The best time to hire an attorney is prior to filing your long term disability application. The attorney can review your individual policy or the company's Summary Plan Description (SPD) to determine how the insurance company defines "disability" and other important provisions.

For example, does the insurance company require you to be disabled from your "own occupation"? Does the insurance company have two different definitions of "disability" - an easier one for the first two years, and a more difficult one after two years? Is there a "mental health" or "substance abuse" limitation of benefits provision? What is your "correct" job description? What is the "elimination period?" Do you continue on the employer's health insurance plan while you are on LTD? Do you continue to accrue years of service toward your pension while on LTD? What information are you legally required to give the insurance company and what information may you withhold? Will your treating doctors support your claim?

All these questions should be explored with our attorneys before you file your claim. This way, we can determine what evidence needs to be produced to win your long term disability claim. Although long term disability claim forms seem deceptively simple, they are in fact land mines designed to obtain information that the insurance company will later use to deny your claim.