The Long Term Disability Application Process

You purchased a short and/or long term disability policy to protect your income and your family lifestyle in the unlikely event that you became disabled. Now the unthinkable has happened. Your doctor has told you that you should stop working, or you know that you just can’t keep working. It’s time to file your disability application. These pages will answer the following questions:

You may have purchased your disability policy through your employer, which is generally governed by the Employee Retirement Security Income Act (ERISA), or you may have purchased your policy on your own, which is known as an individual or private (ID) disability policy. There are significant differences between these policies that you must understand before you file a claim.

There is no uniform disability policy. So before you stop working or apply for benefits, get a copy of your disability policy and read it cover to cover. There are many traps you must understand before you stop working. Picking the wrong date to stop working, not understanding the limitations of your coverage or how other monies you might collect, like Social Security, workers’ compensation benefits or personal injury settlements, can reduce your disability benefits.

Many disability policies have limited pay periods as short as two years for mental nervous conditions, subjective conditions like migraines, or certain diagnoses like fibromyalgia. It is crucial that you understand any limits on your coverage before you apply.

If you are no longer able to work or your physician has told you to stop working, it is time to apply for benefits. But picking the wrong date to stop working can destroy your claim. Learn why you must pick the right date before you stop working.

The disability claims process is all about paperwork, which is purposely designed to allow the disability carrier to delay or even deny your claim. Learn the keys to filing a winning application for appeal.

Disability carriers are in the business of denying claims. You can make innocent but fatal mistakes in your application that can destroy your claim. Learn what those mistakes are and how to avoid making them.

Learn how disability carriers evaluate and decide a disability claim and the “we need more information” game many of them play to delay paying your benefits.