Handling Your Cigna Long Term Disability Claim

Handling your Cigna long term disability claim can be a challenge. In recent years, horror stories have been rendered about claimants being denied their long term disability benefits by insurance companies.  To avoid such turmoil, it is probably a good idea to handle your CIGNA long term disability claim with the help of a litigation attorney.  That is not to say that you must have the attorney send an upfront letter, however it is a good idea to consult with your attorney every step of the way. 

Filing a Long Term Disability Claim

• As soon as you begin filling out the paperwork, you should make a copy for yourself, and a copy for an attorney. 
• Additionally, you should keep a journal tracking all correspondence between you and the disability claims representative. 
• It is important to know that most of the claims representatives employed by companies like Cigna are not necessarily impartial about their jobs.  They are just claims representatives, and some may lack the professionalism that is needed in order to properly process disability claims.

Verifying Your Disability

While you may have already had your doctor assess your disability, be prepared for Cigna to arrange for their own physician to assess your condition.  You may consider employing a bit of strategy by asking early on during the claims process if you can make an appointment with their physician.  While some people believe that insurance companies pay physicians to sway diagnoses in the favor of the insurance company, if you are examined early while having a lawyer work with you every step of the way, you just might make headway with an insurance company like Cigna. 

You should also keep a written record or journal throughout the process. By keeping a journal, you are keeping a written record of correspondence between you and the insurance company.  By getting the journal notarized, you can make it a legal document that you can use to strengthen your case.

Prior to filing your claim you should also consider purchasing a telephone that records conversations.  This will be helpful, should you ever need to have a detailed account of conversations between you and insurance company claims representatives.  Just as they record conversations for “quality assurance,” so should you.  These tips will help you if your claim is ever denied and you need to present your case before a judge. 

Getting Help

While CIGNA maintains that a claim manager will help you every step of the way, you should also have a lawyer in tow just to make sure that all correspondence are legal as per disability law and ERISA stipulations. By consulting with a lawyer, you will better be able to get advice about disability law and any ERISA clause that may govern your claim.