A woman struggling with crippling bipolar disorder, depression, anxiety, and other mental health concerns was hastily denied long-term disability benefits by Liberty when she needed them the most. The insurer denied her claim the same day her treating psychiatrist sent them information about her mental health conditions. With such a rapid response, it was clear that no real thought had been given regarding her well-being and the benefits she requested. Dabdoub Law Firm quickly returned on her behalf, successfully getting Liberty to approve her benefits as needed.
Details of the Hasty Bipolar Disability Denial Case
The same doctor has been treating our client for five years, twice a week. Both psychotherapy and medication are being used to try to alleviate the severe symptoms and side effects caused by her diagnosed bipolar disorder, depression, and anxiety.
Her conditions have been “chronic,” according to her doctor’s own words, since September 2018. In fact, her bipolar condition and paranoia have rendered her effectively crippled, hiding in her home with blankets over the windows and struggling to care for herself.
Given the severity of her mental health conditions, it should be understood by any reasonable party that she cannot continue regular employment in any capacity. When her disability claim was sent to Liberty, the insurance company did not rely on her doctor’s records to determine if her claim should be approved. Instead, it chose to work with its own physician to make that call.
Liberty’s doctor contacted our client’s doctor for information about her mental health and related disabilities. Being concerned about his patient’s well-being, our client’s doctor responded quickly, sending the requested evaluation to Liberty’s doctor only one day later. Bizarrely, Liberty returned that same day to say it was going to deny our client’s benefits.
A mental health condition as complex as our clients is not something that can be understood and fairly evaluated in just a few hours. For Liberty’s doctor to receive information from our client’s doctor and decide she was not disabled in one sitting is unreasonable. At the most, it indicates her record and her doctor’s opinions were completely disregarded, and, at the least, it indicates that Liberty’s doctor did not understand the conditions described.
Attorneys at Dabdoub Law Firm sent a response to Liberty on behalf of our client. In it, our disability lawyers explained the unreasonableness of the rapid response, as well as the severity of our client’s mental health conditions. We are happy to say Liberty conceded to its mistakes and did approve LTD benefits as needed.
Attorneys Specializing in Disability Insurance Claims
Because disability insurance law is complicated, it is important to get legal help from a lawyer who focuses on disability law.
As a law firm built to focus on disability insurance, our lawyers specialize in disability insurance. We spend every day working to get our clients long term disability benefits approved.
Because federal law applies to most disability insurance claims, we do not have to be located in your state to help.
If your claim for long term disability benefits was denied or being delayed by an insurance company, call us to speak with a disability insurance attorney.
We represent clients across the U.S. with:
- Submitting a disability insurance claim;
- Appealing a long-term disability denial;
- Negotiating a lump-sum settlement; or
- Filing a lawsuit against your disability insurance company
We represent clients with disability claims governed by federal law, even if we are not located in your state.
Call (800) 969-0488 to speak with an experienced disability attorney.
