10 More Legal Mistakes Professionals Make When
Filing a Claim for Disability (Mistake #5)
In an effort to provide professionals with more information about how the disability claims process works and identify some of the most common pitfalls for professionals filing disability claims, attorneys Ed Comitz and Derek Funk have compiled an updated list of the 10 most common mistakes we are seeing physicians, dentists, and other professionals make when they file claims under the new post-2000 generation of disability policies (which are much more complex and stringent than the policies sold to professionals in the 1980s and 1990s).
In this post, we’ll be looking at the common mistake of not realizing that you can modify your occupation prior to filing a claim.
Mistake # 5: Misunderstanding the New Definitions of “Occupation”
Disability insurance policies generally define “occupation” as the occupation the insured was performing at the time he or she became disabled. This can be problematic for insureds who have reduced their work hours (see Mistake #6, below), or for those who have decided to focus on an aspect of their work that they would not consider to be their occupation, such as managing their medical practice rather than practicing medicine. Oftentimes, professionals dealing with a disabling condition will seek out other avenues of income, prior to filing, such as selling real estate, or teaching. While seemingly innocuous, these types of decisions can dramatically impact a professional’s ability to collect under his or her policy, because doing so allows the insurance company to argue that the professional has modified his or her occupation prior to filing and expanded his or her list of material job duties. For example, the insurance companies now often take the position that the professional is a part-time dentist and a part time realtor or professor. Or the company might characterize the professional’s occupation as part-time, rather than full-time, or say that the professional is really a physician and a “business owner” (as opposed to a practicing medical professional).
Action Step: Read your policy carefully and fully understand the definition of occupation before filing a claim. Do not make changes to your job duties prior to filing without first conferring with an experienced disability insurance attorney.
To read the rest of the 10 most common mistakes, click here.
To learn more about some of the tactics insurers use to deny claims and other mistakes to avoid, click here.
