Dearborn National, a multi-billion dollar insurance company that sells long term disability insurance products, recently hired a law firm to prohibit Disability Insurance Attorneys Dell & Schaefer from displaying the Dearborn National on a webpage that discusses the company. Dearborn National was concerned that consumers may believe “that there is a connection, affiliation, endorsement or

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has the opportunity to sign California Assembly Bill 1868 (“AB 1868″) and put an end to unreasonable discretionary clauses contained in ERISA governed long term disability policies. Discretionary clauses provides authority to the insurer to determine eligibility for benefits or coverage, interpret the terms of the policy, or interpret the terms

Verla Hancock participated in a group benefit plan sponsored by her employer, Intermountain Healthcare. The plan’s claim fiduciary was Metropolitan Life Insurance Co. (MetLife). Under the plan, Verla obtained basic life insurance, supplemental life insurance and accidental death and dismemberment coverage (AD & D).

The plan stipulated that in order to benefit from the AD

Ronnie Hogan sued Provident Life & Accident Insurance Company (Provident) and Unum Group Corp. (Unum) asserting claims under Florida law that the insurance companies had failed to attempt in good faith to settle his claim. Hogan also accused the insurance companies of making misrepresentations that would have made a settlement less favorable for him. He

In 1989, The US Supreme Court declared that if ERISA plans contain language giving plan fiduciaries discretion to interpret the terms of the plans and to make benefit determinations, courts will generally yield to that discretion.
Continue Reading Insurance Industry Loses Lawsuit Challenging the Abolishment of Discretionary Clauses In ERISA Long-Term Disability Policies

To hear company officials tell it Unum is emphatically on the mend, this after the disability insurer was wracked by scandal and losses earlier in the decade.

In 2005, Unum reached a costly settlement with attorneys general in 49 states over allegations of unfairly terminating or denying coverage to disabled clients. That was after a

Unum, the largest long-term disability benefit insurer in the United States and Britain, said net earnings fell 74 percent to $41.8 million, or 13 cents a share, from $160.5 million, or 44 cents a share, in the year-earlier quarter. Chattanooga, Tennessee-based Unum said it had $167.6 million in net realized investment losses, largely the result of writing down impaired investments.
Continue Reading Unum Profit Falls in 4th Quarter Due to $167.6 Million in Investment Losses