ERISA is Evil, Part 3 Once You File

For those who are readers of iPain Living Magazine we covered what ERISA law is and why it is evil in the Fall 2019 edition article ERISA Is Evil; The current state of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 and How It Effects Long-term Disability Claims by Lawyer Andrew Kantor; Kantor & Kantor. This is part 3 of 4. Check out last weeks blog post for part 2 on Ready To File?

Once You File

 Once you have filed your claim, there are a few steps you can take to help protect yourself from sneaky insurance companies.

1. Always, and only, communicate in writing. Email, certified mail, fax, telegram, it doesn’t matter as long as you are able to prove that the communication was received.
2. Warn your doctors. Often, insurance company physicians will reach out to your physicians directly in order to engage in discussions about your disability. I’m sure you won’t be shocked to hear that these discussions are not usually friendly. We recommend that you tell your doctor to inform the insurer that they are happy to answer questions in writing. At the very least, warning them that such a call may be coming helps avoid them being ambushed and inadvertently harming your case.
3. If they ask to interview you in person, ask if they will provide you with an audio or written transcript of the interview after it is complete. If they say no, ask if you can record yourself. If they say no to that, don’t worry, they will have an extremely tough time utilizing anything obtained in that interview in Court since it prevented YOU from verifying the accuracy of the conversation when it had a chance to do so.
4. Ask to receive copies of any reports generated during the claim process. Insurers are arguably not required to provide such documents to you during the claim process, while they are undoubtedly required to do so during the appeal process. Sometimes they say yes. Receiving such reports can help you preempt a denial.