News & Resources

Oftentimes, insurance policyholders who are already receiving benefits (or who intend to submit an application for benefits) are concerned about how their qualification for such benefits will be influenced by their success in litigation.  This is a reasonable concern, of course — it seems sensible that one’s disability benefits may be affected by their receipt of hundreds of thousands of dollars, or even millions of dollars in damages from the liable defendant in a personal […]

In Florida, and throughout the country, whether you receive disability benefits — and the benefits amount that you are awarded by your insurer — depends largely on the disabling condition at-issue and the provisions of insurance policy.  As policies can vary quite substantially, you and your attorney will have to closely evaluate the language of your insurance agreement in order to determine the benefits to which you’re entitled. Generally speaking, the disability benefits calculation begins […]

In Florida, insurance policyholders are not required to accept the original determination of their insurer — for example, the denial of a submitted disability insurance claim, or an unusually low benefits payout.  Policyholders are entitled to dispute such decisions. Depending on your insurance policy, there may be an internal appeals procedure that you’re required to follow in order to dispute your insurer’s adverse determinations.  Some policies allow for third-party review without having to go through […]

Generally speaking, in Florida and throughout the country, disability insurers will utilize whatever means necessary — whether you have short-term disability insurance coverage or long-term disability insurance coverage — to undervalue a policyholder’s claim, or to otherwise avoid having to payout the claim altogether.  Insurers rely on the fact that many policyholders are unwilling to challenge their decision, even if their decision is not justified by the evidence. If you’ve had a legitimate disability claim […]

In Florida (and throughout the country), disability insurance policyholders must take special care not to post potentially compromising text, photos, and videos to their various social media accounts.  Insurance companies are increasingly making use of evidence that their investigation teams dredge up on social media accounts to undermine policyholder claims and thereby justify a denial. Insurers Have Always Investigated Inconsistencies Disability insurers have a long history of using privacy-invasive tactics in order to investigate potential […]

In Florida, where hurricanes, tropical storms, and other natural disasters are a regular feature of life, property insurance claims frequently involve “loss of use” coverage issues.  Standard property insurance coverage does not necessarily cover all the various losses suffered by a policyholder.  Loss of use coverage — which may be its own separate policy, or simply a provision built into an existing homeowner’s insurance or renter’s insurance policy — helps fill in the gaps, so […]

If you are covered by business interruption insurance, then you may find yourself in a particularly vulnerable situation when some event occurs that interrupts the normal flow of business and thus leads to unexpected losses.  A significant enough interruption to business can cause irreparable damage to one’s brand and reputation.  Depending on the nature and extent of the damage, submitting an insurance claim and successfully obtaining benefits may be fundamental to the continuance of the […]

In Florida, as is the case in other states, recipients of disability benefits — whether through private disability insurance or through a public program like SSDI — must reasonably follow the treatment plans required by their physicians, and must regularly update their insurer as to their condition.  Failure to do so could result in a loss of benefits (through premature termination of benefits), or a reassessment of disability benefits that reduces the amount you receive […]

In some cases, your insurer may deny your claim due to a specific misrepresentation in your insurance application — even if the misrepresentation at issue was not intentional and was merely a mistake borne of a simple misunderstanding. Material Misrepresentation as a Defense Insurers can use a material misrepresentation defense to avoid having to pay out for your legitimate insurance claims.  Oftentimes, an insurer will discover some mistake in your application and will anchor their […]

In Florida, and elsewhere, health insurance policyholders are entitled to appeal adverse determinations by their insurer — such as a denial of coverage — and thereby request that the insurer conduct a full review of their original decision. The appeals process is the first of several steps in challenging the determination made by your health insurer.  After you have exhausted the internal appeals process, you can move forward with an external, third-party review of the […]