Mutual of Omaha disability claims that are denied or disability claims that have been terminated require representation from experienced and knowledgeable disability insurance attorneys. The Law Office of Justin Frankel has represented many Mutual of Omaha disability policyholders for both long- and short-term disability claims.
Mutual of Omaha sells its group disability insurance policies through employers, who offer these disability policies as part of employee benefits packages. These policies are governed by ERISA, which has strict rules about combating a denied or terminated claim. Disability insurance denials must go through an administrative appeals process that is limited in scope and can be challenging.
Mutual of Omaha also sells disability insurance policies to individuals, which are known as private policies. For these kinds of policies, claims denials, delays, or terminations can be conducted through more traditional court proceedings.
Website reviews of disability insurance companies are tricky to navigate. How can one company have so many poor reviews? We found one website where every single person who posted a negative review received a response that asked for contact information so that someone could be in touch with them, but we suspect the company may have an auto response in place. Whenever so many people are facing a problem with a disability insurance company, it’s easy to tell what’s going wrong with their claims.
They are being strung along, then denied.
Mutual of Omaha was originally founded in 1909 in Omaha, Nebraska as Mutual Benefit Health and Accident Association. Mutual of Omaha has many different subsidiary companies, including two insurance companies: United of Omaha Life Insurance Company and United World Life Insurance Company. Mutual of Omaha also owns Mutual of Omaha Investor Services, Inc., Continuum Worldwide, Mutual of Omaha Bank and East Campus Realty, LLC.
Baby Boomers may recall the name Mutual of Omaha from the early 1960s, when Mutual of Omaha was the name sponsor of the television show “Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom.” The show was a staple with families, who watched host Marlin Perkins weekly on the nature documentary. He was known for introducing commercials for the insurance company with a segue that tied together the show’s subject matter to the protection offered by the insurance company.
Unfortunately, the reality for many Mutual of Omaha/United of Omaha disability insurance claimants is not so amusing. The number of people who report that they were given extraordinarily poor treatment by this company and their representatives should be of great concern to anyone who is considering filing a short- or long-term claim with Mutual of Omaha for a disability claim. Bear in mind that this stonewalling can begin when you first apply for short-term disability benefits.
When the same company that manages short-term disability is also in charge of long-term disability benefits, they begin the process of stalling a claim as early as possible. These tactics have caused many people severe financial hardship. It is difficult for our team of dedicated paralegals and attorneys, who do everything we can to help clients, to understand how a large insurance company with endless resources at its disposal cannot manage to process claims properly and with some degree of compassion. The complete disregard of the company for the people who depend upon it for support during the worst time of their lives should be criminal. It is not.
The best you can do when you are considering a battle with this large insurance company is to retain experienced attorneys who will fight back on your behalf. There’s simply too much at risk for any disability insurance claimant.
When you work with the Law Office of Justin Frankel, you work with a partner. We think our client’s cases are too important to work with a series of associates or attorneys with less than ten years of experience with disability insurance companies and the complex laws concerning their short- or long-term disability policies. Throughout our years of experience, we have worked with people from all walks of life, including many successful professionals, people who devoted their careers to selling insurance policies, and even attorneys who work in complex areas of the law.
We know from experience that no one is prepared for the brick wall that comes crashing down, when their disability insurance policy is at the mercy of claims personnel. It doesn’t matter how smart they are, how many people they have had under their supervision, or even how many years they practiced law.
We have reported on several federal cases involving Mutual of Omaha in our blog.
In one, the court rejected an attempt by United of Omaha (the same insurance company as Mutual of Omaha) to exclude a claim on the basis of pre-existing coverage. The court noted that the policy language does not allow for a denial for pre-existing conditions. In March 2012, we reported on a federal court case where the court ruled against Mutual of Omaha when it denied a long-term disability insurance claim based on a nurse review and an in-house doctor to deny a claimant who suffered from a number of co-morbid medical conditions. The court blasted Mutual of Omaha for its poor analysis of medical evidence and failure to consider that the side effects of medications had an impact on the claimant’s ability to work.
If your disability claim has been denied by Mutual of Omaha, we encourage you to schedule a free consultation with us to go over the details of your case. We are familiar with the tactics used by Mutual of Omaha to deny claims and will use our experience on your behalf. In addition to our own cases, we pay close attention to recent cases against Mutual of Omaha in order to create successful strategies. One recent example can be seen in Smith v. United of Omaha, in which the insurance company attempted to apply a pre-existing limitation clause to prevent payment of her long-term disability benefits.
If you need help with a Mutual of Omaha or a United of Omaha disability claim, call our office today, toll free, at 888-583-4959 to learn how we can help.
"*" indicates required fields
Marketing and Design by Array Digital
© 2024 Law Office of Justin C. Frankel, PC