LAWSUITS NEWS & LEGAL INFORMATION
Unum Provident Denied Disability Claims
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By Anne Wallace
Unum (formerly known as Unum Provident and First Unum) has systematically denied Unum disability insurance to thousands of policy holders in the past two decades. Unum and its subsidiaries, including Provident Life, The Paul Revere Life Insurance Company and Colonial Life & Accident Insurance Company have been subject to numerous lawsuits for illegally refusing to pay valid disability claims.
Unum has written disability insurance policies for approximately 17 million Americans, making it the largest disability insurance provider in the US. And it has denied countless insurance claims. Unum policyholders have filed disability lawsuits—personal injury cases—against the insurance company for practicing bad faith insurance and denying their Unum long term disability insurance.
If you have had your claim denied, or if your claim was granted and then later terminated, you may be eligible for substantial additional benefits.
Under investigation and pressure from the Department of Labor (DOL), Unum Provident's family of companies offered to reassess approximately 200,000 claims denied or closed since January 1, 2000 for reasons other than settlement, death, or reaching benefit maximums. They were ordered to allow for reassessment, upon request, of claims similarly denied or closed between January 1, 1997 and December 31, 1999. According to the settlement, Unum accepted and reevaluated claims, whether or not the claimant was still disabled, until December 31, 2006. Nonetheless, the claims of unjust and unlawful denial of benefits continue.
If you have made a claim under a long-term disability policy provided by or administered by the following companies and have had your claim denied, or if your claim was granted and then later terminated, you still may be eligible for substantial additional benefits:
Some examples of Unum's Denial Tactics include:
UnumProvident (formerly "the Unum Group," a large Fortune 500 insurance company based in Chattanooga, TN) and its subsidiaries offer individual and group insurance programs such as long-term disability income protection, short-term disability income protection, life insurance, long term care insurance (LTCI), and voluntary critical illness insurance. Unum Provident insures more than 25 million people worldwide.
Disability income protection insurance provides financial benefits to employees when they are unable to work due to a disability caused by a covered illness or injury, regardless of whether or not that illness or injury is work-related.
Lawsuits filed against Unum or Unum Provident allege the company committed fraud and breach of contract. Many lawsuits stem from denial of legitimate Unum long term disability insurance claims—where the insurance company unfairly and improperly fails to compensate the insured for a loss covered by their policy, or unreasonably delays making payments due under the policy.
2017
2016
2015
2014
2013
Statistics show that plaintiffs generally win higher settlement awards if they work with an expert insurance attorney. To find out whether or not you have a legitimate claim against Unum, you should speak to a Unum lawyer who specializes in disability denials.
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Unum Denied Disability Benefits
Unum has written disability insurance policies for approximately 17 million Americans, making it the largest disability insurance provider in the US. And it has denied countless insurance claims. Unum policyholders have filed disability lawsuits—personal injury cases—against the insurance company for practicing bad faith insurance and denying their Unum long term disability insurance.
Unum Denial—Am I Eligible for Benefits?
Under investigation and pressure from the Department of Labor (DOL), Unum Provident's family of companies offered to reassess approximately 200,000 claims denied or closed since January 1, 2000 for reasons other than settlement, death, or reaching benefit maximums. They were ordered to allow for reassessment, upon request, of claims similarly denied or closed between January 1, 1997 and December 31, 1999. According to the settlement, Unum accepted and reevaluated claims, whether or not the claimant was still disabled, until December 31, 2006. Nonetheless, the claims of unjust and unlawful denial of benefits continue.
If you have made a claim under a long-term disability policy provided by or administered by the following companies and have had your claim denied, or if your claim was granted and then later terminated, you still may be eligible for substantial additional benefits:
- First Unum Provident Corp;
- Unum Life Insurance Company of America;
- Paul Revere Life Insurance Company;
- Colonial Life & Accident Insurance Company; or
- Provident Life & Accident Insurance Company.
Unum Denial Tactics
- Changing policies after claims are filed (and without the authorization or knowledge of policy holders);
- Improperly investigating the claim and obtaining opinions from unqualified people/supposed experts;
- Misreading medical records, often by their independent medical examiners;
- Repeatedly demanding additional independent medical examinations or denying a claim without any medical examination;
- Refusing to acknowledge disabilities, especially for mental disorders, fibromyalgia, and chronic fatigue syndrome, where symptoms are necessarily self-reported;
- Arguing that the claim is a pre-existing condition;
- Denying a claim with the intent to wear the claimant down to a lower settlement;
- Partially paying a claim for total disability;
- Relying on dubious information provided by private investigators, friends, co-workers or neighbors in an attempt to disprove a disability.
Unum Insurance
Disability income protection insurance provides financial benefits to employees when they are unable to work due to a disability caused by a covered illness or injury, regardless of whether or not that illness or injury is work-related.
Unum Lawsuits
- In Wakil v. Unum Life Insurance Company of America et al, Case No. 3:2017-cv-02564 in the US District Court, Southern District of California, a Board certified psychiatrist’s Lyme disease claim denied. The doctor continues to suffer from pain and other symptoms associated with the disease, and struggles because she cannot earn a a living from her profession;
- Unum runs out the statute of limitations for lawyer with neurological conditions after nearly 20 years of litigation; Arkun v. Unum Group, US District Court , Southern District of New York, 15 Civ. 8425 (PAE);
- Pennsylvania nurse claims that her benefits were not only denied, but that the Unum failed to consider the evidence that supported her claim. Jennifer Secrist v. Unum Life Insurance Co. of America, Case No. 2:17-cv-04651-RBS, US District Court, Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
2016
- A lawsuit filed against Unum resulted in a summary judgment victory for the defendant. The lawsuit involved a former Navy SEAL who committed suicide. His wife, Jennifer Collins, filed a lawsuit against Unum after the insurance company denied her claim. Collins v. Unum Life Insurance, Case 2:15-cv-00188-RGD-RJK, US District Court, Eastern District of Virginia;
- Unum Life Insurance settled a lawsuit for $46 million in Don et al v. Unum Group et al, Case No. CV 13-4502-DSF, US District Court, Central District of California. The class action alleged that the insurance giant systematically miscalculated long-term care benefits owed to policy holders;
2015
- Unum stiffs even its own employee! “Unum didn’t believe that I was disabled, even with my doctor’s letters,” she said. “They never sent me to their own Independent Medical Examiner. They denied workers comp, even though I was working when I hurt my back; they denied everything.”
2014
- A policyholder sued in New York, claiming that Unum wrongfully terminated his short-term disability benefits and denied his claim for LTD. Steven Krol made a disability claim on his Unum policy when he was diagnosed with vascular dementia - a condition similar to Alzheimer’s disease. The disease is incurable and often leads to early death.
2013
- Tanya Mondolo, who suffers from fibromyalgia, filed a Unum lawsuit with the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California after the company denied her benefits. The federal court took into account Unum’s history of unfairly denying claims and Ms. Mondolo won her case against Unum. Internal documents suggest that Unum has routinely regarded fibromyalgia as an imaginary disease. The case is Mondolo v. Unum Life Ins. Co. of Amer., CV-11-07435 CAS (MRWx) (C.D. Cal. 2013)
Statistics show that plaintiffs generally win higher settlement awards if they work with an expert insurance attorney. To find out whether or not you have a legitimate claim against Unum, you should speak to a Unum lawyer who specializes in disability denials.
UnumProvident Disability Legal Help
If you have had a disability claim denied, or if your claim was granted and then later terminated, from one of the companies listed above, you may qualify for compensation, even if the statute of limitations has expired. Complete the form below for a free case evaluation.Last updated on
UNUM LEGAL ARTICLES AND INTERVIEWS
Unum Disability Insurance Claimant Wins Reinstatement of LTD Benefits
Unum: the Gift of Giving and Taking Away
Unum’s Denial of Opioid Overdose Deaths
January 8, 2019
On November 20, 2018, the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California handed Pamela Fleming a resounding victory in her Unum disability insurance lawsuit. Unum had been paying her LTD benefits since 2005, after a serious and well-documented neck injury sustained in a car accident. A change in her treating physician and a brief surveillance video led the insurer to re-evaluate her claim and declare that she had recovered. The insurer terminated her benefits. Judge Cormac J. Carney was not impressed and reinstated her benefits due under the policy. READ MORE
Unum: the Gift of Giving and Taking Away
December 6, 2018
Yet another lawsuit was filed in November against First Unum for allegedly denying long-term disability benefits. In the same month, Unum announced to the media that it had donated $300,000 to a high-school girls’ leadership program. READ MORE
Unum’s Denial of Opioid Overdose Deaths
November 15, 2018
: The giant insurance company Unum—also known as First Unum -- typically denies accidental death benefits (as do most other life insurance companies) by excluding in their policy coverage for deaths related to prescription overdose or for medical or surgical treatment of a sickness or disease. But Unum’s denial didn’t sway Judge Martin Feldman this past August. READ MORE
MORE UNUM LEGAL NEWS
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READER COMMENTS
Tony Roberts
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Yvonne Barr
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Tony Roberts
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LaRosa Marks
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Tony Roberts
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loretto rea
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William R West
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JR
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Thomas Birdwell
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Robert Richfield
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Donna mundy
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employees that have been paying for years are not covered but they don't know this. I would love to file a class action because they failed to advise the rules had changed and deceptive sales practice. The employees think they are covered and they are paying for the coverage they don't really have.
Joyce Lee Sieck
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Norman Boss
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Ian
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Connie Feery
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What really bothers me is that I paid them a premium for 8 years, based on my salary, to get 70% of my income if I became disabled they have never paid the 70% because they deduct my SSDI benefit of $1043 each month. Isn't this a breach of contract issue. I would love to find a lawyer to challenge them on this. I paid for both coverages, why can't I collect both.
David Swan
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GOOD LUCK in your action against Unum.
Sophie Tucker
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Shannon Leslie Nichols
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rick pittman
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Anonymous
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john rogers
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Brad
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Darlene Lawson
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Anonymous
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sHE TOLD ME NO SEVERAL DAYS OR WEEKS LATER IT FEEL ON ME DAMMIT. i HAVE A LOWER BACK INJURY AND HAVE NOT WORKED SINCE THEN 12/10/97. ii NEVER RECIEVED ALL OF MY MONEY FROM fIRST UNUM WHOM MY COMPANY WAS INSUREED WITH.
aS i READ ALL OF YOUR INFORMATION i PAID FOR STD AND HAD LTD. aCTUALLY i WAS WORKING AT THE LEARNING DISABITIY COMPANY. i HAD TO SIGN UP FOR SSd. aND THE INSURANCE COMPANY TOOK THE SETTLEMENT MONEY FROM SSD AND i LIVED OFF NOTHING FOR A LONG TIME. oNLY REASON i SURVIVED IT WAS BECAUSE OF GOOD FRIENDS AND LIVING IN pUBLIC HOUSING ALTHOUGH SEVERAL TIMES I WAS CALLED INTO THE RENTAL OFFICE IN REFERENCE TO MY RENT BEING LATE.
aCTUALLY WHAT i UNDERSTAND IS THAT THEY PAID ME MONEY AND THEN TOOK MY SSd/ WHAT i CAN'T UNDERSTAND HOW COULD THE GOV'T JUST GIVE THEM OUR MONEY WHICH THEY SHOULD HAVE BEEN PAYING ME. i AM STILL LIVING OFF LITTLE OR NOTHJING AND i WORKED 33 YEARS. tHEY CHEAT YOU THE GOV'T CHEATS YOU. wHY WORK. wHAT MAKES IT SO BAD i HAVE NEVER IN MY LIFE OF WORKING EVER FILED A CLAIM UNTIL THIS BACK INJURY. sAD BAD WORLD INSURANCE IS A HUGE RIP OFF TO OUR SOCIETY. sHAME UNUM SHOULD HAVE TO PAY EACH AND EVERYONE OF US THEY GOT RICH OFF OUR ASSES BIG RIP OFF.