Most people know that postal workers will get their job done, “through rain, or sleet, or snow,” but unfortunately sometimes medical injuries or conditions render postal workers unable to perform the duties of their employment. When this happens, postal workers can go on short-term or long-term disability. Often these long-term disability claims are denied, or cut off after a period of time, usually when the insurance company decides someone can go back to work unilaterally, often against the wishes of that person’s treating doctors.
If a postal worker has their long-term disability claim denied, Taylor & Blair LLP can help make the insurance company pay you the benefits you are owed.
Common Postal Worker Injuries & Conditions
Postal workers’ duties can be physically strenuous work. There is often significant carrying, walking and bending required by this job. Postal workers are often required to transverse different residential and commercial properties to deliver mail and packages of many different sizes and the huge variety of properties bring with it many opportunities for injury that can result in a disability. These injuries can occur due to dangers that result in slip and fall accident, dog bites, or other types of occupier liability cases, as well as from the wear and tear on your body that is inherent in the job itself. Some of the more common injuries that postal workers suffer from are:
Whiplash and soft tissue injuries
Along with injury, postal workers are also susceptible to other conditions which can render them disabled from working like cancer, respiratory illnesses, arthritis, and strokes, amongst other medical conditions.
Regardless of what the cause of a postal worker’s disability is, so long as you are medically advised to not return to work, absent any other exclusions found in your long-term disability policy, you should be provided with your long-term disability benefits.
Why Postal Worker Long-Term Disability Claims Get Denied
Postal workers are generally workers who have experience working physically demanding jobs and usually do not have significant academic schooling or training for other types of employment. For most long-term disability policies there are two periods of disability covered. The first is disability from your own occupation. After a time, often 2 years, the definition of disability under a policy usually changes to disability from any job for which you are reasonably suited in light of your education and training that earns an amount approximate to your salary or another specified metric. One reason postal workers often have their long-term disability claims denied is that insurance companies have difficulties finding comparable occupations for postal workers once they’ve been unable to return to their own job and that means that policyholders might qualify under their policy for long-term disability for a long time. Insurance companies are incentivized to get these types of claims off their books.
There are other reasons why insurance companies deny long-term disability claims for postal workers, including lack of medical evidence, policy exclusions, and failure to comply with recommended medical treatment or procedure under the terms of the policy.
If your long-term disability claim is denied or if your long-term disability benefits are cut off, make sure you always have the insurance company put their position down on paper as to why they chose to deny or cut off your benefits. This will help your insurance denial lawyer fight the denial after the fact.
Postal Worker Long-Term Disability Denial Lawyer
If you or someone you know has been denied their legitimate postal worker long-term disability claim, the experienced insurance denial lawyers at Taylor & Blair LLP can help make sure the insurance company pays you what you’re owed.
Many postal workers are part of a union, and it is important to ensure that your union rules allow you to bring a lawsuit to enforce your rights to your long-term disability benefits. The experienced lawyers at Taylor & Blair LLP can review your collective bargaining agreement to help determine this.
To help expedite a review of your claim, please have a copy of your long-term disability denial letter, a copy of your long-term disability policy and, ideally, a copy of your file with the insurance company. Your file materials with the insurance company belong to you and your insurer will provide you with them if you request a copy. If you haven’t already requested a copy of your file materials after your long-term disability was denied, do so today, as your lawyer will need your insurance file to properly pursue your claim for long-term disability benefits.
There are strict timelines in which you have to bring a lawsuit to enforce your rights to long-term disability benefits. Contact the lawyers at Taylor & Blair LLP today for a free consultation.