Social Security disability programs and even insurance provided by your employer could be too low to really protect you from a disabling medical condition or unexpected injury. Those with families to support and who are used to earning an above-average income will often carry private short-term and long-term disability insurance.
They recognize that Social Security programs will not cover all of their expenses or adequately support their loved ones, so they invest in a policy that will help them pay their mortgage and cover other cost-of-living expenses.
You will probably need benefits immediately after you get hurt in a car crash or diagnosed with a medical condition that requires an immediate and indefinite leave of absence from work. How long can the insurance company take to review your claim and issue your first check?
Colorado law does not impose a specific timeline for insurance claims
In some states, there are specific statutes on record giving an insurance company a limited number of days in which to respond to pending claims. Colorado does not have a specific timeline for insurance companies responding to disability claims. You don’t immediately have the right to take action when you wait for weeks for a response or a check.
Still, companies should handle their claims in a timely manner. Waiting several months to respond to a short-term disability claim would likely be an inappropriate delay unless there were real issues with the initial paperwork or medical documentation. Approving someone and then repeatedly failing to issue checks could also be an example of how an insurance company might try to delay taking responsibility. In a situation that clearly falls under the scope of someone’s policy, timely payment is important.
What happens when an insurance company gives you the runaround?
When insurance providers don’t follow prioritize protecting their finances over properly paying claims, policyholders can fight back against those bad faith insurance practices.
For some people, partnering with a lawyer to assist with negotiations may be the only additional effort necessary to resolve a disability insurance claim dispute. Other times, the matter will have to go to court for a judge to weigh in on whether or not the company’s behavior constituted bad faith.
Learning more about the Colorado rules that govern private disability coverage will help you get the benefits and protection that you had the foresight to obtain.
