The Disability insurance company is denying my claim

If your disability insurance company has told you they are denying your claim, they may say the denial letter is in the mail.  You should ask them if they can email the letter to you.  Historically, we have found that when the disability insurance company tells you they are mailing something, it’s about 10-14 days before it lands in your mailbox.  Of course, that’s assuming there are no issues encountered any step along the way between the letter being generated, shipping label created, and being handed over to the post office.  Then, assuming there are no issues with the delivery of the mail by the post office.  Email bypasses many of these steps and puts the letter in your inbox almost immediately, which saves time and also allows you easy access to go back and pull it up whenever you wish.  It also usually makes things easier when it comes to sending your denial letter to an attorney for review.

The process can be accelerated a bit

Needless to say, email travels much faster than snail mail, so having the letter emailed to you can save you those 10-14 days of waiting.  Surprisingly, we’ve also encountered situations where the letter wasn’t necessarily a denial letter, but information the insurance company was requesting to make their decision.  The insurance company was providing a limited period of time to provide the information, and by the time the letter requesting the information was received, there were 4 days left to submit the requested information.  In situations like that, an extension is warranted, but had the letter simply been emailed or faxed, it wouldn’t have created unnecessary steps.  If you receive a letter in the mail from the insurance company that has a deadline that is approaching as soon as you receive it, call the insurance company to see if they will grant an extension on the time you have to respond.

Electronic copies are easier to work with

Electronic copies of a letter are often easier to work with.  There is no risk of the letter bending or fading, and so long as you don’t suffer a loss or corruption of the file, you have it saved to come back to when you need it.  It also makes forwarding the letter much easier since you can just email it as an attachment instead of mailing a copy or faxing or scanning a letter.

The letter is in the mail

If you are being told your disability insurance claim is being denied, always ask the claim manager to email you a copy of the denial letter.  If you are refused, ask for a supervisor and repeat your request.  Remember to stay calm and polite with the supervisor, even though you may be frustrated after being told no by the claim manager.  Having your denial letter emailed to you will make getting your denial letter much faster and easier than waiting on the mailed copy.

In an ERISA disability insurance claim, you usually have 180 days to submit an appeal for a denial.  Getting your denial letter quickly and reaching out to a disability insurance attorney early on will help by giving your attorney more time to work on your appeal.