Unum Plays Semantic Games in Denying Benefits for a “Heart Attack”
We have previously blogged that even Unum’s U.K. CEO agrees that Unum’s policies contain confusing language. Recently, Unum took advantage of its unclear disability policy language — in this case, a policy containing the layman’s term “heart attack” — to deny benefits to the widower of a policyholder who had died, in medical terms, of “atheroscopic coronary artery disease.”
Annette Frie’s disability insurance policy from Unum stated that a $30,000.00 benefit would be paid to her spouse if she were to die from a “heart attack.” However, because “heart attack” is not a medical term likely to be used on a death certificate, her husband Jim Frie suspects Unum deliberately used that term on its policy in order to deny claims by splitting semantic hairs.
When Mr. Frie submitted his claim, Unum sent him a letter offering its condolences but denying the claim on the basis that it “didn’t meet the definition of the specified illness covered by the policy.” The medical examiner who had signed Mrs. Frie’s death certificate then sent two letters to Unum explaining that Mrs. Frie’s coronary artery disease had caused the heart attack. In response, Unum denied the claim two more times.
The Minnesota State Commerce Department subsequently opened an investigation, but when Mr. Frie became impatient with the pace of the state’s investigation, he contacted FOX-9 investigators. Within 24 hours of being contacted by the news station about their investigation to expose this “fist-pounding outrage,” Unum called Mr. Frie with the news that the decision had been made to pay the claim.
Even commonly-used words and phrases can take on unexpected meanings within the context of a disability insurance policy, so it is important to consult an experienced disability insurance attorney to interpret the policy language when filing a claim.
