Generally, your long-term disability insurance exists to replace your income if you can’t work because of a disabling illness or injury. Most individual or group long-term disability beneficiaries are completely disabled from their current occupations, but this isn’t the case for all disability claimants. While a serious disabling illness or injury can leave you with […]

During the last 30 years, Frank N. Darras has earned the reputation of America’s top-rated individual and group long-term disability lawyer. Mr. Darras and his firms have recovered almost $1 billion in wrongfully delayed and denied insurance benefits. Darras has done it with a combination of unique legal knowledge, litigation and claim experience, and care […]

Like many cases brought under the legal provisions of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), Van Steen v. Life Insurance Company of North America (LINA) began when Mr. Van Steen’s long-term disability insurance company, LINA, wrongfully terminated his long-term disability benefits. The judges eventually agreed with Mr. Van Steen and reinstated his long-term disability […]

Migraine headaches can be a real problem for many Americans, and these painful headaches can become so unbearable that sufferers are unable to reliably work. Despite their incapacitating limitations, headache disability claims are often fraught with claim hurdles. Here are some facts and tips to consider before filing an individual or group long-term disability insurance […]

Nurses and nursing professionals dedicate their lives to helping and caring for others, but the occupation has significant disability risks. In 2015, NPR published a multi-part series on the injury epidemic among hospital workers, giving us an inside look at the physical demands of the profession, the long-term effects, and the causes behind them. Although […]

Offsets Can Affect Your Group Short- and Long-Term Disability Benefits People who are eligible to receive short- and long-term disability insurance should know that any benefits they receive from other income sources could seriously reduce their monthly disability benefits. Offsets are policy provisions that permit your insurer to deduct other sources of income you receive […]

When many people think of disabilities—and even disability insurance—physical disabilities come to mind. While physical injuries and chronic pain conditions surely qualify as disabilities under certain circumstances, they are not the only ones. Mental illnesses may also fall under the provisions of many individual and group disability insurance policies. Statistics provided by the National Alliance […]

A disability insurance policy financially protects the policyholder by making wage replacement payments, usually at the level of two-thirds of earnings, if the person cannot work because of disability. Many disability policies have a pre-existing condition clause, which excludes coverage if the insured has been seen for a medical condition during a determined timeframe called […]

In September, we discussed changes in federal regulations that will revise how employer-sponsored disability plans will handle claims and appeals. These regulations, issued by the United States Department of Labor (DOL), apply to plans that fall under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA). These changes – scheduled to take effect January 1, 2018 – […]