Don’t Be Late. Timing Is Key Once You’ve Been Denied Long-Term Disability Benefits
My name is Brandon Osterbind. I’m an injury and disability attorney here in Central Virginia and I help people whose long-term disability claims have been denied by their insurance company. Today, I want to talk to you about something that is very important in the life of your long-term disability appeal.
You get 180 days to appeal the denial
The Employee Retirement Income Security Act, called ERISA for short, gives you 180 days to appeal the insurance company’s decision to deny your long-term disability claim.
Let’s say, you file your claim 45 days later. Maybe in another 45 days they ask for an extension. Then the insurance company will send you what we call a denial letter. And then, once you have received the denial letter, you have 180 days within which to appeal your long-term disability denial.
If you miss your deadline…
And if you don’t appeal that long-term disability denial, then your claim is over and done with. There is nothing more that can be done. It’s almost like a statute of limitations. If you don’t file within 180 days, then your claim will always be denied and the insurance company will not be required to pay your monthly benefits.
What you must do immediately
That’s a problem for a lot of people. What I typically tell people is, “Once your claim has been denied and you receive that denial letter, and once you have the denial letter in hand, you need to seek the advice of a trusted attorney who can help you with that claim.”
And once you seek the advice of a trusted attorney, your attorney needs to start working on that claim ASAP. 180 days roughly equates to about six months. And once you get to be over 30, six months fly by in a heartbeat. You’d be shocked how fast that time is going to go by.
Why time is so crucial
If your claim has been denied, timing is key. It usually takes at least 30 days to get the claim file from the insurance company. It usually takes at least 30 days to get updated medical records from your healthcare providers. All of these things are absolutely, 100% necessary to win your appeal.
Also, make sure to leave enough time for the attorney that you hire to represent you well by getting all the information that he or she needs to submit to the insurance company that will change their minds.
I hope this has been helpful. Of course, if you have questions about the timing of your appeal, we are just a phone call or an email away. We’d be happy to talk to you about your denial letter and give you some advice and recommendations on how to win your appeal.
