In New York, a Federal District Court has dismissed a class action lawsuit that was filed against Unum Provident by four plaintiffs who sued the insurance company after they claimed that their insurance was abruptly terminated or they had insurance claims denied.

The plaintiffs’ lawsuit alleged that Unum denied or terminated their claims because Unum is more interested in saving money and meeting the expected revenue for the corporation than helping its policyholders. While the court had no problems acknowledging that Unum had behaved in an unreasonable way when deciding on the claims, the case was dismissed anyway. The judge dismissed the case because it was felt that it was pointless to take anymore action against Unum after the Regulatory Settlement Agreement, or RSA.

The RSA Agreement that Unum made with the United States Department of Labor had Unum agree to the following:

  1. Change the way the corporation governed and managed its claims by hiring an independent director to the board in hopes of ensuring that Unum followed proper procedures when handling claims;
  2. Start a new division within the corporation that consisted of who knew how to handle claims as well as to reevaluate any claims that were denied or terminated;
  3. To create new procedures for claims processing and make sure that all employees are fully trained in the proper procedures. They are also to let all claimants know ahead of time what information they would be looking for, as well as working directly with claimants to recover any missing information; and
  4. To pay a fine of $15 million.

While the RSA agreement was a great start to getting Unum and its subsidiaries to take better control of its claims practices, Unum still is fighting lawsuits alleging bad faith practices. If you feel that you have been unfairly denied your disability insurance benefits, or if your disability insurance claim has been abruptly terminated, you may have cause to file a disability insurance lawsuit. Contact Greg Jones today for a free consultation. I am an experienced disability insurance attorney that will fight hard to get you every dime that you may be entitled to.