Liberty Mutual Approves Disability Benefits to Senior Vice President
Our client, a former Senior Vice President for a large national corporation, filed for disability after having suffered a massive stroke during heart surgery that left the entire left side of his body paralyzed and severely affected his ability to effectively communicate. His doctors were not sure if he would ever regain use of the left side of his body again and feared he may be wheelchair bound the rest of his life. While he was undergoing intensive physical and speech rehabilitation he filed a claim for short term disability benefits with Liberty Mutual under his employer’s disability policy. Liberty Mutual approved his claim for short term disability without issues and paid his benefit through the maximum benefit period for short term disability. It would seem that after all he had been through that our client’s claim for long term disability benefits would be quickly approved. However, as is often the case with Liberty Mutual, what should have been a clear cut case turned out to be nothing of the sort.
Long Term Disability Denial
After taking nearly two months to review the long term disability portion of the claim, Liberty advised our client on New Year’s Eve that it was denying his claim for long term disability benefits as it had determined that he was fully capable of returning to his former occupation as a Senior Vice President just several months after his stroke. In disbelief our client and his wife contacted our office and spoke with Attorney Stephen Jessup.
Attorney Jessup obtained a copy of the denial letter and was shocked to read Liberty’s findings that resulted in the denial of benefits. In denying the claim Liberty cited the medical evaluation performed by its doctor during the course of short term disability, which supported that our client would not be able to perform his occupational duties or meet the Department of Labor definition of Sedentary work. However a few months after this report was written Liberty’s new doctor disagreed with the short term disability doctor as well as our client’s treatment providers and determined that our client had an essentially clean bill of health and would be able to work in a light work demand level.
There was nothing in the medical records to support this position and the only difference between Liberty’s handling of the short term disability claim and the long term disability claim that Attorney Jessup could see came down to money. Liberty was not responsible for paying short term disability benefits so they had no problem paying benefits, but was responsible for the payment of long term disability benefits. This was a blatant abuse of discretion and a textbook example of a conflict of interest.
The Appeal
Attorney Jessup’s first course of action was obtaining a complete copy of our client’s claim file from Liberty. Contained in the claim file would be all medical reviews completed by Liberty along with the vocational information Liberty relied upon in determining our client’s occupational duties. After reviewing the claim file Attorney Jessup focused his attack on Liberty’s “interpretation” of our client’s occupation as a Senior Vice President.
As is common with Liberty disability claim reviews when reviewing the duties of one’s pre-disability occupation they reduced the material and substantial duties of our client’s occupation to be nothing more than the ability to perform at a Sedentary demand level. Liberty essentially held that to perform the duties of a Senior Vice President out client had to be nothing more than a warm body in a chair capable of lifting up to 10lbs occasionally. To come to this conclusion, Liberty only focused its attention on our client’s cardiology records and paid no mind to the extensive physical therapy records and medical support from his doctors as to his ongoing limitations.
Attorney Jessup developed a two prong attack to combat this position: (1) Attack the vocational review and Liberty’s inappropriate and bad faith interpretation of what were very clear policy provisions related to disability and (2) prove that regardless of the actual occupational duties required of him that our client did not possess the physical ability to work at a Sedentary demand level.
In preparing our client’s appeal Attorney Jessup had him undergo a Functional Capacity Examination with one of our experts to properly document his physical restrictions and limitations, which despite our client’s ability to regain use of the left side of his body, proved to be substantial. Attorney Jessup then took the results of the testing and prepared targeted questionnaires for our client’s doctors to further undermine the opinions of Liberty’s hired guns. Confident that the file supported medically necessary restrictions and limitations that would prove our client could not work Attorney Jessup then made argument as to Liberty’s vocational review.
It was argued in the appeal that Liberty created requirements for disability that were not found in the long term disability policy and that were in direct conflict with the actual definition of disability. Attorney Jessup prepared a detailed vocational report that set forth the actual material and substantial duties a Senior Vice President must be able to perform in order to effectively do the job. Needless to say the duties far surpassed the ability to perform minimal sedentary demand duties. Not sparing any blows, Attorney Jessup called out Liberty’s about face during the transition between short and long term disability benefits and noted the only reason for the long term denial was Liberty’s financial interest to avoid paying hundreds of thousands of dollars in benefits to our client.
The Approval
Despite overwhelming evidence of disability in the appeal, Liberty still took nearly two months to approve our client’s claim for long term disability benefits. Even in approving benefits Liberty aggressively threatened to immediately offset our client’s benefit if he did not apply for Social Security. This type of behavior is all too common and is uncalled for from an insurance company that has a fiduciary duty to act in the best interest of its insured. Although our client does not have a great deal of time left on disability Liberty has made it clear that it will continue to demand information from our client.
Do you need help with Liberty Mutual?
If your claim has been denied by Liberty Mutual or you have questions regarding your claim please feel free to contact our office and speak to Attorney Jessup or one of our other disability attorneys to discuss your rights and assess how we may be able to assist you.
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Liberty Mutual Reviews
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Our client, a former Senior Vice President for a large national corporation, filed for disability after having suffered a massive stroke during heart surgery that left the entire left side of his body paralyzed and severely affected his ability to effectively communicate. His doctors were not sure if he would ever regain use of the left side of his body again and feared he may be wheelchair bound the rest of h... Read More >
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5 Ways We Help Get Your Benefits Paid
Get Your Disability Application Approved
Our goal is to get your application for disability insurance benefits approved. Applying for disability insurance benefits can be a difficult process and the information you provide is critical. Most disability insurance companies look at your application in hopes of finding a reason to deny your claim. Your disability company will ask you to complete numerous forms, interview you, request lots of information, speak with your doctors and possibly request to have you examined by their hired gun doctor.
Through our experience of having helped thousands of disability insurance claimants, our disability insurance lawyers will guide you through the entire application process and give you the best chance to get your disability claim approved the first time.
Submit A Strong Appeal Package
If your disability insurance benefits have been wrongfully denied, then our disability insurance lawyers know exactly what it takes to get your disability claim approved. You only get once chance to submit an Appeal, therefore every piece of evidence that will support your disability claim must be included. The goal is to win your disability benefits at the Appeal level, but while preparing your Appeal you must consider how a federal judge will review your disability claim if your benefit denial is upheld.
Preparing a strong disability appeal package is an art that requires you to understand how the courts interpret your disability policy language, ERISA regulations / laws, and how to strategically present evidence in support of your definition of disability. We encourage you to contact any of our long-term disability attorneys for a free immediate review of your disability denial.
Sue Your Disability Company
98% of the disability insurance lawsuits filed by our law firm have resulted in either the payment of benefits or a lump-sum settlement agreement. Our disability insurance attorneys have filed ERISA governed and private policy long term disability insurance lawsuits against every major disability insurance company in state and federal courts nationwide and we love fighting for the little guy against the multi-billion dollar insurance company giants.
We have recovered hundreds of millions of dollars for our clients and we would like the opportunity to provide you with a free review of your disability benefit denial. There are many complex factors in a disability benefit lawsuit and the legal battle to win long term disability benefits can be fierce.
Prevent A Disability Benefit Denial
Approval of long-term disability is a continuous process as every disability insurance company will evaluate your eligibility for benefits on a monthly basis. You can never let your guard down and assume that your disability company will continue to pay your benefits for as long as you think you need them.
Our disability insurance law firm offers a reasonable flat fee monthly claim handling service in which we handle every aspect of your long-term disability claim and do whatever it takes to make sure you are paid every month.
Negotiate a Lump-Sum Settlement
Let's discuss if a lump-sum settlement or buyout of your disability insurance claim is both available and makes financial sense for you. Our disability insurance lawyers have negotiated more than five-hundred million dollars in disability insurance buyouts and we know how to get you a maximum settlement. A disability insurance company is not required to offer a buyout and not every disability company offers them.
Questions About Hiring Us
Who are Dell Disability Lawyers?
We are disability insurance attorneys that know how to get your short or long term disability benefits paid. As a nationwide law firm we have helped thousands of disability insurance claimants throughout the United States to collect hundreds of millions of dollars of disability insurance benefits from every major disability insurance company.
Our attorneys have been able to either get our clients paid monthly disability benefits or obtain a one-time lump-sum settlement in more than 98% of our cases. Our disability insurance lawyers have seen it all when it comes to disability insurance claims and we know exactly what it takes for your disability claim to be approved.
We offer disability insurance attorney representation nationwide and we welcome you to contact any of our LTD lawyers for a free immediate review of your disability claim. We also invite you to visit and subscribe to our YouTube channel where we have more than 900 videos and regularly provide tips to help protect your disability benefits.
Who do you help?
Our disability insurance attorneys help individuals that have either purchased a long term disability insurance policy from an insurance company or obtained short or long term disability insurance coverage as a benefit from their employer. We have helped individuals in almost every type of occupation with monthly disability benefit payments ranging from $1,500 to $50,000.
Our clients include all types of employees ranging from retail associates, sales representatives, government employees, police officers, teachers, janitors, nurses, pilots, truck drivers, financial advisors, doctors, dentists, veterinarians, lawyers, consultants, IT professionals, engineers, professional athletes, business owners, and high level executives.
A strong understanding and presentation of the duties of your occupation is essential for securing disability insurance benefits.
Do you work in my state?
Yes. We are a national disability insurance law firm that is available to represent you regardless of where you live in the United States. We have partner lawyers in every state and we have filed lawsuits in most federal courts nationwide. Our disability insurance lawyers represent disability claimants at all stages of a claim for disability insurance benefits. There is nothing that our lawyers have not seen in the disability insurance world.
What are your fees?
Since we represent disability insurance claimants at different stages of a disability insurance claim we offer a variety of different fee options. We understand that claimants living on disability insurance benefits have a limited source of income; therefore we always try to work with the claimant to make our attorney fees as affordable as possible.
The three available fee options are a contingency fee agreement (no attorney fee or cost unless we make a recovery), hourly fee or fixed flat rate.
In every case we provide each client with a written fee agreement detailing the terms and conditions. We always offer a free initial phone consultation and we appreciate the opportunity to work with you in obtaining payment of your disability insurance benefits.
Do I have to come to your office to work with your law firm?
No. For purposes of efficiency and to reduce expenses for our clients we have found that 99% of our clients prefer to communicate via phone, email, fax, or video conferencing sessions. If you prefer an initial in-person meeting please let us know. A disability company will never require you to come to their office and similarly we are set up so that we handle your entire claim without the need for you to come to our office.
How can I contact you?
When you call us during normal business hours you will immediately speak with a disability insurance attorney. We can be reached at 800-698-9159 or by email. Lawyers and staff must return all client calls same day. Client emails are usually replied to within the same business day and seem to be the preferred and most efficient method of communication for most clients.