In almost every instance, people will tend to be reactive as opposed to proactive to situations they encounter in life. Such is the case when people are making claims for long-term disability benefits. They will only think about searching for the services of an attorney when their claims have been rejected by the insurance. At this point, it may prove to be too late because the much they can do is appeal the process for you in court.
Even then, the process is challenging because it will be hard to introduce new reports or records as evidence why you deserve to be awarded the benefits. The idea is that the court may direct that everything should be argued against the application you made and was rejected by the insurance. This is why in this article, we will be looking to determine why taking a rather proactive approach may be a good move for you.
What Roles Should Your Long-term Disability Attorney Perform?
In the field of law, there is a huge demand for specialization among practicing professionals. The idea here is to enable them to fully comprehend and become competent in the field they specialize. Therefore, when you hire an attorney that specializes in long-term disability claims it is also important to understand the services you can expect them to render. Among these services include:
Advising You on the Rules of Filing a Claim
The Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) highlights the policies to be adhered to when it comes to the issue of claiming for long-term disability benefits. Therefore, your attorney’s role should be helping you understand these policies by simply highlighting the dos and don’ts for you. They should also take the initiative of explaining the long term disability qualifications as highlighted in the act. Also, you can also expect them to guide you on how to go about filling the claim form.
Protecting Your Rights for Long-Term Disability Benefits
As earlier noted, during the appeal process, a federal judge may object to the inclusion of new evidence to support the claim you had made for your claims. This being the case, it is the role of your attorney to ensure that any relevant evidence has been attached to your filed claim.
This includes any evidence that they deem necessary but has not been requested by the insurer. This implies that they will be in charge of follow up with your doctor and employer to obtain all the necessary records/ documentations they think are relevant for that claim.
Being Your Legal Representative
When it comes to legal representation, you may be forgiven for thinking that this occurs in the court. However, this is not always the case. If you hire a long-term disability attorney in advance they are legally allowed to become your representative. This implies that they can consult the plan administrator, engage in settlement negotiations, file the claim application or appeal the verdict of the administrator in a federal court on your behalf.
Hiring a Competent Long-Term Disability Attorney
From a claim administrator’s perspective, they have the obligation to protect the insurance company’s interests. This being the case, they will always for every possible reason to deny an applicant the benefits claimed. The idea is that with the high financial stakes involved in these benefits, approving a huge number may not have such a good impact on their bottom line. This is why to avoid being on the losing end, you have to take important proactive measures. These include hiring a competent attorney who will be tasked with protecting your interests too.
The thing you need to understand when hiring your attorney is that disability law may be quite complex and different from others such as personal injury law. Therefore, the most important consideration when hiring a lawyer should be their level of experience in this field. As such, you should avoid the mistake of hiring a general practice lawyer. Instead, place much emphasis on the number of cases they have handled in this area.
The information provided in this article has highlighted the importance of hiring a long-term disability attorney. Most importantly, it has highlighted some of the reasons why you need to take a proactive approach when making this decision.
