Disability Insurance Claims

The insurance company did not believe its own insured when he told them that the drugs he was taking for his cancer treatment caused so much fatigue that he could no longer work as many hours as he used to, or earn as much money. The company argued that the treatment was successful and that his business had decreased for other reasons, such as the faltering economy, and denied his claim in its entirety. A federal lawsuit filed by Rutter & Russin established that the insured's loss of business was due to his health problems, and not any other causes, which lead to payment of the claim.

A young man's professional prospects were cut short by a devastating knee injury. Fortunately, he had had the foresight to purchase an own occupation disability policy. Unfortunately, the insurance company contended that the knee injury occurred before the policy took effect. Rutter & Russin worked with the insured's doctors to establish that the knee problem that pre-existed the policy was insignificant, and that the actual disabling event had occurred after the policy went into effect.

A salesman admitted that his bad back did not prevent him from performing many jobs, just the sales job that he had at the time since it required him to carry and display to customers heavy items. The disability insurer did not buy the story, but it agreed to a confidential settlement once Rutter & Russin became involved and successfully argued that the policy insured the client in his own occupation, not just any occupation.

Shortly after she was hired as a local company's new human resources director, the insured was diagnosed with a severely disabling and progressive condition. She did her best to continue working, but the disease finally rendered her permanently and totally disabled. She turned to her disability carrier for help, but was abruptly shunned based on the company's determination that her condition pre-existed her employment. Rutter & Russin, working with the insured's doctors and her employer's own counsel, convinced the insurer that the treatment the insured had received during the pre-existing condition look-back period was not related to the condition that eventually rendered her disabled, but was an unrelated medical problem. The insurer agreed to pay the full policy benefits.