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Navigating the process of filing for long term disability benefits with an insurance carrier like Reliance Standard can be a challenge, even for the most well-organized claimant. Insurance carriers often seem to speak their own language, which can make claim denials seem unfair and arbitrary. At Disability Insurance Attorneys Dell & Schaefer, we’ve handled literally hundreds of claims against Reliance Standard and know exactly what they’re asking (and not asking) in their disability claim forms. Read on for some tips to make handling your Reliance Standard disability claim a little easier.
Continue Reading What Claimants Should Know About Applying for Reliance Standard Disability Benefits

Over the years, our disability insurance attorneys have reviewed thousands of disability insurance denial-of-coverage letters from Reliance Standard. Simply put, Reliance Standard makes it difficult for their policy holders to receive their disability insurance benefits. But disability claimants have the right to appeal a denial of coverage, and it’s possible to win these claims. Learn more about the litigation process and your options after a claim denial.

What to Know About the Reliance Disability Insurance Lawsuit Process

A group disability policy provided by your employer (like many Reliance Standard policies) is governed by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA). ERISA requires insurance companies to offer certain types of policies, expanding the options available to employees; however, this comes at the cost of certain litigation rights.
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Continue Reading Attorney Tips: Reliance Standard Disability Lawsuit and Claim Denial Options

After handling hundreds of claims against Reliance Standard for long-term disability denials, the attorneys at Dell & Schaefer law firm give some tips and insights for those who need to file an appeal. Disability insurance lawyer Greg Dell and fellow attorney Alex Palamara explain that the large majority of LTD cases with Reliance Standard insurance company are ERISA appeals because the company writes group disability policies as part of employee benefits. Understanding how these policies work is crucial when it comes to appealing a disability insurance claim denial.
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Continue Reading How Can I File a Reliance Standard Disability Appeal After a Denial?

Juanita Nichols worked as a Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) Coordinator at Peco Foods, Inc, a chicken processing plant in Sebastopol, Mississippi. As part of her job, she was regularly exposed to cold temperatures as chicken processing plants are required by federal law to operate much of their facilities under a certain temperature for food safety reasons.

In late 2015 and early 2016, Nichols was diagnosed with Raynaud’s phenomenon, a circulatory disorder. The condition meant that Nichols could develop gangrene if she continued to work in colder temperatures. On January 28, 2016, Nichols stopped working due to her limitations with working in the cold.…

Continue Reading Court Discusses Employer-Specific Positions Reliance LTD Decision

In this video, Attorneys Gregory Dell & Rachel Alters discuss a recent court ruling in which Reliance Standard failed to reasonably evaluate the cognitive aspects of the plaintiff’s requirements to do her job as an attorney. Unfortunately for the policy holder, the court remanded the claim back to Reliance Standard for further evaluation of benefits.
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Continue Reading Reliance Standard Denial of Disability Benefits for an Attorney Reversed by Kansas Judge

In Okuno v. Reliance Standard Life Insurance Company, the plaintiff was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease, Sjogren’s syndrome and possibly narcolepsy. Her claim for long-term disability was denied when Reliance determined she could perform the duties of her own occupation. She exhausted her administrative remedies and filed this lawsuit under the provisions of ERISA. In court, she claimed Reliance erred in determining she was not disabled from her own occupation instead of analyzing whether she was disabled from any occupation. The district court disagreed with the plaintiff holding that when Reliance determined she could perform her own occupation it “of course recognized that she could perform a job fitting within the plan definition of ‘any occupation.’”…
Continue Reading If Claimant Can Work in Own Occupation She Can Work in Any Occupation

When reviewing a claim for disability benefits a plan administrator is not required to do an in-person exam of the claimant. However, in certain circumstances courts have found that an administrator’s failure to do so is arbitrary and capricious.
Continue Reading Reliance Standard abused its discretion when failing to conduct in-person exam for psychiatric disability

Although this recently decided case was not handled by Attorneys Dell & Schaefer Chartered, it can be used an educational tool for those currently on claim or those thinking of making a claim for disability benefits.

The Factual Background

Sylvia R. suffered from Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. Being employed by GAF Materials Corporation she was apparently covered by a Long Term Disability (LTD) Insurance Policy that would provide her with an income should be unable to perform the duties of her occupation. This Policy was with the Reliance Standard Life Insurance Company.
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Continue Reading Court Upholds Reliance Standard’s Decision to Deny Continued Long Term Disability Benefits to former GAF Materials Corporation Employee

Disability Blog & Cases:
Are Independent Medical Evaluation (IME) Providers Really “Independent”?

After being twice denied continued disability benefits, an Addiction Medicine Physician, with the help of his California Disability Attorney, was forced to file a lawsuit against Hartford.

Disability Blog & Cases:
North Carolina Court Determines That Sedgwick Abused Their Discretion And Wrongfully Denied …