WHAT TO EXPECT IF YOU CONTACT OUR Disability LAWYERS:
- Book a free consultation with one of our disability lawyers or member of our legal team via chat, phone call, email or form submission. A time and date that is convenient for you to chat with a member of our legal team will be finalized.
- One of our disability lawyers or member of our legal team will be in touch with you within 24 hours or 1 business day.
- We will ask you a series of questions and give you the opportunity to provide details about your case to our legal team.
- Our legal team will review your case details exhaustively and arrange to call you back.
- Once we call you back, we will give you our recommendations and opinion on whether or not your claim has merit or not.
- If you decide to hire us, we will send you a retainer agreement to sign before we commence working for you. The best part is – you don’t pay anything unless we win.
WHY DO INSURANCE COMPANIES REJECT DISABILITY CLAIMS?
There are many advantages of hiring a Ajax disability lawyer. Insurers always have a self-interested financial motive. Their shareholders benefit when policyholders do not. They are also run by humans and are prone to making mistakes. There are a number of reasons an insurer may reject an insurance claim – and that’s why having a disability lawyer on your side may help increase your chances of having your disability claim approved. Here are some examples of why you may receive a denial from your insurance company:
You failed to provide enough medical information
You must properly document your claim. This means giving the insurance company full access to your medical records, including your treating physician’s charts and records related to any hospital stays you required. You will also need to provide employment and tax records to demonstrate you were employed at the time you sustained your disability. Failure to do so may be cited as grounds for denying a claim. Alternatively, if you are not following your doctor’s orders you may also be denied your claim.
You submitted your claim too late
All insurance policies contain a “limitation period” or deadline to file a claim. Insurance companies will strictly apply these limitation periods against you. This is why it is essential to file a long-term disability claim as soon as possible, ideally right after your doctor tells you not to return to work for medical reasons.
You filled out the insurance forms wrong
You must be careful when filling out forms prescribed by the insurance company as part of your claim. These forms are unnecessarily complicated for a reason to discourage you from filing a claim. Having a disability lawyer on your side may help ensure you file your claim properly.
Insufficient evidence
The insurance companies have their own medical experts who will review your file and look for any excuse to downplay or minimize the severity of your condition. This is particularly true with disability claims related to chronic pain and mental disorders where much of the physician’s diagnosis is based on the patient’s subjective complaints.
You do not meet the policy’s eligibility requirements
If you receive long-term disability insurance through an employer, you need to carefully review the eligibility requirements for coverage. For example, you may need to work a certain minimum number of hours or remain with the company for a certain length of time before you may file a disability claim.
You commit fraud or misrepresentation
If you make any false or misleading statement to an insurance company, that can be cited as grounds to void your policy altogether. This includes accidental errors or omissions in your policy application, or simply withholding requested medical information. An insurance company will gladly seize upon any opportunity to argue that you are being dishonest and therefore not entitled to benefits.
You engaged in activities that caused or disproved your disability
Most disability insurance policies will not provide coverage for a condition caused by the employee’s own activities. This may include a disability arising from a drug or alcohol addiction. The insurer may also argue that it has evidence that you engaged in subsequent activities that undermine or disprove your disability claim. Insurance companies often employ private investigators to follow disability claimants to “catch them in the act” of performing physical labour. Of course, in some cases the insurer may also just comb through an applicant’s Facebook or Twitter feeds to find potentially damaging evidence.