Attorney For The Hartford Disability Claims Denials
The Hartford (The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc.) is just one of more than 40 long term disability insurance companies, but they have the reputation of being one of the most difficult to deal with. The Hartford purchased CNA in 2004.
This is what The Hartford typically does before denying (or terminating) LTD benefits:
- They will send an investigator to your house and interview you for hours.
- They will conduct video surveillance of you
- Send you to a compulsory medical exam by a doctor of their choosing, or a functional capacity exam (FCE)
- Have your file reviewed by an external doctor (who has never physically examined you)
- Send a biased, skewed questionnaire to your treating physician in order to bait your doctor into filling it out in an unfavorable way
- Continuing requests for more medical records, followed by unjustified delays to make a decision
- Sending you an authorization to release medical information, which they will use to obtain medical documents they are not entitled to
The Hartford has established a clear pattern of denying rightful claims in the interest of saving themselves some money.
The Hartford Long Term Disability Insurance Appeals Lawyer
If you are disabled and can no longer work, you may apply for short term benefits and long term benefits if you own such a policy. If you are an employee and your employer provided LTD insurance as an employee benefit, your claims and lawsuit will be governed by ERISA.
ERISA is a federal law that governs most employee benefits. The most relevant portions of the law are the requirements that:
- You must exhaust all administrative appeals with your LTD carrier before filing a lawsuit.
This means, when your application for LTD benefits are denied by The Hartford, you must appeal this denial/termination. You will usually be allowed one appeal, and that appeal is usually required within 180 days of the denial. - You must file a lawsuit in Federal court.
The suit will be determined by a judge, with no jury, and no trial - You cannot introduce any new evidence in your lawsuit.
Any evidence you want a judge to review, must be included during the claims process and appeal. There will be no chance to supplement your appeal later. If you forget something in your appeal, too bad, the judge won’t consider it.
This is why the appeal is probably the most important phase of the case. You must stuff the administrative file with as much information as possible, because you won’t have a chance to later.
Doesn’t matter how compelling the information is. You must include it in your appeal, or the judge will not even consider it.
What Can The Disability Legal Center Do For Your Hartford LTD Case?
While we can help clients with their initial claim for long term benefits, this is something most people can and want to do on their own.
WARNING: No matter how strong your claims application is, The Hartford can still deny your claim, even with compelling evidence and documentation.
A denial of your application for LTD benefits is not the end of the road, however. You are allowed to appeal this decision. In fact, if your policy is covered by ERISA because it’s an employee benefit, you must appeal your decision before moving forward.
WARNING: You have a time limit to appeal The Hartford’s Denial. Usually this is 180 days from the day you receive the denial letter. Do not waste any time, and consult with a lawyer immediately. Give us a call at (866) JOE-DANG or (866) 563-3264 and schedule your free, no obligation denial letter review.
The appeal is the most important part of your LTD claim process.
As mentioned above, if this is an ERISA case, the appeal of The Hartford’s denial is your last chance to introduce evidence of any kind into your case. If The Hartford denies your appeal, and you file a lawsuit in federal court, the court will not consider any new evidence.
With our assistance, your appeal will set you up for the best possible chance at success. We will do this by:
- Examining the reasons The Hartford gave for denying your claim;
- Gathering all the necessary evidence for the appeal, including medical records, bills, job descriptions, bank statements, pay stubs, etc;
- Obtaining doctors’ opinions regarding your disabilities and limitations;
- Reviewing your long term disability policy, and gathering the necessary documents to prove your disability and limitations;
- Documenting and presenting your claim in the best manner possible;
- Completing your appeal package;
- Submitting your appeals package within the allowed time frame;
- If your appeal is denied, preparing and filing an ERISA lawsuit in federal court.
If your Hartford disability claim is denied or terminated, contact our office by filling out the forms below or call us at (866) JOE-DANG or (866) 563-3264 for a case review with an LTD Insurance Lawyer. There is no obligation or cost, so you have nothing to lose.