In our firm’s experience, administrators of ERISA plans (“insurers”) are quick to disregard subjective conditions when evaluating individual claims for long-term disability benefits. Although conditions like chronic pain, stress and fatigue can make it impossible for people to work a full-time job, insurers will regularly discount medical evidence that cannot…
When we are retained by a new ERISA disability client, one of the first documents we review is the letter from the plan administrator denying long-term disability benefits, or, as it is most often called, the “denial letter.” Most denial letters, regardless of the disability at issue, follow the same…
Like most states, Tennessee has a slayer statute that prevents a person who intentionally caused the death of a victim from inheriting personal or real property from the victim’s estate. Codified at Tenn. Code Ann. § 31–1–106, the statute also prevents the killer from recovering life insurance proceeds from the…
Nearly all employee benefit plans are governed by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, or ERISA. ERISA is a federal law. As a result, claimants who sue their plans for a denial of disability benefits usually will have to try their cases in federal courts. More importantly, in…
At first glance, it did not seem like a strong claim for disability benefits. The claimant, a technician, applied for short-term disability benefits claiming that he was disabled as a result of severe spinal and hip disorders. He filed his claim after his employer fired him for repeated acts of insubordination.…
Under Tennessee law, all life and disability insurance policies must include an “incontestability provision” stating that, after a period of no more than two years, the policy “shall be incontestable.” In essence, an incontestability provision prohibits an insurance company from voiding the policy because of misrepresentation in the policy application…
In a trial contesting an insurer’s denial of total disability benefits, jurors, in some cases, might think that an award of total disability benefits would be an unfair windfall for the plaintiff. To address a hidden bias like this, plaintiff’s attorneys may try to admit into evidence the amount of…
In a dispute over long-term disability benefits, it’s important to determine if the disability policy falls within the scope of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA). ERISA is a federal statute that applies to claims for employee benefits, including disability benefits. All else being equal, a claimant…
Under Tennessee law, a party can establish that a beneficiary of a will procured the making of the will by undue influence. If undue influence is proven, the will is invalidated and the beneficiary of the invalidated will receives nothing by virtue of the will. What holds true for…
Under many disability policies, claimants must show that they cannot perform the material and substantial, or the important duties of their occupations in order to qualify for long-term disability benefits. Although these terms are essential to the determination of a disability claim, most insurers do not define the terms “material…