Why does my Long Term Disability Insurance Company make me apply for Social Security when I’m not even old ?!!?

 

Many private disability insurance companies have rules about what you must do to continue receive benefits. For Short Term Disability (“STD”), most insurance companies require simply that the insured be disabled from their “OWN OCCUPATION.” This “Own Occ” requirement means that you cannot perform the essential requirements of your own job. Usually, after a period of time specified in the insurance contract, the terms require that the claimant be disabled from “ANY OCCUPATION,” not just the job you did before you became disabled. This “ANY OCC” requirement is usually much harder than the “OWN OCC” STD standard. The “ANY OCC” requirement basically means that you are disabled from any occupation that might exist in the national economy. Frequently, the Team at Abrams Landau sees Insurance Companies require that you, as the insured, ALSO apply for Social Security Disability benefits. Why do they do this to you ? “Super Lawyer” Doug Landau says the reasons are simple: 1. If you are denied benefits by the Federal Government, your insurance company may use the medical reports or doctors’ examinations to also disallow your claim and terminate your benefits. 2. If you fail to apply for Federal Disability benefits, the Insurance company may cut off your money because you are not “in compliance” with the terms of your contract. 3. Lastly, if you are successful, then the contracts generally provide that the disability insurance company NOT ONLY gets to reduce the monthly amount it pays by what you receive from your hard earned wage deductions from Social Security, but they are also entitled to a “set off” for the lump sum you receive from the Federal Government. If you do not pay the disability insurance plan back from this money, then they eiher suspend benefits until the claimed “overpayment” is recouped or they deny further benefits altogether. As Herndon Trial Lawyer Doug Landau points out, “all the risk and stress is on the the injured worker and their family. The insurance company has nothing to lose and everything to gain.” The Landau Law Shop sees this requirement regularly catch injured workers and their families completely by surprise. The Virginia Trial Lawyer points out: “This is money that has been taken out of my clients’ paychecks for years. To give money back to the disability insurance company, after a client has already paid for long and short term disability coverage simply adds insult to injury.” If you find yourself in this situation, please give the Landau Law Shop a call at 703796-9555, or send an e-mail.