Appealing a Denial of Disability Benefits from MetLife

If you have disability insurance from MetLife, you may believe that you will be financially protected if you ever suffer from a disability that prevents you from returning to your job either temporarily or permanently. While disability insurance can offer you a financial safety net, MetLife often initially denies disability claims, leaving its insured struggling with what to do. The experienced disability team at Osterhout Berger Disability Law proudly represents people whose disability claims have been denied by MetLife to try to help them with their appeals.

What is MetLife Insurance?

Founded in 1868, MetLife is the holding company for the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company and is publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange. It is one of the biggest worldwide insurers with more than 90 million customers in 60 countries around the world. The company has more than 66,000 employees and offers a broad range of insurance products, including disability insurance.

Disability Insurance from MetLife

MetLife offers group disability insurance policies that are only available through your employer. It offers both short- and long-term disability insurance coverage. One thing to note is that the definition of disability may differ depending on the plan your employer chooses. Some plans consider your inability to perform any work tasks as a disability while other plans consider it a disability when you tasks for any position that is based on your experience, training, and education. It’s important to know which plan your employer chose prior to submitting a claim.

MetLife’s Short-Term Disability

Short-term disability insurance pays weekly benefits to replace a percentage of your income while you are unable to work after a waiting period. The benefits can last from three months up to one year, depending on your policy. You will start receiving your benefits after the elimination period ends. When your employer selected the plan, they also chose the length of the elimination period.

MetLife’s Long-Term Disability

MetLife’s long-term disability insurance coverage offers benefits for extended periods if your disability prevents you from returning to work for a long time. It pays you monthly benefits, which you can use to pay your living expenses. The duration of your benefits will depend on the policy that you have and may offer payments for two or three years or up to age 65. Similar to short-term disability plans, there’s an elimination period that you’ll have to go through before you can start collecting your benefits. According to MetLife, most long-term disability plans will have an elimination period of 90-180 days.

What You Need to Know About MetLife Claims

Most insurance companies are only after their own interests and that often means that they will try to avoid any type of financial loss. As a roundabout way of doing this, insurance companies will delay or deny your claim. MetLife is no exception when it comes to using this tactic. While there are ways to fight and appeal the delay or denial of your claim, you’ll need to ensure that you completed the claim form as accurately as possible.

How Do I Submit a Claim to MetLife?

You can submit disability claim with MetLife either online, over the phone, or you can mail the form. The form will have three sections. The first section will need to be completed and signed by your employer. It will ask for information about you as an employee as well as information about the plan. The second section is to be completed by you. This section will ask you questions about yourself as well as information about the disability. Finally, the third section will need to be completed and signed by the physician who attended you when you sought medical attention for the injury or illness that caused the disability.

What Do I Do if MetLife Delays My Claim?

The best course of action that you can take if MetLife delays your disability claim is to contact a disability lawyer. These lawyers have experience dealing with wrongful delays and know how to get it through the insurance company’s system in a timely manner. However, there is one thing that you can do prior to contacting a lawyer. You can give the insurance company a call to see what is causing the delay.

If your disability claim is denied by MetLife, you have every right to appeal their decision and fight for your benefits. You will receive a denial letter in the mail. The letter will tell you why the company decided to deny your claim and will outline how you can file an appeal.

Appealing a Denial from MetLife

If your claim for disability benefits is denied by MetLife, you will receive a letter in the mail. Your letter will tell you why the company decided to deny your claim and will outline how you can file an appeal. Because ERISA governs employer-provided group disability insurance plans, you are required to exhaust MetLife’s internal appeals process before you will be allowed to file a lawsuit in court. Your letter will tell you how to appeal the denial as well as the deadline for doing so. Don’t miss this deadline. If you do, you will not be able to try to recover benefits for your disability from MetLife in the future.

When you receive your denial letter, contact MetLife and ask that the company provides you with a copy of your claim file. You will want to bring this file in with you to your appointment with the experienced disability lawyers at Osterhout Berger Disability Law. Your file will contain the documents and other evidence that the company gathered in order to make its denial decision. By reviewing the information contained in it, your knowledgeable lawyer will be able to devise a strategy for winning your appeal.

How Osterhout Berger Disability Law Can Help

It is important that you listen to your attorney and follow through with anything that you are asked to do. Your experienced lawyer may want you to complete more tests, submit to more exams or to do other assorted things. Everything that you will be asked to do is meant to help you to build a strong case on appeal. By adding evidence that is favorable to your claim, you may be likelier to win your appeal without ever having to file a lawsuit against MetLife. The disability attorneys at Osterhout Berger Disability Law are experienced in helping clients with their disability denials from MetLife. To learn more about your claim and appeal, contact Osterhout Berger Disability Law today.