Hartford Financial Services Group just announced that it will purchase Aetna Inc.'s U.S. group life and disability business for $1.45 billion cash. Reuters reports that Hartford will use $273 million it has outstanding from its 2017 equity buyback program for the...
total and partial disability
Disability Insurance Law Group Successfully Halts Liberty Mutual’s Attempt to Terminate Disability Benefits with an IME
Ms. "Jones" contacted after being advised by her representative at Liberty Mutual that her claim was being reviewed under the "any occupation" definition of her Long Term Disability Policy. At the time Ms. Jones became disabled she was a...
Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals Finds that Reliance Standard Life Insurance Company Acted Unreasonably When it Denied Disability Insurance Benefits Under the Pre-Existing Condition Exclusion to a Woman Who Suffered a Stroke Nine Days After Giving Birth
Julissa Bradshaw had a healthy pregnancy and no other pre-existing medical conditions when she became insured under her ERISA governed disability insurance policy with Reliance Standard Life Insurance Company ("RSL"). Approximately six months after obtaining the...
Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals Finds Bert Bell/Pete Rozelle NFL Player Retirement Plan was Wrong and Unreasonable When it Denied a 9 Year NFL Veteran with Traumatic Brain Injury Total and Permanent Disability Benefits
In May of 2017, we discussed the case of Jesse Solomon v. Bert Bell/Pete Rozelle NFL Player Retirement Plan, where the district court held that the NFL Plan was wrong and unreasonable when it denied Total and Permanent Disability ("TPD") benefits to Jesse Solomon, a...
Court of Appeals Rules Against Reliance Standard Life Insurance Company and Upholds an Award of Disability Insurance Benefits Under ERISA Policy, Costs, and Attorneys’ Fees.
In a recent case, Marcin v. Reliance Standard Life Insurance Company and Mitre Corporation Long Term Disability Insurance Program, No. 16-7125, __F.3d__, 2017 WL 2818648 (D.C. Cir. June 30, 2017), the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, ruled against...
Disability Insurance Law Group Appeal Results in MetLife overturning Denial of Benefits for Depression and Anxiety Claim
Our client (Mr. X), a stockbroker in New York, experienced anxiety and major depression as the result of family related issues and the death of his mother after her long battle with cancer. His treating psychiatrist and therapist both advised him to avoid as much...
Reliance Standard Life Insurance Company Denial Tactics Dismissed By Court in ERISA Disability Case
Most individuals who have filed any type of insurance related claim have experienced the delay and denial tactics used by their insurance company to avoid payment. Disability carriers often take extreme and arguably egregious measures to "prove" that a claimant is not...
Bert Bell/Pete Rozelle NFL Player Retirement Plan and the NFL Player Supplemental Disability Plan Ordered by Federal District Court to Pay NFL Player Full Disability Benefits
The Bert Bell/Pete Rozelle NFL Player Retirement Plan and NFL Disability Plans are notoriously difficult for a NFL player to collect benefits under from the NFL. Further discouraging is that rarely are the cases filed by NFL players denied disability benefits under...
Did the 2004 Multi-State Settlement Deter Unum Provident From Continued Bad Faith Claims Handling?
Almost fifteen years ago, Unum Provident entered into a historic multi-state settlement with 3 lead states, 46 other states and the District of Columbia, as well as the U.S. Department of Labor, that cost it in excess of $120 million to comply, required it to reassess...
The First Circuit Court of Appeals Determines that Standard Insurance Company Acted Unreasonably Denying a Claimant Benefits, Where it Failed to Consider the Claimant’s Actual Occupational Duties.
In a recent case, the First Circuit Court of Appeals determined that Standard Insurance Company acted arbitrarily and capriciously when it denied an environmental attorney with severe depression Long-Term disability insurance benefits. The claimant was an equity...