Why Disability Insurance Companies Must Use a Reasonable Process
Whether you are applying for disability benefits through the SSA or a private disability insurance company, your claim is owed a fair process. This means the evaluator of your disability claim must have sufficient reasons for denying or delaying your claim. Not doing so could be considered bad faith insurance practice. Talk to a Wilmington disability lawyer about your options for an appeal if this happened to you.
WHAT IS BAD FAITH INSURANCE?
Identifying bad faith insurance is vital for figuring out whether you have legal grounds to file an appeal or lawsuit. Specific laws around what counts as bad faith insurance vary from state to state. However, there are general rules of thumb for bad faith practices with common examples like:
- Denying your disability claim for no apparent reason
- Delaying your disability claim and making excuses for doing so
- Refusing to answer your questions
- Cutting off communication with you for insufficient reasons
Red flags of bad faith insurance range from making strange excuses to denying your claim despite clear medical evidence. Some disability insurance companies may also stop paying you benefits for no reason other than saving them money. In this case, you could have a strong bad faith claim against them.
In these situations, you might be able to file an appeal or bad faith claim. Consider contacting a Wilmington disability lawyer to see what your legal options are given your situation. A lawyer can help you go through the tedious claims process. Your lawyer can also help you collect the evidence you need to build a strong defense.
HOW YOU CAN FIGHT BAD FAITH INSURANCE
Whether your disability claim was denied by the SSA or a private insurance company, you can file an appeal. You have a few phases you can go through when 
filing a disability claim appeal. The first phase of filing a disability claim appeal is reconsideration.
This may involve submitting additional evidence or missing documents. What will happen is someone who did not evaluate your claim will review your claim. If this fails, you can try filing for a hearing with an administrative law judge. In this case, your new disability claim will be looked at by an administrative law judge.
You will need to attend a hearing with the judge to defend your claim. A lawyer can help you with this process and help you prepare for your defense. In some cases, this can be done through a video call. However, if this fails, your claim will be taken in by an appeals council.
This is where your claim might be denied upfront because the appeals council denies claims they believe do not match social security law. Federal court review is your last option.
DISABILITY LAWYER IN DELAWARE
Finding out your disability claim was denied can be disheartening. Feel free to ask a Delaware disability attorney for help with your appeal. Contact Edelstein Martin & Nelson by dialing (302) 295-5050 for a free consultation today. Our experienced legal team can help you collect the evidence you need to prove bad faith practices and defend your claim.