My Long Term Disability Insurance called to question me after 22 years of benefits
I acquired a disability decades ago. My back decided to
break down and herniate to the tune of 11 disc protrusions with spinal nerve
and cord compression. I had a professional career and worked until I couldn’t.
As many of us I made a lot of mistakes in my younger days
but one mistake I didn’t make was I listened to my financial advisor and
purchased Long Term Disability Insurance and paid for it out of my personal
income not my corporation. My Disability Insurance carrier was fantastic. They
reviewed all of the documentation and after the waiting period I received my
first of many checks from them. My policy was until age 65. Every month for the
next 22 years I received a check from them without question. Having Long Term
Disability Insurance was truly a Blessing as I could not work given my
condition. The closer I got to 65 the less I worried about having any issues
with them.
I woke up one morning at 59 years old and it was an
ordinary day until I went to get the mail. In my mail box that day was a letter
from my Long Term Disability Insurance telling me that they wanted to send an
investigator to my home to interview me. “Please contact us” they said so we can
schedule the appointment. The letter also cited language from my policy
indicating that they had the right to do this and that if I refused it could
jeopardize my benefits.
I don’t know if any of you have experienced a situation
like this. My first reaction was to break into a sweat and my heart started
beating really fast. I was fear stricken. Can they actually stop my benefits
after all this time? What will I do? I need that money to live on. Like many
people receiving long term disability benefits I read all the stories of this
happening. I remembered how sad I felt for those people and how happy I was
that my Disability Insurance has never bothered me. They were a great company.
After a period where my mind raced thinking of the worst,
I went to my computer and Googled everything I could on situations like this.
There is a ton of information about this on the web. My suspicions were
confirmed. In situations like this, the Disability Insurance was looking for a
way to stop your benefits. The pervasive opinions of people who went through
this said to never let any investigator into your house. It will never work in
your favor.
After my initial response, my logical mind stepped in.
You have been on Long Term Disability for over 20 years now. You haven’t worked
during that time. Does the insurance company believe that you are getting
better as you get older? I mean they paid me for 22 years. They are committed
to only 6 more years of payments. What are they thinking?
I contacted a close friend of mine who is an attorney. He
confirmed that in his experience for whatever the reason they are looking for a
way to stop my benefits. He told me to contact the adjuster and tell her that I
am happy to meet with the investigator but I will do so in my attorney’s office
not my home.
I followed my friend’s advice. I called the adjustor. She
agreed to set up the appointment at my attorney’s office. “Great” I said to
myself. This is big. I thought to myself, why are they doing this? They have
questions about me and where I am in life and contrary to my friend’s advice,
before I hung up I said to the adjustor what are you looking for? You obviously
have questions for me. You obviously are looking for a way to stop my benefits.
I have nothing to hide. Ask my any question you want and I will be 100%
truthful with you. I at the end of our conversation you still want to send an
inspector, you can send him/her to my home. I don’t have anything to hide. She
agreed and we set up a 1 hour phone appointment for the next day.
I prepared all night for this phone call. I read my
Disability Insurance policy cover to cover again. I read as much as I could
about the law. You get me drift.
The next day the phone range, it was her. The phone call
started out adversarial. Her tone with strong, firm and combative and her voice
was monotone. We went over the policy as she quoted specifics and she then
started the questions. I assured her
that I would answer all of her questions truthfully. We started.
“Do you do any house chores”? “Can you lift anything”?
“Can you walk”? “What is your level of pain on a scale of 1-10”? These
questions seemed ridiculous to me. I’m thinking common! Haven’t we been through
all of this? I then said to her can we please get to the pointed question. What
exactly do you want to know? She then said “can you do anything”? “Do you just
meander around the house all day?
At that, I just told her about my life and what I can and
cannot do? Contrary to advice, I told her more than just a one word answer. I
started by asking her a question trying to appeal to her logical mind. “I
acquired my mobility disability pertaining to spinal degeneration some 22 years
ago and I am now 59 years old, do you think my spine is more or less
degenerated now than it was then”? She responded I would think it is more. Of
course I agreed. I then said if you are currently or you are contemplating
putting me under surveillance, this is what you will find. You will find me
doing some grocery shopping. I go for small lists of things so they aren’t too
heavy. You will also see me going for a
walk. You see, I have learned over the years to live with my disability not die
because of it. I do my best to embrace the life that I have. “So go ahead”, I
told her, send the cameras. That is what you will find.
By now her attitude towards me changed. She seemed to understand better who I am and I was simply trying to live as best I could with my disability. I told the truth to every question she asked. She said thank you and we hung up. Two weeks later I received a letter from My Long Term Disability Insurance with an offer to buy out the next 6 years of my policy in a lump sum or simply keep receiving the benefits until 65. The moral of this story is the truth will always set you free!