If you have been dealing with a Long Term Disability (LTD) Insurance company or ERISA Disability Plan Administrator, you need to beware that they may try to cut you off without a medical examination. Some people think the Disability Insurer has to send you to a so-called “independent medical examination,” but that is not the case. It does not matter which Disability Insurance company you have – Aetna, Cigna, Lincoln, Reliance, Unum, and other carriers all use similar tactics to cut people off. Listen to this video as ERISA Disability Attorney John V. Tucker explains how your Long Term Disability insurance company may try to cut you off without having you examined by their doctor.
This video explains three tactics that the ERISA Long Term Disability Insurance Company may try that you may never even know about:
- Paper reviews;
- Talking to your doctor without your approval; and
- Online spying on Facebook, Twitter and other social media.
Beware of your LTD Insurance company trying to cut you off. Watch this video to know what you are up against.
If you’ve been dealing with an insurance company and they have cut you off without a medical examination, you may be wondering what can be done.
Insurance companies cut people off all the time without having them see a doctor. First, let’s talk about how they do it. They will not use your regular doctor, but they will have a doctor in their office examine your paper file. It’s called a peer review, and all they are doing is examining your medical records to make a decision about you. It may not even include all of your medical records, but just the ones that they have on file.
They may also call your doctor without you even knowing, so they can create a report that says you are fine to work. You’ll want to make sure that your doctor knows not to talk to them. If their doctor has questions, you’ll want to make sure that they submit them to your doctor in writing so your doctor has ample time to answer them in a way that cannot be construed inaccurately and used against you.
The next thing that is important to note is that insurance companies are beginning to turn to the internet. They will check all of your social networking pages to see what activities you are participating in. They may even hire a private investigator in hopes of catching you in a lie.
Let’s consider the case of one of my previous clients. The insurance company search his FaceBook account, which was not set to private, and they found a picture of him standing at a concert. They immediately sent him a notice and terminated his benefits. They him he did not require disability benefits because the picture of him standing contradicted his claim that he was unable to stand.
The insurance company did not know that he had been laying down for most of the concert and had only momentarily stood up to stretch when somebody snapped that picture. Unexpected things like this can interrupt your benefits. Watch the video to learn more.
If you have questions about how an insurance company can cut you off without having you examined by a doctor, call Disability Attorney John V. Tucker today to learn your rights at (866) 282-5260 or contact Mr. Tucker online.
Video TranscriptCan your disability insurance company cut you off if they've never even had you examined by their doctor? I'm John Tucker, I’m a disability attorney and I handle cases like yours all across the country against all the major insurance companies — Aetna, Cigna, Lincoln, MetLife Prudential, Standard, Unum and others. Cutting you off without an exam happens all the time. Let me tell you how insurance companies do it so you can protect yourself.
First, they won't use a doctor to examine you but they'll use a doctor in their office to look at your paper file. They call it a peer review, we call it a paper review. And the paper review doctor is doing just that, he's reading your medical records, he's making decisions about you based solely on the records that are in that file. He may not even have all of the records, it depends on what the disability adjuster has given that doctor.
The doctor may also talk to your doctor behind your back and you may never even know it before their paper review doctor writes a report that miraculously says that you can work. Tell your doctors not to talk to their doctors and ask for any questions in writing so your doctor has the chance to respond in a way that can accurately document your case.
Second and perhaps even more important than a paper review, insurance companies more and more are looking online. They're tracking you down using free surveillance. They're looking at your Facebook, they're looking at your Instagram and other social media to see what kind of pictures you're posting. They may even go so far as to send a private investigator after you. Why are they doing this? They're trying to catch you in a lie.
Let me tell you a story about Chris, a client of mine. Before he hired me, Chris’ adjuster found a picture of him on Facebook. Chris had not set his privacy settings to the maximum and his account was opened. The adjuster found a picture of him standing at a concert. Without asking you just send him a letter, cut his claim off, terminated his benefits. Telling him “you told us you could not stand but we found you standing so clearly you don't have any problems standing” but the adjuster didn't know and what I found out after I began to represent Chris was that he had been laying down for quite some time at an outdoor concert and just decided to stand to stretch for a few minutes. Somebody snapped a picture of him and they posted it on Facebook.
Simple things like that can interrupt your benefits. Little things can mean they can cut you off without having to send you to one of their doctors. If you get cut off, call me at the number on your screen. I handle cases like yours every day. I'm John Tucker. Thanks for watching.
