Our disability lawyers have helped hundreds of claimants to apply for Mass Mutual disability benefits. In our Mass Mutual disability application video Attorneys Gregory Dell and Stephen Jessup discuss Mass Mutual disability benefit claims and share their insights and tips on how to get your long term disability benefits approved. We welcome you to contact us for a free immediate consultation with one of our disability insurance attorneys.

Mass Mutual primarily focuses on individual disability policies which aren’t ERISA-governed and offer claimants better options, especially when it comes to appeals and lawsuits. However, Mass Mutual does have a unique policy language and a certain method of processing claims. If you are filing a disability benefits claim with Mass Mutual, there are many things you need to be aware of to prepare your claim as best as possible and to avoid denial.

Preparing Your Mass Mutual Disability Benefits Claim

When preparing your Mass Mutual disability benefits claim, it’s crucial to coordinate with your doctor and make sure all your medical complaints, restrictions, and limitations are well-documented. Closely examine your policy to know exactly what you can and can’t do under it, and when you are communicating with your doctor, have them carefully document all your issues and complaints. Based on the policy language, your doctor needs to convey exactly what you are able and unable to do: for example, if you can’t do your own occupation but your policy allows you to work in a different field or position, your medical records have to reflect that.

Filing for Mass Mutual disability benefits.

Mass Mutual is going to delve deep into all the information that you provide, especially the medical records. They are a very detail-oriented company, and if you don’t have all your ducks in a row, this can be a big obstacle. If there is anything at all that seems out of order, Mass Mutual will go through it and pick it apart: they do a very thorough job investigating the claims. This is why it’s so important to be well prepared when filing your claim. Medical support is key: Mass Mutual will look into your restrictions and limitations and examine how your condition is impacting your ability to work and what portions of your occupation are you unable to perform. If something is not in your medical records, the insurance company will assume it doesn’t exist.

In addition, you may need your doctor to elaborate on their opinion later, especially if there is an appeal or a lawsuit; ideally, everything has to be in order, and you need to have a paper trail going back months. You don’t want to have your doctor backtrack, and having a detailed, well-documented medical history is the most important thing you can create with any of the disability insurance benefits claims with Mass Mutual.

A lot of claimants think that applying for long-term disability benefits is as easy as it was when they bought their application where they just filled out the forms, the agent did most of the stuff, they got some medical history, and they signed it. Unfortunately, that’s not the case. There has to be a coordinated effort amongst all of the doctors, and for a lot of people, it feels awkward approaching their physicians and asking for help. This is especially true if it isn’t your long-standing doctor but someone new, or some new specialist: people feel it may be a difficult conversation because the doctor might assume you’re only coming to them because you’re looking to file for disability.

That’s why it’s so important to be honest with your doctors and always get your treatment on time so that the medical history is there. In addition, it’s vital to coordinate with all the doctors who have been or are treating you, because Mass Mutual will reach out to any doctor who was involved in your treatment. Some doctors may have a larger role, some may have a smaller one, and some may not be involved any longer, but their opinions will matter. If they are asked to fill out a questionnaire or speak to a Mass Mutual representative and say that they never gave restrictions or limitations in your case, this will speak against you. Always make sure that all your doctors carefully document your complaints and the treatment you’re getting to avoid scenarios like this.

Date of Disability

Having handled hundreds of Mass Mutual claims, we know that a lot of people who contact us are hard-working, conscientious professionals. Often, they continue working through their medical conditions, and sometimes, as the saying goes, a good deed doesn’t go unpunished: the fact that they have worked despite their disability is held against them when they file a claim. They may have been working through a back condition, a bad diagnosis, a shoulder, a knee issue, whatever it may be; they may have done this for a year or two, and finally, when it gets unbearable, they consider filing a disability claim.

To make sure the claim is successful, it‘s important to choose the date of the disability. If the goal of the claim is residual or partial where you still want to continue to work, then you need to take a look at correlating medical records with loss of income to verify the time where there may have been a downward trend. If it’s a complete cessation where you’re not working at all, long-term, it may be problematic because Mass Mutual is going to see that you have been working despite your condition and ask, what has changed and why are you claiming disability now?

If your records will not show that you are struggling – for example, having to put extra hours in to try to get the same amount of work done – the insurance company will question what’s happening. They will look at it this way: if you were able to work for the past year or two, what exactly has changed that you’re unable to do it now?

A lot of medical conditions, especially the pain-related ones, get progressively worse over time, which is why people are no longer able to work through them. However, you have to have the medical records to back it up, and that’s why it’s so crucial to clearly communicate with your doctors and make sure they are documenting every complaint and restriction you have. Unless it’s something sudden, like an accident or a catastrophic diagnosis, a date of disability is rarely set in stone.

It’s key to have sufficient medical documentation leading up to the date of disability to clearly show exactly how your condition has worsened, and why you are no longer able to do your job.

Mass Mutual Occupation Definition and Claimant Interview

When it comes to presenting your occupation, Mass Mutual will ask for certain things to evaluate your claim. First and foremost, if you are, say, a business owner, you can expect that they’re going to want to see financials, profit and loss statements, your corporate tax returns, your personal tax returns, and the like. If you’re a medical doctor, they’re going to want to see your CPT codes; for dentists, they are going to look at the ADA codes. For lawyers, they’ll look into your case information, how many cases you’ve had in trial, depositions you’ve done in the past year. That’s how they’re going to verify your occupational duties; additionally, they may look into your meetings schedules and even talk to your co-workers or managers.

Mass Mutual is going to really look into what it is you were doing, and then they’re going to make their determinations based on that.

It’s important to know this and be very careful with the authorizations you sign, especially if you don’t have legal representation. If you sign a HIPAA authorization, Mass Mutual can freely call your doctors; this is why it’s advisable to always tell your doctor not to speak to Mass Mutual without first speaking to you.

Finally, you need to prepare for the claimant interview. Mass Mutual will be assessing you during the interview, and it’s crucial you are consistent with the information you have already submitted when you filled out the claim forms. Whether it’s an in-person or phone interview, the consistency of information you provide is vital. The way you present yourself, the way you answer the questions, and how consistent you are will all be important factors. It’s also important not to try to grin and bear it during the interview: if you have lower back pain and can’t sit for long periods of time, ask for a break, don’t try to downplay your symptoms. Be honest and remember that everything you say and do will be scrutinized.

Depending on the medical condition, the disability insurance policy, and the language of the policy, there are many different factors that play a role in the application process. Sometimes, it may also be a group policy or other private policy, or it may be a policy that’s thirty or forty years old, and the language may vary over the years. This is why it’s so important to prepare your claim well, and if you need legal help, we have extensive experience in handling Mass Mutual claims and know their inner workings extremely well allowing us to put you in the best position to get your claim approved.

Definition of Disability in Mass Mutual Policies

If you are looking to apply for disability benefits with Mass Mutual, the first thing to do is to closely examine your policy. Mass Mutual has different policy tiers, and this is what’s going to dictate the coverage. Often, the base coverage may not be the best option, and it’s advisable to upgrade your riders to make sure you’re getting a true own occupation; COLA (A cost-of-living adjustment) increases, partial disability provisions, things like that – they all matter.

Then, it becomes about what your occupation is and how do you perform the duties of your job. For example, if you’re a doctor or a dentist, do you have your own practice? Each profession has its own laundry list of things that Mass Mutual is going to want to see as part of the initial application.

With Mass Mutual, it’s important to understand the definition of  disability in your policy. Usually, that definition is going to be that you are unable to perform the duties of your regular occupation. In other words, it’s an own occupation policy. However, it can vary: for example, whether or not you can work in some other occupation and continue to make earnings there as well as get your full total or reduced disability benefit. Mass Mutual definition of disability can have something that’s called residual: this is when you may not be able to do some portions of your job or work for as much time. Sometimes in cases like this, there may be a certain income threshold. Mass Mutual policies are sometimes loss of income type policies as opposed to a true own-occupation disability definition.

This is why the total disability definition can vary, and it all depends on what kind of policy you have bought. When it comes to Mass Mutual disability insurance claims, we often see claimants who are highly successful and resourceful professional people, and they want to continue working despite their disability. However, if your policy only offers basic coverage, this may not be possible. Often, we see people trying to save money on disability insurance policies, but it can come back to haunt you when filing a claim, and that’s why it’s so important to carefully examine your policy before making the decision.

We offer an initial free consultation where we review a copy of your policy. Either call us at the number below in our video or go to our website at diAttorney.com and click on the free consultation. One of the attorneys will immediately call you back, and we’re going to ask you to email us a copy of your long-term disability policy. We’ll set a free initial phone consultation where we will answer all of your questions, go through the claim, and let you know whether we think you can get approved or not. We’ll let you know about our fees or costs, which are very reasonable, based upon what’s involved with your claim.

All of our clients are located all over the country. So no matter where you live, we’re able to assist you. And we hope that by working with you, we’re able to guide you through the approval of your claim.