Fighting a disability insurance claim denial is hard. The system is set up to favor the insurance company, not the injured person. It takes a skilled, knowledgeable, and experienced ERISA lawyer to guide injured workers through the administrative appeal process and a judicial appeal so they can get the disability insurance they are owed.
But a lawyer can only do so much. You need to work with your lawyer to build and protect your case. Mistakes you make along the way can harm your chances in the ERISA appeals process. Make note of these three common mistakes and give yourself the best chance at success.
Facebook is NOT Your Friend
A lot of us spend time every day sharing the minutia of our daily lives with family and friends on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Usually, we don’t spend all of our time complaining about our aches, pains, and disability.
If we went to the grocery store, we don’t say talk about how hard it is to walk from the parking lot. If we took the kids to the beach, we don’t talk about the struggle of getting the kids in and out of the car seat because we can’t lift them.
We put on our best face for family and friends, and that’s what the insurance company investigators find when they go online to look for discrepancies in your story. They want to prove that you aren’t really disabled. Don’t give them evidence to prove their case.
Your credibility could suffer, and when it comes to disability claims, your credibility is everything. Consider NOT USING social media while you are in the appeals process.
Even if you have your privacy settings at Friends Only, or Family Only, there may be a time when a post reaches further than you intend. It’s safest to think of your social media as insecure.
Not Ready for Prime Time: Smile for the Surveillance Camera
Insurance companies have a legal right to conduct surveillance on people they suspect of trying to defraud them of money. It’s uncomfortable, upsetting, and invasive, but they can and will pay someone to follow you, taking pictures and videotaping you while you go about your daily business.
Every injured or ill person knows that they have good days and they have bad days. On good days, you want to do things! You want to go for a walk without the walker. You want to go to a restaurant or shopping. You might lift a bag out of the back seat. It’s exactly these times when you may find yourself being filmed.
Now is not the time to push yourself to do more than you should be doing.
Out of Touch with the Truth
Many of us have a way of speaking that tends toward exaggeration. In our everyday lives we don’t usually suffer too many consequences from “You always” and “I never.” But when it comes to insurance companies, or the court, exaggerating your symptoms or overstating your disability can backfire.
If you “never” leave home without your walker because you are “always” in tremendous pain, what happens when the insurance investigator sees you hanging laundry on the line or leaving a restaurant without a walker?
Think realistically about your abilities and consider that the words “sometimes,” “often,” and “rarely” may be a better descriptor. Yes, it’s a picky detail but it’s these little details that add up to or detract from your credibility. If you’ve been unfairly denied long-term disability, fight that claim denial with the help of ERISA attorneys at The Fell Law Firm in Richardson and McKinney, TX. Call 972-450-1418, or contact us online.
