Some time ago, I received an email with the following poem read at a conference by the now deceased Gene Anderson of Anderson, Kill and Olick. Consultants like me who advocate for fairness in the disability insurance industry often find that fighting for justice is a very lonely place.
There was a very cautious man.
Who never laughed or played
He never risked, he never tried.
He never sang or prayed
And when one day he passed away,
His insurance was denied.
For since he never really lived,
They claimed he never died.
Although it would be very easy to just give-in and let companies like Unum, Prudential, Guardian, Reliance Standard, Lincoln Financial, etc. deprive individuals of their benefits, the next voice on the phone from a grateful insured who just found out DCS overturned a long awaited denial keeps us going.
In fact, within the last six months or so, DCS was able to assist four claimants in overturning their denials on appeal, and helped ten insureds make successful applications with benefits paid. Today, whether claimants want to admit it or not, having a claims expert on board does make a difference.
We encourage claimants and insureds to remember that there are people out there who continue the good fight on their behalf. In the end it’s the fighters, negotiators, consultants and a hand full of really good attorneys that make change happen and essentially keep the insurance industry honest. What has really happened is that because there has been no public disclosure about egregious claims practices, insureds have become comfortable and confident that they know enough to manage their claims all by themselves.
BUT, like a fireball in the night, the denial letter seems to come by surprise and insureds wonder, “What happened?” It has always been my strategy that the best appeal in the world is to make sure a denial never happens. That’s not to say, that denials won’t happen, but the probability of a denial when an expert is helping you is very low. DCS has not had a denied claim in a long time.
DCS has been fighting for the rights of insureds and claimants since 1999 and I’m never going to give up the fight especially for America’s working class and ERISA folks. So, hang in there. As long as there are warriors in the disability claims business, there will be battles won, but you need to be proactive and get the help you need.
