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Many claimants filing claims for disability insurance have experienced a series of difficult obstacles when applying for their benefits with Lincoln Financial. We have helped hundreds of Lincoln Financial claimants obtain tens of millions of dollars by collaborating on the development and presentation of our clients’ claims for long-term disability insurance benefits with Lincoln Financial. From medical professionals working at hospitals to corporate executives with Fortune 100 companies, to the employees who support these executives, we have secured benefits for many different medical conditions.
The formula that has been successfully developed and further honed over two decades as a long-term disability insurance lawyer has allowed our clients to successfully navigate the often complicated process of securing disability insurance from Lincoln Financial. Over the years, we have heard from many people who say that Lincoln’s claim and application process for disability benefits is a nightmare. At the same time, claimants are asked to provide an unrealistic level of documentation for their disability, and the claims representatives don’t respond to questions about the process.
We’ve also heard that different representatives from Lincoln ask for the same information, over and over again. We believe this may be a strategy from Lincoln, which certainly has the financial capacity to hire the proper amount of support staff.
We have helped claimants nationwide recover hundreds of millions of dollars.
What Documentation Is Necessary to Support a Lincoln Financial Disability Claim?
As with most claims for disability insurance benefits, to support your Lincoln Financial disability claim, you will need to provide medical, vocational, and other documentation to demonstrate how and why your disability insurance claim should be approved. As part of your Proof of Loss, you are required to prove that a condition, whether sickness, illness, or injury, impacts your ability to perform the tasks and duties of your occupation. Demonstrating this critical piece of your claim can be achieved with various sources. We help develop the information and evidence to support your claim of benefits.
Lincoln Financial’s Well-Earned Bad Reputation
A review of Lincoln’s stock performance reveals important information. This insurer giant has earned its reputation and has had many courts chastise its claim handling. This is often a direct result of how Lincoln issues mass denials, based less on the claims themselves and more on the company’s financial reporting to shareholders. Often, denials and terminations of claims occur close to the end of a financial reporting quarter, to improve stock performance.
Lincoln Financial will often engage in the below activity to deny or terminate claims.
- Overly rely upon nurse reviews rather than utilizing medical doctors to review complicated medical issues, despite ERISA requirements.
- Engage in delay tactics and claim not to receive medical and other information that is necessary for the claim, and without which the claim cannot be completed;
- Employ medical and vocational personnel to consider, and selectively review claim forms and other supportive disability documentation, and actively seek to identify reasons, concerns, or red flags to support denials or claim terminations, instead of finding why to pay, as a fiduciary should, and it is its obligation under ERISA;
- Utilize third party vendors through a heavily incentivized relationship, where medical opinions are sourced from doctors and nurses who are known to favor the insurance company and support the justification for denying or terminating claims, despite the medical professional never examining, seeing, speaking, or treating with the claimant and whose claim is impacted as a result;
- Claimants receiving letters that their claim has been denied or terminated tell us they try repeatedly to reach a live person to discuss their claim, only to find themselves unable to get someone on the phone or receive any responses to their questions. In the worst cases, claimants run out of time for appeals because Lincoln has made communication impossible.
My claim was Denied – What can I Do If Lincoln Financial Denies a Short- or Long-Term Disability Claim?
Knowing its reputation, all disabled claimants need to be vigilant to protect themselves from the claim practices that might result in adverse claim results. To best protect yourself against Lincoln Financial and its disability insurance claim practices, maintain good records, engage in continued medical care and treatment, and ensure that your documentation supports all of the issues as to how and why you cannot work. Check your medical records regularly.
Delayed Disability Claims
Newfield Law Group advises anyone with a disability claim problem to keep detailed records of every interaction with any representative from Lincoln Financial. If you are sending documents, make sure to send them in a way that requires a signature and date indicating receipt. Don’t send anything unless you can prove its receipt, whether you send by email, fax, or use certified mail.
When your long-term disability insurance claim is denied or terminated, do not wait to act. Try your best to get specific details as to why the claim was denied. You have a right to know why the claim was denied. And if they are taking a long time to process your claim, be aggressive about finding out why—what step in the process is the claim at, and why is it taking so long.
ERISA has important time frames that Lincoln Financial must follow during the claim handling process.
Denied Disability Claims
Lincoln Financial is a publicly held company, meaning the stocks are traded on the open market, and it reports earnings and losses on a quarterly basis. We have seen over time certain behaviors that appear to be timed with quarterly reports. Many claimants receive a telephone call on Friday afternoons, usually towards the end of a financial quarter. The letter will often follow, explaining why your claim was terminated. You need to act quickly, as there are typically strict time frames involved.
At this stage, if not already working with an ERISA attorney, one must consult with an experienced disability insurance attorney to develop an action plan to file an appeal. For an ERISA appeal, you must do this in accordance with the time frames permitted. Once an appeal is submitted to the insurance company, they are required to respond within 45 days – although with special circumstances, they can seek an additional 45 days to decide the ERISA appeal.
ERISA disability claims carry significant complexities, with a claim process with rigid time frames, and requirements of what information to submit in support. Because of our experience in handling Lincoln Financial Disability claims, we can navigate the appeals process successfully, preparing the information and developing the documentation necessary to overcome the wrongful denial or termination of benefits.
We have seen an influx of clients seeking us when their short term disability benefits claims are being challenged. This is a tactic used by Lincoln. A short-term claim needs to be properly developed, because the insurance company is building its case with materials submitted during the short term claim to be used to prevent the claim from moving to long term. This includes denying the short term claim to prevent it from becoming a short term claim.
Here’s what you may not know about the long-term disability claims process that the insurance company knows:
Before you can receive benefits for long term claims, one must satisfy the elimination period of the short-term, often 90 or 180 days. This often means the insurance company may try to frustrate your ability to satisfy the elimination period and become eligible for benefits. Newfield Law Group works closely with claimants at all stages to make sure the most powerful documents are in your claim file just in case you need to go to court. Every step of the process is thoughtfully planned out to anticipate future events.
In developing our claim support, we may request you undergo certain testing that your treating physician may not know about or may not feel is medically necessary because we know it will be helpful to provide demonstrative proof of functional deficits and impairments to successfully support a claim.
We Know Their Tactics. We Have Seen It Before.
For more than two decades, we have seen Lincoln Financial and how long-term disability insurance claims are handled by this company and for many years, we saw the tactics of Liberty Life Insurance, prior to its sale to Lincoln Financial. We have litigated against Lincoln Financial and Liberty Life Insurance and have secured millions of dollars for clients with Lincoln Financial and Liberty Life Insurance claims.
Each client presents with unique circumstances, but we have seen all of your situations before. Our practice helps anyone having claim issues or problems with their Lincoln Financial Group disability insurance policy, at any stage of the process.
If your Lincoln Financial disability insurance claim has been delayed, denied, or terminated, contact the disability insurance attorneys at Newfield Law Group to discuss your situation, for a free consultation. Send us your materials to review and allow us to share our experience, as to what we expect to occur in the next stage of the process.
We lift from you the burden of fighting the disability insurance company – we become your champion and your voice, and this allows you to return your focus to your health and recovery. Our office may be on Long Island, New York, but for more than two decades, we have helped claimants nationwide to recover hundreds of millions of dollars.
