Courts Rule That Deadlines for Disability Insurance Company’s Review of ERISA Appeal Cannot Be Extended

We regularly file appeals of disability insurance denials of long term disability claims. Our clients are bound by ERISA regulations which require that all appeals must be filed within 180 days of the insurance company denial. We meet with our clients as early as possible following their receipt of the denial, to strategize what evidence to collect to challenge the wrongful denial of LTD benefits. We always demand a copy of the insurance company’s entire claim file, because we have a right to the record and it often provides great insight as to the thoughts of the insurer as they planned their denial of the claim.

The insurance companies that administer these claims are required to adhere to the ERISA regulations as well, which require them to make their appeal determination within 45 days of their receipt of the appeal, unless they establish “special circumstances” to extend the deadline another 45 days, for a total of 90 days. In our experience, insurance companies regularly ignore these deadlines. They wait until the first 45 days has gone by, and then ask our client to provide medical information or documentation, even to undergo an insurance medical examination. The insurance companies state that since they have to wait for this information, they can toll the deadline to make their decision on appeal until our client adheres to their demands. Aggressive lawyers like us have challenged the insurance company’s right to “toll” the deadline. Of special concern is the insurance company waiting until we file an appeal to require our client to undergo a medical examination with their doctors. We object to our clients having such an exam during the appeal. It is our view that once the denial has been issued, the contractual obligations of our clients stops and is not restored until the denial is overturned. Of note is a recent case, McIntyre v. Reliance Standard Life Ins. Co., 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 88536 (D. Minn. May 28,, 2019) where the court explained that Reliance could toll the deadline until it received medical records it had ordered from the providers which was not within their control, but could not toll the statutory period for the IME since they could have scheduled it earlier. We have recently filed several lawsuits against insurance companies when they have not decided the appeal we filed within the statutory deadline. Our disabled clients are entitled to a full and fair review of their claim on appeal, obviously the insurers are not interested in the financial havoc their denials have on our clients and their families.