Unum is one of the largest disability insurers in the world. It owns such subsidiaries as Provident Life and Accident Insurance Company and The Paul Revere Life Insurance Company. The company is one of the fastest-growing companies in the last few decades, reporting $13.2 billion in revenue while only paying out $7.6 billion in benefits in 2020. Unfortunately, critics complain that the company also employs unfair and overly aggressive tactics to avoid paying benefits to injured individuals it is supposed to cover.
Common complaints against Unum
There have been many lawsuits and class actions against Unum. While Unum is not alone in it’s behavior, common complaints against the company include:
- It selectively picks out facts on a claim, focusing on certain parts of an individual’s medical file and ignoring others that justify the denial or termination.
- It relies heavily on in-house medical reviewers of paperwork rather than doctors who conduct in-person examinations. They overrule the opinions of the medical doctors treating the injured.
- It uses a lack of objective evidence of disability to deny or terminate claims even when policies do not require such proof.
- It pressures adjusters to meet quotas for denying or terminating claims.
- It employs delay tactics to wear claimants down until they simply give up.
The company has subsequently been penalized for its actions. This involved millions in regulatory fines in several states. Moreover, California regulators undertook their own investigation some years back, and Unum’s California settlement agreement applied an additional $8 million fine and changes to policy provisions and claims handling procedures. Even though Unum lost trials, has been penalized and promised to embrace fairer practices, many find that the company still engages in the same behavior.
Everyone needs help
Unum and other large disability insurance companies have an endless supply of resources, yet they still lose cases from time to time. Long-term disability claimants willing to hold the company accountable often rely on the help of law firms to get a positive result.