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Recent Article

Insurance Companies Don’t Always Win

by admin

A recent Minnesota court ruling demonstrates that long-term disability insurance companies cannot simply stop paying long-term disability benefits without a significant change in the worker’s condition. Laura Ripka won her case against Hartford Life and Accident Insurance Company, Civil No. 11-0004, US District Court of Minnesota.

Laura Ripka suffered from severe depression, which left her unable to function in a work setting. She was also diagnosed with Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS). Fibromyalgia causes widespread muscle and body pains, along with extreme tiredness, memory problems and mood difficulties. According to the Mayo Clinic, fibromyalgia “amplifies painful sensations by affecting the way your brain processes pain signals.” CFS creates fatigue symptoms similar to those in fibromyalgia. The fatigue often worsens if the patient increases her physical or mental activity, but resting does not help the problem.

Unfair Claims Denial

Initially, Hartford accepted Ripka’s disability claim, acknowledging the diagnosis and the disability. She began receiving payments in 1994 and was still unable to work six years later when Hartford notified her that benefits would be discontinued.

Hartford based its denial on October 2000 video surveillance depicting Ms. Ripka tossing brush from a pickup truck.

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Claims Denial

Have you been cheated by Bad Faith? Contact us for a consultation (800) 693-6903

Bad Faith Claims at Unum Insurance

Unum insurance bad faith has cheated Americans out of billions of dollars over the past 15 years. Unum insurance company (formerly known as Unum Provident) is one of the largest disability insurance providers in the world. Like all insurance companies, Unum has a legal duty to practice good faith in all professional dealings.

This means that they owe a duty of fair dealing, honest disclosure, honoring of policy terms and much more. When an insurance company violates this compulsory duty toward its policyholders, they can be found guilty of bad faith in the eyes of the courts.

In cases where Unum insurance bad faith has caused harm to policyholders, the latter may file a legal claim against Unum to recover denied benefits. In fact, a Unum insurance bad faith lawsuit is one of the strongest weapons against fraudulent and unscrupulous insurance practices.

Unum insurance: A long history of bad faith practices

Unum insurance has a long history of gross bad faith practices that have drained Americans of billions of dollars, while putting that hard-earned money into the hands of crooked insurance company executives.

A multi-state investigation found that, since 1995, Unum and its subsidiaries have engaged in a pervasive practice of terminating and denying legitimate insurance claims. Furthermore, the company has regularly set monthly financial goals that all but required denial of legitimate claims and even gave employees money for not approving claims.

Consequences of Unum insurance bad faith

Numerous lawsuits have found Unum, its subsidiaries and its employees guilty of gross insurance bad faith offences. In 2004, the company was forced to reconsider 200,000 legitimate claims and pay a fine of $15 million. In 2006, two major cases found Unum guilty of bad faith practices.

  • In November 2006, a Unum insurance bad faith lawsuit filed by several state regulators found UnumProvident Corp. guilty of fraudulent practices. This legal settlement included over $15 million in damages to policyholders and almost $2 million in penalties. A concurrent class action lawsuit by private attorneys was also filed.
  • In December 2006, a Unum insurance bad faith lawsuit found a VP of UnumProvident Corp guilty of federal fraud charges. This man was found guilty of making false statements, rigging insurance policies to collect a higher commission, making secret payments to brokers, and more.

As a result of these and other cases, the company has been required to reassess over 200,000 claims in which they may have partially or completely denied payment on a legitimate insurance claim.

If you or someone you know feels you may have been the victim of Unum insurance bad faith, please contact us today.