Arizona dad gets $6.5 mill in bad faith disability insurance suit

If you suffer an injury that impacts your cognitive abilities and psychological wellbeing, it can knock you down in a big way. It can completely debilitate you, leaving you unable to work or function as normal. In such scenarios, you depend on your disability insurance to have your back.

Such was the case for the 40-something father of two when a traumatic brain injury caused him to suffer from a serious form of depression resulting in anxiety, suicidal thoughts and multiple rounds of hospitalization. He filed a claim with his disability insurance company, which proceeded to give out monthly payments to their client.

However, a year later, those benefits abruptly stopped. The claimant received notification from the insurance provider that, after extensively reviewing his medical records, they reached the conclusion that he had no applicable impairments and were therefore terminating his disability benefits.

The news crushed the plaintiff and his family financially as well as emotionally. The family discovered after the fact that, in actuality, the insurance company had not collected any of the claimant’s medical records over the previous nine months. The plaintiff sued his insurance company earlier this year.

The jury determined that the insurance company had deliberately ignored evidence of disability and conducted itself with an “evil mind” by prioritizing their own financial self interest over the devastation of such actions on the plaintiff and his family. They awarded the plaintiff $6.5 million in damages, of which $5 million was punitive.

If faced with a bad faith termination of disability insurance claim, it’s important to know your rights. Talking to an experienced lawyer can help you understand your options.