Unum Health Insurance Still Bullies and Harasses

Raleigh, NCIt’s been more than a decade since Unum, or First Unum was ordered by the Department of Labor to resolve its bad faith insurance practices. Judging from the number of policyholder complaints, however, it appears that Unum’s mandate is profits by way of denying benefits.

Not only does LawyersandSettlements receive hundreds of complaints a year, the Consumer Affairs website gives Unum its lowest rating (1 out of 5), based on 51 ratings out of 204 reviews. Lisa from Maryland says that she was denied long-term disability even though she injured her back - she is unable to sit for any length of time - and has chronic pain. Unum uses all kinds of tactics to deny. “[Unum] knew that my short-term disability was concluding in the beginning of September yet waited until the end of September to even begin requesting information from my physicians,” Lisa wrote to Consumer Affairs. “They are saying that I am capable of sitting in a chair all day at work when I am not capable of doing that and I will be fired for not being able to keep up with productivity.”

Dylan of North Carolina was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2002 and began collecting long-term disability from Unum. Last month, he told LawyersandSettlements that Unum’s independent medical examiners said he was no longer disabled! “Since 2002, my case has been closed twice by Unum unjustly. I’ve been harassed, in fear and threatened,” Dylan said in an email. “I am currently about to be homeless and will lose everything I own because of their medical review, denial and the closing of my case. I am stressed out, have anxiety, and MS exacerbations because of this.”

Across the country in Oregon, Sharon says that Unum is bullying her to go back to work, even though her doctor says that fibromyalgia has rendered her disabled. “I took my 12 weeks of medical leave from work and then I received a few long-term disability payments from Unum,” Sharon says. Now Unum has cut her off and if she doesn’t win her appeal, her electricity will be cut off.

Unum has consistently denied fibromyalgia claims, but there is hope for Unum policyholders diagnosed with the disease.

The law firm Kantor & Kantor won a lawsuit against Unum from an order filed in January 2013. Their client, a Los Angeles resident, was suffering from fibromyalgia and avascular necrosis (bone death believed to be a result of leukemia treatment) and began to collect LTD in 2009. But Unum decided to terminate her benefits after just one year, determining that she could work in a sedentary job. The woman appealed, to no avail. Next, she sought legal assistance. A lawsuit was filed against Unum in federal court because her claim was governed by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA). The suit claimed that Unum’s termination of her disability benefits was unlawful because she was too weak and in too much pain to tolerate the prolonged sitting or typing needed to continue working. The judge agreed. (The case is Mondolo v. Unum Life Ins. Co. of Amer., C- 11-07435 CAS.)

With its record of bad faith practices, no wonder Unum is a Fortune 500 company and the largest group and individual disability carrier in the United States.