When you sue because your long-term disability insurance company wrongfully denied your benefits, there are several types of damages your long-term disability insurance lawyer may pursue.
First, you can get what are called “breach of contract damages.” These refer to benefits that the long-term disability insurance company should have been paying had they accepted your claim initially. For example, if you were supposed to be getting $2,000 per month and the case is resolved after three years of denials, you would receive breach of contract damages for that time period. In this example, for three years, you could get that $2,000 a month plus interest.
And then you may also get bad faith damages if you can prove the insurer acted unreasonably with respect to their denial of your long-term disability claim. These damages can include emotional distress damages. For instance, if you were under a lot of stress because you were not getting your monthly benefits following your injury, and it has had an impact upon your life causing emotional distress.
In rare cases, you can get punitive damages as well if you can show the insurance company acted with fraud, malice or oppression.