A Gulf War Veteran named Dave (not his real name), who was diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, was denied disability benefits from Unum Provident because of the company’s “War Combat Exclusion” clause.

Dave sensed that he shouldn’t waste his time appealing the abrupt denial — and, initially, he didn’t. That is until he was online and saw that another Gulf War veteran with the same disorder was denied as well.

“I had served in the U.S. army for over 20 years as a National Guard reserve officer chaplain. The denomination I served with used Unum as their disability carrier, so the church would pay the premiums year after year as part of our insurance policy, including health and disability policies.”

When Dave’s church found out that he has been diagnosed with PTSD and in counselling for it, he left because they were uncomfortable employing him. He ended up going to another church that was also using Unum as their insurance provider. He was working for that church for two years before they asked him to resign. Not able to keep employment because of his condition, Dave filed a disability insurance claim.

“They looked at my claim and said, yep, we believe you have PTSD but we are going to deny your claim because of the war combat exclusion clause,” he explained. “If the injury is due to combat, Unum doesn’t have to pay. They said I could appeal but it wouldn’t change anything.

Dave goes on to say that the church doesn’t think he is a good pastor because of his PTSD (they just don’t say it in those words).

“Unum has kicked me into the curb,” he says. “Unum apparently uses certain word phrases for laymen rather than attorney phrases so they can interpret them to work to their advantage, and in this case, the wartime exclusion clause was in very fine print.”

Unum has been denying disability insurance claims for years under what many consider “bad faith practices.” If you are a war veteran that has been denied disability insurance benefits from Unum, contact disability insurance attorney Greg jones today for a free consultation. I am experienced at handling disability benefits that have been denied. I will fight hard to help you get the money you deserve.