According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 10.8% of the San Antonio population under the age of 65 has a disability, and those who are unable to work may require financial assistance. The Social Security Administration has a federal disability program that you have likely paid into over the years, but your condition must last, or be expected to last, a period of 12 months or longer. Employer-funded disability insurance policies (as well as those paid by the employee as part of a group plan benefit with the employer) may provide short term disability benefits and long term disability benefits.
If you suffer from an illness or injury that prevents you from working you may file a claim for disability benefits. Proving disability, however, is a necessity in order to obtain the benefits you deserve. The burden of proof rests on the claimant’s shoulders, so you may wish to talk to a San Antonio long term disability lawyer to discuss your options. Whether your claim is with a disability insurance company such as Cigna, Unum, or Lincoln, or the Social Security Administration, we are here to help. We offer a no recovery, zero-fee guarantee, so you can hire an attorney without taking any risk.
Our San Antonio Long Term Disability Lawyer Will Fight for the Benefits You Deserve
We represent long term disability claimants whose claims have been wrongfully denied or terminated. Many of the individuals that contact our office are shocked to learn that their claims have been denied, but an experienced disability insurance attorney knows that this is typical.
At the end of the day, an insurance company is a business, and they do not make money by paying out claims. Policies often include various limitations and exclusions that allow the insurance company to deny or terminate claims under certain circumstances. For instance, most policies will only pay benefits for a mental illness claim for 24 months. The pre-existing condition exclusion is also very common – many policies will not pay a claim for a condition if the claimant was already receiving treatment for the said condition within a certain time frame.
However, long term disability insurance companies often use these limitations and exclusions to wrongfully deny disability claims. All too often the insurance company will focus on a single condition that is excluded while ignoring the combined effect of the claimant’s other conditions. For example, let’s say a claimant is out of work primarily due to low back pain, but the claimant also suffers from anxiety and depression. The insurance company may review the claim and determine that the claimant’s low back pain is not severe enough to prevent the claimant from working, and since mental illness claims are only payable for a limited period, the insurance company may terminate the claim.
That’s where we come in – the experienced legal team at Ortiz Law Firm is familiar with the various reasons that long term disability claims are denied and will prepare a comprehensive appeal disputing the denial. If the insurance company upholds the denial we will also file a lawsuit against the insurance company.
We Represent Claimants Nationwide
You may be wondering why you would hire an attorney based in Pensacola, Florida to help with your long term disability claim in San Antonio. First of all, Mr. Ortiz is licensed to practice law in the great state of Texas!
Moreover, most of the work in a long term disability claim is paper-driven, so you are free to work with an attorney outside of your local area. We are equipped to communicate with clients anywhere in the world – we communicate by phone and email and we use an electronic signature service for our contracts. Everything that we will need to do can be handled with mail, fax, and e-mail.
Even if we have to file a lawsuit, our location is irrelevant. Most long term disability claims (not all, but most) are governed by a federal regulation called ERISA. Under ERISA, you do not have the right to a jury trial, and – in most cases – you do not have the right to engage in extensive discovery. This means that it is highly unlikely that a court appearance will be required, and as a result, we can handle a federal court case anywhere in the state. Over the years we have represented claimants nationwide, even out of the country, without any issue.
There are some cases where we may not be able to represent a claimant due to their location, but we still evaluate each case on a case-by-case basis. As stated above, Mr. Ortiz is admitted to the Texas bar. He can also file an ERISA lawsuit here in the state of Florida. If we cannot assist you, we will attempt to refer you to another law firm that can.
San Antonio Courts, Government, and Department of Insurance Information
United States District Court | Western District of Texas
United State Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
Official government website for the State of Texas
San Antonio Social Security Disability Claims
Although we are based in Pensacola, Florida, we represent Social Security claimants in Jacksonville and the surrounding areas. Whether you are just beginning to research how to file an application for benefits or you have a hearing scheduled with an Administrative Law Judge, the Ortiz Law Firm will fight for the benefits you deserve.
San Antonio SSA Locations and Resources
Directions to the local Social Security Administration Offices
Call Ortiz Law Firm for a Free Case Evaluation with a San Antonio Disability Lawyer
We assist disability claimants nationwide in claims with both disability insurance companies and the Social Security Administration. Our experienced team is ready to fight for the benefits you deserve. You only have a limited time to appeal a wrongful denial or termination, so don’t wait. Contact our office at (888) 321-8131 to schedule your free consultation today.