Christopher A. Wieber Law Blog

An Oregon federal district court recently held that the alleged bad faith of Life Insurance Company of North America (LINA), a CIGNA subsidiary, may preclude the insurance carrier from recovering a purported overpayment of long term disability benefits.  In an ironic twist, the court’s holding, Ayers v. LINA, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 55814 (D. Ore. April 19, 2012), relied on an equitable legal principle – the “doctrine of unclean hands”... Read More

Claimants who have been awarded long term disability benefits under their employers' group disability insurance plans are frequently surprised by the "Other Income" / "Deductible Sources of Income" offset provisions typically contained in these plans.  The effect of these provisions is to reduce the long term disability benefit by benefits and income received from other sources.  Other or Deductible Income is often defined quite broadly to include... Read More

The claimant in this case was Dr. Michael DiBari, a dentist who privately purchased a disability income insurance policy and an... Read More

The petitioner, Donna Gentile, was employed by the Orange... Read More

A recent decision by the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals should help to level the playing field between employee-claimants and the insurance companies that insure and administer their employer-sponsored benefit plans.  In American Council of Life Insurers v. Ross, the Court upheld Michigan regulations which bar insurance companies from issuing,... Read More