A woman from Shorewood, Illinois required multiple back surgeries in only a few years, which left her effectively disabled from chronic back pain. When she filed for long term disability insurance benefits from Liberty Life, she was surprised to find that she was denied. After her appeal was rejected, she filed an ERISA lawsuit against Liberty, and prevailed. However, Liberty still denied her claim! Dabdoub Law Firm was called upon at this point to step in, take over, and fight Liberty as needed. We are proud to say we were able to construct a comprehensive response that showed the entire timeline of her injuries and the wrong decisions made by Liberty, which resulted in the reinstatement of her LTD benefits.
Details of the Continual Claim Denial Case
Our client underwent five separate back surgeries in just seven years, all to try to correct back issues and chronic pain. She attempted to return to work after each surgery because she did not want to stop working. However, after the last surgery, it was clear that the pain was too much to continue her role as a branch manager, or to work in any capacity, and she filed for long term disability benefits with Liberty.
At first, Liberty approved of her disability benefits, only to terminate them less than a year later. The decision to terminate those benefits was surprising, given that there was no marked medical improvement to our client’s condition. Indeed, her medical providers continued to all agree that she could not conduct her expected work duties due to her disability. Furthermore, it was stated through various medical reviews that she was incapable of working in any sedentary occupation.
When Liberty swatted down her appeal, she filed an ERISA lawsuit against the company. The judge overseeing that lawsuit agreed with her and found that Liberty’s denial was both “wrong” and “unreasonable.” Despite this clear ruling from the court, Liberty still denied her next claim filed with them, which was dependent on the same medical evidence as before and as reviewed in the ERISA lawsuit. It is not known if Liberty erroneously thought new medical evidence had been presented, or if the company had consciously acted against the will of the court by making its own opposite evaluation of the evidence.
Dabdoub Law Firm and our long term disability attorneys were retained to take this matter into the favor of our client, once and for all. We began with a thorough reevaluation of her medical records and the numerous opinions of her physicians, which all pointed towards her continued and foreseeable disability. Next, we analyzed the judgement of the court in her ERISA claim to reinforce its legal validity. By compiling this information in a clear challenge to their latest denial, we were able to convince Liberty that it was in their best interests to approve our client’s long term disability benefits.
Having an Experienced Disability Attorney Matters
Disability insurance law is complicated. If your claim for long term disability benefits was denied or is being delayed by an insurance company, it is important to get legal help from a lawyer who focuses on disability law. As a law firm built to focus disability insurance cases and claims, and nothing else, all our lawyers spend every day working to get our clients disability benefits from insurance companies.
Because federal law applies to most disability insurance claims, we do not have to be located in your state to help.
Dabdoub Law Firm represents clients nationwide 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.
Call (800) 969-0488 to speak with a disability insurance attorney.
Because each client’s case is unique and has different facts, results similar to those in other clients’ cases are not guaranteed.
