If you’ve been injured and have disability insurance, you can file for a disability claim to get some benefits that you can use towards the medical treatment and daily living expenses.
However, insurers like to make this process difficult and time-consuming whereby the insured eventually gets a lowball settlement or no money at all.
Get Assistance When Filing a Disability Claim
If you’ve been in an accident and can not work due to your injury, contact Ehline Law today and our attorneys will help protect your rights and fight to get you the compensation you deserve.
Types of Disability Benefits You Can Claim
Disability insurance has different types of coverages and the type of claims you can make depends on the insurance policy you have purchased. Usually, there are two types of coverages, short-term and long-term, and in many cases, people have both of this coverage.
Facing disability can result in lost wages and short-term coverage looks at covering the loss in income for no more than a year. On the other hand, long-term disability coverage replaces the income from a period of one year until retirement depending on the severity of the injury. You can not get short-term coverage if you have long-term disability coverage and vice versa.
Having both coverages is a great way of securing yourself and you can draw on the benefits of both the coverages when facing a disability. For example, if you have a brain injury and cannot work, you can claim income for the one year where the long-term coverage does not apply, and then after a year, you can get approval for the long-term coverage too.
File Claims with State Disability Insurance Online Application
In California, the Employment Development Department offers state disability insurance to workers under an organization with deductions from their paycheck. The state disability insurance, or SDI, provides partial wage replacement to all those workers who are unable to continue their work due to a disability.
If you’re under this program, you can easily file a claim online. To apply online, simply head to their website and create an online account. You would then need to follow the steps below.
Collect Information like Social Security, Id Card, and More
The online form will require the following information, hence you should collect this before registering for an online account.
- Social Security number
- Identification card
- Current employer details
- Last date you went to work
The form will require you to disclose more information about your wages if you have gotten them or are expecting to receive them soon.
File Claim Online
Once you’ve collected all the necessary information, head over to SDI online and log into the account you just created. You would see an option labeled “New Claim.” Click on that and then click on disability insurance and simply follow the instructions on the screen.
You will have to complete the form with details, and once you’re done, you need to submit the claimant’s statement. You will get a receipt number that you can then use to get a medical certificate.
Get Medical Certificate
Once you submit your claims, head over to your medical provider and give them the receipt number to help locates claims on SDI online. The doctor will then send in your medical certificate and report through their online portal.
Do note that you need to file claims within 48 days of the injury, and failure to do so will result in disqualification, so the doctor must submit the medical certificate within 30 days of the claim application.
How to File a Disability Claim with the Insurer?
This is for all those who don’t have state insurance but private disability insurance.
You do not need a disability attorney to file a disability claim, however, having one can help you avoid any mistakes in your application and expedite the claims process. So, how do you file a claim?
Filing claims is relatively easy. Fill out the necessary paperwork and give details about your injury. You would also need to provide more information on your salary, living expenses, and how the injury does not allow you to work.
Getting your medical provider to write you a report on how the injury affects your ability to work and the treatment plan can be a great supporting document to the claim. Once you’re done with the paperwork and compiled all the documents, file claims with your insurance company and wait for the insurer to get back to you. In many cases, an initial claims application is often rejected and you may have to file for an appeal.
Claims Denial: File for an Appeal
If your disability benefits got denied, you are eligible to file for an appeal. Insurance companies like to put profits above their customers, so don’t get shocked if you’ve got disabled and they reject your claims.
There are many reasons why an insurer will reject claims. Working with us, our attorneys will request a copy of your claims and review the documents. We will also help you with providing additional resources needed by the insurance company to process the claim.
An insurance company may still deny claims but don’t worry, we are not afraid to take them to the court as our expert attorneys have experience taking cases to trial and winning. Insurers often avoid courts as the process can be long and expensive making room for negotiations where we can use our experience to help you get the claims you deserve.
Are You or Your Family Members Facing Disability?
If you or your loved one’s injuries have resulted in a serious disability, contact us at (213) 596-9642 and get a free consultation with a legal expert today.
Ehline Law is a rising personal injury law firm with an exceptional reputation. We have had more than 3,000 successful clients and our attorneys have helped recover more than $150 million in compensation.
Let our Los Angeles insurance law attorneys protect your rights, support your case, and negotiate a healthy settlement. Call us or simply visit any of our legal branches across California for more details!
