You get one shot

So why is the appeal so important? Why should you get help with filing an appeal if you have a denied disability claim?

The most important reason why you need to put in a strong appeal is that with Hartford, you only get one shot. An ERISA denial can be beaten, but you’ll need a good disability attorney. The appeal essentially is your trial in front of a judge. If the appeal is denied then all the judge will see is the administrative record. So, they won’t get any new testimony. You can’t file anything new, and the judge won’t get to meet the claimant. So, everything you want to show the judge needs to be in the appeal itself. That’s why it’s crucial that you hire a disability insurance attorney. With that being said, there are a lot of important elements in an appeal against Hartford for long term disability insurance.

Attorneys Dell & Schaefer informs policy holders on what they should expect if they need to file an appeal for their disability insurance benefits. And why it’s so important to file a strong appeal.

The case of Gina Pike v. Hartford Life and Accident Insurance Company (Hartford) is an example of how hard insurance companies work to deny or terminate claimants’ long term disability (LTD) benefits. Pike received LTD benefits for eight years. Two of those years for which Pike received benefits were for when Hartford agreed she was unable to work in her own occupation.

In this video, attorneys Gregory Dell and Rachel Alters discuss a Federal court ruling that Hartford acted arbitrarily and capriciously in terminating benefits after paying them for nearly two years to a claimant who suffered from fibromyalgia. In terminating her benefits, Hartford used techniques common to many disability insurance companies. Hartford hired a doctor, who never met or treated the patient, but only reviewed her medical records and reported that she could work in a sedentary position.
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This past year, Hartford Insurance company agreed to purchase the disability and life insurance division of Aetna insurance company for 1.45 billion dollars. Aetna and The Hartford have different styles of reviewing disability insurance claims. If your Aetna claim has been dormant or has not had much action lately it is more than likely that Aetna policy holders will be subject to another layer of review. Read more »