What an LTD Appeal Lawyer Sees in a Disability Denial Letter
When we review an LTD denial letter, we are not just looking at theinsurer's conclusion. We are trying to understand how the insurer got there.
That sounds obvious, but it is where many appealsgo wrong. Claimants often focus on proving again that they are sick or that their doctors support disability. Meanwhile, the denial may be telling us that the insurer misunderstood the occupation, thought the clinical findings were too thin, believed daily activities were inconsistent with disability, or rejected a treating physician's restrictions because it thought the records did not support them.
Those are very different problems, and they call for very different appeals.
One of the first things we do is break the denial apart. What did the insurer accept? What did it reject? What evidence did it overlook? What does it say is missing? And just as important, if we fix the problem the insurer identified, what is the next argument it is likely to make?
That last question matters more than many claimants realize. A strong LTD appeal should not only answer the denial already issued. It should anticipate the next denial too.




