×
Menu
Search

Lincoln

NATIONALLY RECOGNIZED. CHICAGO STRONG. LONG TERM DISABILITY FIRM

Bartolic Law handles Long Term Disability cases at all stages, from filing a claim to lawsuits under ERISA § 502(a). We are who the most discerning clients hire when an insurer denies their claim, and the one they wish they had when another firm loses their appeal and abandons the case. We are Innovative, Authentic, Compassionate, Transparent and Chicago strong. Bartolic Law is nationally renowned for our Innovative work:

Lincoln Financial Denials

In one case we had with Lincoln Financial, Lincoln terminated our client’s long-term disability benefits upon a change in definition to the “any occupation” definition of disability, concluding our client could perform sedentary occupations, or jobs where you sit most of the time. The client suffered from chronic lower back pain and deformed vertebrae, and needed a cane to walk. So according to Lincoln Financial, the client could still work if he just sat. Our client’s doctors explained the client could not sit long enough to work in a sedentary occupation, but Lincoln terminated the benefits anyway. In the termination, Lincoln asked the client to submit any evidence that corroborates the treating doctor’s opinion that the client cannot sit enough to work full-time. We obtained a functional capacity evaluation which proved exactly what our client’s doctor told Lincoln, showing the client could not sit more than 10 minutes at a time. Result: payment to client. Another case we litigated, after another firm abandoned the client, the client suffered from Migraine Associated Vertigo and could not tolerate looking at a computer screen for any meaningful duration of time. Despite a challenge others would not take, we recovered for the client.

Lincoln Financial Life Insurance Company

Lincoln Financial is headquartered in Nebraska, and recently acquired Liberty Mutual’s long term disability business to increase its own market share. Lincoln Financial also previously insured group long term disability plans, but now it is even bigger. Many of our clients who received payments from Liberty Mutual before and only had to provide medical updates every 6 or 12 months are getting increased requests now that Lincoln Financial handles the review. Lincoln Financial is also known to be aggressive in denying and terminating long-term disability benefits because it is one of the only insurers to require you to go through two levels of appeals before you can file a lawsuit. ERISA requires you to exhaust administrative remedies before filing a lawsuit, and the regulations allow insurers to require 2 appeals before you can file a lawsuit. Though some insurers offer a second level of appeal that is voluntary, Lincoln Financial requires it. This means Lincoln gives itself more opportunities to build its case against you, making it even more important to work with Bartolic Law to build the best case you can.

SUCCESSES

Our Areas Of Practice

We Turn Denials Into Payments

How can we help you?

We’d Like to Learn About Your Case and
Determine How We Can Execute Our Strategy for Success©