Amanda Antell  |  July 28, 2014

Category: Consumer News

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UnumA South Carolina man filed a bad faith claim denial lawsuit against Unum Life Insurance for allegedly withholding his long-term benefits.

Plaintiff Vernon K. Rhodan was employed at Mainline Supplies/Fortiline, which provided the plaintiff long-term and short-term benefits for his full-time employment. Rhodan had become disabled through undisclosed complications, and became unable to perform the necessary tasks for his job, according to his Unum lawsuit.

Soon after his disability was established, Rhodan ceased working and filed a claim for long-term disability benefits. Due to being unable to work, the plaintiff has been unable to earn any living and has incurred massive medical expenses due to his disability, according to his disability insurance lawsuit.

Due to the amount of time he had worked for Fortiline, the plaintiff’s legal team argues that he is entitled to long-term disability benefits under the insurance plan. He submitted all necessary paperwork on the correct deadline, as well as medical testimony from his doctor, according to the insurance claim denial lawsuit. Additionally, Rhodan’s Unum claim denial lawsuit said he followed all administrative procedures to file the disability claim, and appealed accordingly once Unum had denied him.

Overview of Unum Claim Denial Tactics

Unum Life Insurance is the largest and oldest disability insurance company in America, as well as the biggest disability provider in the world. The company has approximately 17 million claimants in America and 25 million worldwide. Unum has been named in many insurance claim denial lawsuits, and has been repeatedly listed as one of the top five worst businesses in America.

The reason for Unum’s reputation and the reason for being sued by so many claimants, is over alleged bad faith insurance claims denials in order to retain a certain level of profit. Tactics Unum has been accused of illegally using against claimants include:

  • Making changes to the plan without the authorization of the policyholder
  • Changing policies after the policyholder’s claims are filed
  • Failing to notify the recipients about these changes
  • Improperly and inappropriately investigating a claim
  • Obtaining opinions from unqualified third parties
  • Having contract medical examiners read over and misinterpret medical records
  • Using these third-party medical examiners to deny a claim when the policyholder did not provide a medical exam, or giving the policyholder insufficient time to obtain a medical exam

This Unum Claim Denial Lawsuit is Vernon K. Rhodan v. Unum Life Insurance Company, Case No. 2:14-cv-2089-RMG, in the U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina, Charleston Division.

In general, Unum lawsuits are filed individually by each plaintiff and are not class actions.

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