Can a Hartford Insurance Denials of Your Long Term Disability Claim be Overturned? Yes you Can!

Can a Hartford denial of your long-term disability claim be overturned? Yes, it can. Hi, I'm Mark Whitehead, a board-certified disability attorney. Our law firm recently filed an ERISA lawsuit on behalf of our New York client after the Hartford determined that after paying long-term disability benefits for over three years due to her diagnosis of relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis, she no longer met the plan's definition of disability The New York court reviewed the administrative record and found that the Hartford abused its discretion in denying our client's continued disability. There are three ways that the Hartford wrongfully denied our client's long-term disability claim. One, the Hartford failed to consider the Social Security Administration's notice of award. After Hartford initially approved our client's claim for long-term disability benefits, it offered her assistance in applying with her Social Security benefits. With the Hartford's assistance, the Social Security Administration rendered a fully favorable decision, and she was awarded benefits. Accordingly, Hartford applied an offset to her long-term disability benefits as a result of her also receiving the SSDI benefits. However, when the Hartford determined that our client was no longer eligible to receive benefits, it failed to give the SSA's favorable decision any weight. Two, the Hartford did not consider contrary medical evidence regarding multiple sclerosis. The New York judge acknowledged that although the Hartford was not required to give special weight to the opinion of our client's treating physicians, the Hartford is not permitted to rely on medical reports which support its denial of benefits without further investigation and consideration of more detailed reports which provide medical evidence to the contrary. Our client was treated by our neurologist just prior to Hartford's denial of benefits. The Hartford had two physicians conduct peer reviews of our client's medical records, and both reviews failed to mention the documentation of the neurologist regarding the MRI findings. The court found that the Hartford's decision to rely on the opinions of its peer-reviewed physicians was arbitrary and capricious due to the fact that the neurologist discussed an important finding that was significant to her limitations and her disability, which Hartford's peer-reviewed physicians entirely failed to address. Three, the Hartford was wrong to rely on surveillance video. While the Hartford was paying our client her long-term disability benefits, it conducted yearly reviews of her claim to determine her continued eligibility for benefits. During the last review, our client gave information to Hartford that she was not able to perform some daily activities and that she required assistance from her husband and mother. In contrast, her neurologist informed the Hartford In an effort to sort out this discrepancy, Hartford conducted video surveillance to determine what activities she was actually capable of performing. The court found that the Hartford relied heavily on the surveillance video in making its determination of denying benefits. The court stated that the video surveillance did not contradict her statement that she was not able to sit for most of a workday, nor did the video show that she was unable to perform tasks related to standing or walking for 8 hours a day, 40 hours per week. The court granted our client's motion for summary judgment and awarded her benefits and attorney's fees, with judgment being withheld until the amount of benefits due was determined. Our firm has handled claims against Hartford for over 20 years, and we can assist you too. For more information, visit www.disabilitydenials.com or call 1-800-562-9830 to discuss your particular disability insurance issue. I'm Mark Whitehead. Thanks for watching.