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The Insurance Company's Fight Against Itself

Posted on Jul 23, 2009

In Barteau v. Prudential a college professor suffered from near blindness, debilitating pain, and decreased cognitive ability. Prudential approved benefits and even helped Barteau with his Social Security Disability benefits appeal. After all this, they decided to terminate his claim.

There is an inherent contradiction in all this. The insurance company decides to grant or deny benefits. If they grant it they often require the claimant to file for Social Security, which offsets the insurance benefits, making it cheaper for the company. So the company goes through all this trouble to show the Social Security people that their insured is disabled. Of course we all know the other side of the story where the insurance company is doing everything they can to show to the courts that the insured is not disabled.

The Barteau case is a prime example of this being taken to extremes. Fortunately, the judgment went in favor of Barteau based on the record. Unfortunately, this two-faced approach from the insurance companies often goes unchecked and unimpeded. Read the entire opinion on Prudential and their two-faced approach to claim review here .

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Ben Glass is a Fairfax, Virginia attorney who specilizes in Long-Term Disability insurance claims dealing the ERISA.

Disability Insurance Claim Attorney | Disability Insurance Claim Lawyer