If you applied for long-term disability benefits because you are suffering from an injury, illness or a medical condition that causes you such severe pain that you are no longer capable of doing a substantial portion of your work, and your application was denied with the reason being that there was no objective evidence of your condition despite your treating physician wholeheartedly supporting your claim in their report, don’t let the insurance company cause you to give up – they’re counting on you to do just that.
Instead, partner with disability claim lawyers that know how to fight back and make your insurance company pay as they should.
The “no objective evidence” reason for denial is a favourite of the insurance companies to use on LTD applications for ‘hidden’ illnesses don’t show up on an Xray and can’t be proved with a blood test. They also rely on it to refuse covering diseases like depression, anxiety and fibromyalgia.
Here Are a Few Problems with Requiring “Objective Evidence”
These are some of the issues with the insurance company’s position:
- LTD policies do not actually stipulate that your condition be verified with “objective evidence,” and the insurance companies could not try to enact that kind of stipulation either. If they did, they would, in effect, be pre-denying a host of illnesses and mental health conditions.
- By definition, chronic pain is something someone feels, and is therefore impossible to measure objectively.
- There may be an underlying condition your doctor hasn’t been able to discover, but that does not make the pain any less disabling in the meantime.
So How Can You Fight Back?
The first step is to hire a disability lawyer, if you haven’t already, and show them the letter. LTD lawyers see these letters every day and can tell, after looking into your case, if there was, indeed, anything missing from your application and how to remedy it.
Your lawyer will then likely take over communications with the insurance company and put you in touch with their experts to start putting together a case that proves your disability.
Your job is to be honest at all times and follow your physician’s and your lawyer’s instructions. Keep a journal with you at all times and document all instances of when you feel symptoms. Describe in as much detail the type of pain (stabbing, burning, etc.), how long it lasts, and especially note if anyone witnessed it.
Also, be forewarned that it is perfectly legal and probable that the insurance company will hire an investigator to follow you around when you are in public to take pictures and videos that prove you aren’t as disabled as you claim. They will also monitor your social media posts.
The vast majority of these cases settle, your lawyer just needs time to put together a strong enough case to get you the best settlement possible.
