What is a Reservation of Rights?

When a disability insurance company is fighting a claim, it will often agree to pay benefits – but with a “reservation of rights.” What is a reservation of rights and how can it impact a legitimate disability claim?

When an insurer pays a disability claim under a reservation of rights, it is essentially providing a provisional payment.  Though the insurance company may be sending you a check, it is not admitting that it actually has any liability under the policy.  Instead, it is “reserving the right” to stop paying your disability claim if it can find evidence to deny it later.  Once the company denies your disability claim, they can also demand you to repay them whatever proceeds they have distributed to you.

This practice is good for the insurance company, as it buys it extra time to investigate – and often later deny – a claim without putting it at risk of violating the laws against undue delay in payment.  However, because the insurance company can still investigate the claim and then demand full repayment at any moment, the reservation of rights provides no peace of mind for the policyholder.  Fortunately, a disability insurance attorney can protect you from this uncertainty by properly presenting your claim and thoroughly monitoring the insurance company’s actions to reach a beneficial result.