2000, after making payments for just three months, they stopped his disability insurance benefits.

Of the policyholders that are filing Unum fraud lawsuits against the company, a large number are doctors, attorneys and owners of small businesses who, as with Chapman, wanted protection for themselves and their families should they have ever become disabled and unable to work. Many purchased disability insurance policies with premiums that could be raised so that their policies could not be cancelled.

In another Unum fraud lawsuit filed last year in San Francisco by Joan Hangarter, a former Berkeley chiropractor, a jury’s judgment of $7.67 million was upheld by a federal judge. In upholding the Unum fraud settlement, U.S. Magistrate James Larson said the organization had participated in activity of a questionable nature in an effort to avoid the payment of legitimate claims and gave an order for it to “obey the law.”

In Florida, in 2001, a ruling by a federal court jury made a ruling in favor of John Tedesco, a former ophthalmologist, who, despite the fact he had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease and a herniated disc, had his claim for disability refused by the organization. Tedesco was awarded $36.7 million.

In New York last year, UnumProvident was charged by a Unum class action lawsuit for operating “disability denial factories,” wrongly denying claims for disability made by its policyholders. Allegations that the Unum class action lawsuit made include that UnumProvident “has illegally victimized, and continues to victimize, many thousands of disabled Americans.” Unspecified damages and an order by the court for the organization to re-evaluate all of the denials of claims in recent years is being sought by the Unum class action lawsuit.

In Tennessee and Georgia, state insurance regulators say that they are currently reviewing policyholder complaints made against the organization. In a statement made by the organization, it claims to insure 25 million people while having a complaint rate that is less than the national average. Of the 421,000 disability claims filed in the previous year, the company claims to have denied “only 1.5” percent. In 1999, UnumProvident was formed via the merger of The Provident Companies, based in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and the Unum Corp. in Portland, Maine, and currently has about 5,700 employees in the two cities.

It is clear that despite the millions of dollars that Unum has been ordered to pay that they still have not learned their lesson. Sadly, current policy holders continue to receive unfair claim denials on a daily basis. Do not let Unum get away with this if you too are a victim of Unum. File a Unum lawsuit today. It is quick and easy. Just visit the Unum/UnumProvident Disability Insurance Claim Denial Class Action Lawsuit Investigation page to speak with a Unum lawsuit attorney and receive your free consultation.