Disability carriers are in the business of denying claims. You can make innocent but fatal mistakes in your application. The disability carrier will review your application for weaknesses, look for inconsistencies in your examination findings, complaints and symptoms and have your medical records reviewed by their medical team.
They will have a forensic accounting review of your pay. For physicians, lawyers, business owners and other high-income individuals, they review tax records, monthly financial records and even procedure records.
One of the most closely scrutinized forms you’ll complete as part of the application process is the Activities of Daily Living Form.
Activities of Daily Living Form
The application process will include a form that asks what you do during your daily life. What does that have to do with your occupation?
Nothing really!
The form asks open-ended questions about what you do around the house, what yard work you do, how often you drive, your interests or hobbies, even how often you shop. You’ll be asked how long you can sit, stand, walk, bend, and how much you can lift and carry.
The carrier looks for inconsistencies between what you and your doctor say you can do. Carriers can use your answers to try to catch you on surveillance film doing something you said you could not do. They might ask to take your statement to try to catch you in a lie and then spring you with surveillance.
The carrier might take your Activities of Daily Living form (ADLF) and the surveillance to your physician to try to get him to say you can do your own occupation. After all, your physician is relying on your report of your symptoms and how those symptoms impact your activities of daily living. If surveillance shows you doing something you said you couldn’t do, the carrier will reject your physician’s opinions because they are based, in part, on what you told your physician.
Don’t destroy your initial application with an improperly completed ADLF.