Have you been involved in a motor vehicle accident or workplace incident that has resulted in an injury that has long-term consequences like paralysis, carpal tunnel syndrome, or a brain injury?
Or, have you perhaps been diagnosed with a life-threatening illness like cancer? Or, you might have even been diagnosed with a mental health disorder like Posttraumatic Stress Syndrome, anxiety, or depression.
The salient point to all of these questions is that there are many physical, emotional, and mental reasons for needing long-term disability benefits. However, the insurance industry can be a challenging realm to navigate your way around, especially if you are not feeling well.
Generally speaking, insurance companies are “for-profit” organizations, and the way the show a profit is to pay out as few claims as possible.
Thus, to make your life easier, it is a good idea to contact a disability insurance legal expert who will advise you on whether your illness or disorder is one of the conditions that qualify for long-term disability benefits.
At the outset of this discussion, it’s vital to note that, as Les Masterson notes in his article titled, “Long-term disability insurance: What you need to know,” “long-term disability isn’t just for people with dangerous jobs.”
Furthermore, he goes on to state that “most long-term disability claims have nothing to do with the job.” And, finally, he highlights the fact that twenty-five percent of all of today’s twenty-year-olds will end up on disability insurance long before they reach retirement age.
What is long-term disability?
Before we look at the intricacies of qualifying for long-term disability insurance benefits, let’s look at its qualifying criteria:
The ssa.gov website offers the following definition of what it means to be permanently disabled. Succinctly stated, you will be considered disabled if you cannot continue working in your current job because of injury or illness. Secondly, you are not able to hold down another position because of the seriousness of the injury or disease. And, thirdly, your disability is expected to last for longer than one year, or the expected outcome is death.
The long-term disability qualifying criteria
There are several qualifying criteria that need to be met before you will be considered for both private and government disability benefits. These criteria include:
Several qualifying criteria need to be met before you will be considered for both private and government disability benefits. These criteria include:
- Were you employed fulltime before you were disabled?
- Is your illness serious that you are no longer able to meet the rigors of your position’s daily requirements? Simply stated, according to ssa.org, “your condition must significantly limit your ability to do basic work” for at least one year.
- Is your condition listed on your disability insurance’s list of disabling conditions? If not, you might need to check if you can submit a motivation to the insurance company with accompanying documents.
Final thoughts
As highlighted above, filing a successful disability insurance claim is not one of the most straightforward tasks to accomplish; therefore, it’s a good idea to ask for help. And the best person to help you in this regard is a highly-skilled, knowledgeable, and experienced attorney.