ERISA LIFE AND DISABILITY CLAIMS involve a body of law commonly know as ERISA law because of the fact that the Federal statues governing employee benefits apply to these cases. In situations where an employee is provided with a life insurance policy as part of his/her employment, the insurance company may be required to pay the policy limits to the employee if he/she becomes disabled under the terms of the plan.
Cases under ERISA have strict time deadlines that must be followed, or the case can be lost due to not meeting strict time deadlines under the statues. The insurance plans are typically very complicated and confusing, but are necessary to obtain so that the employee knows what steps are necessary to pursue such a case. In addition, there are usually several layers of administrative appeals that must be followed before a lawsuit may be filed for denial of the benefits.
Phil Tatlow of Bollwerk & Associates, L.L.C. has handled many of these ERISA disability and life insurance cases against companies for lump sum payments or monthly payments when his clients becomes disabled. Some employess, including managment employees, are unaware that they have these rights and do not realize that they even have a policy that involves this benefit. It is important to obtain your insurance policies and have an attorney who is knowledgeable in ERISA disability and life insurance claims review the policies if you believe that you are entitled to make a claim due to your disability.