PROVEN LAWSUIT RESULTS

Personnel Officer for the State - Le Center, MN

Anxiety, Depression, Panic Attacks, Bipolar 1 Disorder, ADHD

“A woman who worked for many years as a personnel officer for the state was unable to continue to work due to a number of serious and debilitating mental health conditions including anxiety, depression, panic attacks, bipolar 1 disorder, and ADHD. The insurance company accepted her claim and paid her long term disability benefits for two years under the own occupation definition of disability.

After two years, the insurance company continued to pay benefits under the any occupation definition of disability. Despite the woman’s continuing impairments and limitations, the insurance company discontinued her benefits based on an Independent Review Report prepared by a doctor who reviewed the woman’s medical records.

Confused and distraught about the insurance company’s action, the woman called Fields Disability for help. Our team immediately began working on an appeal to fight the insurance company’s discontinuation of benefits. We argued they had ignored important parts of our client’s records, which showed that her condition had not improved and that she continued to suffer from limitations that make her disabled from any occupation. The appeal was a success, and the insurance company reinstated our client’s long-term disability benefits. Our client was put at ease, knowing that she would have financial security despite her disabling mental health conditions.”

Customer Service Agent - Mesa, AZ

HIV - Immunity Virus, Chronic Low Back Pain, Coronary Artery Disease

“A customer service agent suffering from an immunity virus, chronic low back pain, and coronary artery disease was abruptly cut off from his disability benefits based on the insurance company’s selective and partial review of his medical and vocational records. In support of the discontinuation, the insurance company stated that the claimant should be capable of frequent and continuous sitting and frequent standing and walking. The insurer relied on the opinion of a Vocational Rehabilitation Specialist who reviewed the worker’s file and stated that he was able to perform sedentary work.

The disabled worker called Fields Disability because he knew that his insurance company had made a mistake. Our team prepared a winning appeal for our client that exposed the inadequacy of the insurance company’s review.

In preparing the appeal, we gathered reports from our client’s treating doctors and highlighted parts of his medical records to show that he remained entirely disabled from not just his own, but any occupation. We forced the insurance company to admit its mistake, reinstate our client’s long term disability benefits and award him back pay for lost benefits.”

Black Jack Dealer - Michigan, ND

Right Frozen Shoulder

“A woman was forced to end her career as a Black Jack dealer after a series of shoulder injuries resulted in frozen shoulder. She received benefits from her long-term disability insurer for more than three years before the insurance company sent her to a doctor to be evaluated. That doctor provided an opinion to the insurance company, which stated that the woman should be able to return to work. Thus, the insurance company stopped paying he benefits. She attempted to appeal the insurance company’s decision on her own, but the insurance company refused to reinstate her benefits.

The woman turned to Fields Disability for help. We had the opportunity to file a second appeal. We used that opportunity to build up the evidence in her file. We included updated medical records and disability opinions from her doctors. Although the insurance company did not overturn their decision based on that appeal, Fields Disability was able to proceed forward with a lawsuit against the insurer because we were confident with the evidence in the file. In the end, the insurance company was willing to pay our client a substantial amount of money to settle the claim, rather than submitting the issues to a judge.”

Mixer Driver for a Concrete Company - Louisburg, NC

Chronic Back Pain, Bilateral Knee Pain

“Our client worked as a mixer driver for a concrete company. Our client became disabled from doing this job due to chronic back and bilateral knee pain. His diabetes, hypertension, and sleep apnea also contributed to his disability. The insurance company initially paid our client long term disability benefits. However, the insurance company abruptly discontinued his benefits based on an Employability Assessment it conducted, which stated that our client was capable of performing gainful employment based on his lack of restrictions and limitations, as well as his education, transferable skills, work history and residual capacity.

The disabled worker, confused and distraught about the insurance company’s actions, came to Fields Disability. Our team was able to spot critical errors made by the insurance company when it discontinued our client’s benefits. In preparing the Employability Assessment, the insurance company had based the analysis of his workability on a misleading report from a doctor. This doctor had released our client to work with no restrictions, but he only based his decision on the resolution of a temporary shoulder injury our client suffered from. The doctor did not consider our client’s disabling conditions, for which he was approved for benefits in the first place. The Fields Disability attorneys prepared a strong appeal exposing the insurance company’s mistakes, leaving the insurance company having no choice but to reverse its decision and reinstate our client’s long term disability benefits.”

Bookseller/Author - Mokelumne Hill, CA

Autoimmune Disease

“A self-publishing author and employee of a California bookstore was only a few years away from retirement when she applied for and was granted long-term disability benefits from her private insurer. Then, in a two week time period, her husband died, she was evacuated from her home during a forest fire, and she developed complications with her auto-immune disease.

Completely distraught and grieving the loss of her partner, she was shocked when the insurer began harassing her with phone calls and threatening to discontinue her benefits. After reducing her payments by almost 70%, the insurance company abruptly cut off her benefit payments, claiming that the woman had failed to provide minor earnings information about several books she had written.

She felt like she couldn’t take the stress anymore, and just wanted to give up. Fortunately, she found Fields Disability while searching the internet, and gave us a call. She spoke with an attorney right away, and was relieved when we promised to fight the abusive insurer.

First and foremost, our attorneys put an immediate stop to the insurance company’s harassment, and provided the income information they claimed to be missing. We then demanded reinstatement of our client’s benefits, arguing that her income from the book sales was not covered under the disability policy and therefore could not be defined as active employment.

The insurer soon replied with a letter reinstating our client’s long-term disability benefits with back pay. However, our client wanted to get a lump sum settlement of her benefits, so she wouldn’t have to worry about being cut off again in the future.

The Fields Disability team worked diligently and quickly secured a full settlement of our client’s benefits claim. She soon received a large check in the mail, three times what she thought she would get! She was able to cash it knowing she would be financially secure and protected from any further harassment.”