Filing for long-term disability is a long and challenging process. It’s more than filling out a few forms and checking items on a list. Medical evidence, information from your employer and other documents are part of what will win or deny your case. Insurance companies have strict deadlines, and one small mistake can see your entire claim denied.
They Don’t Want To Pay You
Insurance companies would rather you didn’t realize that even though you’ve paid into their policy, they’re not interested in helping you. Paying claims is not a good business model, so insurers make sure that there are multiple ways to deny your claim. Short deadlines, excessive or duplicate paperwork, delaying claims or payments or giving lower payments than indicated in the policy are all ways insurers stall. Legitimate claims for disability are increasingly denied for the slightest reason. Knowing that most people don’t have the means to fight back, these “bad faith” practices continue with little pushback.
ERISA
The Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 was enacted to protect employees, but ends up protecting insurance companies. Instead of protecting you, ERISA gives insurance companies greater freedom to deny your claim. Although the Department of Labor says that it “protects retirement savings from mismanagement and abuse,” insurers are free from many state-level restrictions on bad-faith insurance practices. Insurers are then are free to decide who is approved for LTD benefits, and who isn’t.
The deck is actually stacked against you as an applicant, and it’s up to you to be able to make sure your claim is completely correct. This is where an attorney can help make sure your application is not only correct, but more than sufficient to prove your claim and make it harder to deny.
If you decide to handle your ERISA appeal without an attorney, you’ll more than likely be denied, and you could lose any additional opportunities to appeal or file a suit. You may only have one chance at an appeal.
Hiring An LTD Attorney
Of course, you want to find an attorney in Houston who has experience with both LTD claims and with ERISA appeals. He or she will understand the process and know exactly how to follow the rules.
If you hire an attorney at the beginning of your application process, he or she knows that ample evidence in your administrative claim will help meet and exceed the insurer’s requirements. If you just fill out the paperwork on your own, and depend on the insurer to find all the evidence it needs, there’s a strong chance your claim will be denied because of insufficient information, or even a mistake.
Once a decision has been made, no new evidence is allowed. An experienced LTD attorney will know exactly what to add to the claim to increase your chances of approval. Should your claim be denied, having an attorney will increase your chance of winning an appeal, and you’ll have a good stack of evidence available to better prove your claim.
Your Houston LTD Disability Attorney
ERISA claims are a complex area of the law, and there aren’t many attorneys in Houston—or Texas—that handle it. The Herren Law Firm can help you with your application as well as any appeals to help you get the long-term disability benefits you need to take care of yourself. Contact us today at 713-682-8194 to schedule your free consultation. There’s no obligation and no up-front fees. We only collect if we win your case.
