Over the years I’ve heard, or have been provided with enough misguided advice from attorneys fill volumes. Not surprisingly, some of the inaccurate information involving disability claims management came from attorneys. Due to the fact that the topic of “disability insurance” instills fear among the populace, it makes sense that people turn to attorneys, assuming that what they say is the voice of the Almighty.
A recent case in point, is an attorney who advised an insured to, “just submit to the field interview, it will turn out OK, nothing wrong with asking a few questions.” What? Are we assuming that it’s OK for an insurance company to threaten you into a personal surveillance, which is what a field visit is, even when your Plan or policy doesn’t require it?
I have said this before and I will say it again…..”Attorneys are not great case managers!” This particular attorney probably doesn’t understand there is an underlying red flag that caused a field request in the first place.
Tag surveillances are also planned around field visits, and template questions designed to “trip up” insureds are provided to reps from The HUB and G4S. IT IS NEVER A GOOD IDEA TO SUBMIT TO A FIELD INTERVIEW IF YOU DON’T HAVE TO. Insurance companies should be requested to adjudicate the Plan or policy and not require field visits if they aren’t specifically written in the policy.
In my opinion, any attorney who gives the go-ahead to a voluntary field visit is not acting in the best interests of clients. If you are an attorney reading this blog and you DO have experience in the management of disability claims, I’m not talking about you, so relax.
I am, however, referring to those attorneys who despite their law degrees have no idea how to manage disability claims, or “how the system works.” These attorneys should stick to their own areas of expertise, probably personal injury law, and stay away from disability claims and/or ERISA.
New disability attorneys should work with other experienced attorneys for some time before taking on cases of their own. Disability insurance and ERISA are specializations within the law and not every attorney is aware of information needed in order to give advice.
The way I look at this is……anyone who gives advice on a subject should have a better than average knowledge on the subject for which the advice is offered. Attorneys who give advice on disability claims management without successful experience should not be advising anyone.
A great deal of harm can be done by saying, “It’s OK to be interviewed by an insurance rep. No harm will come from that.” Attorneys aren’t great case managers if they don’t know anything about it and have no experience.
Please be careful who you listen to.
