Published by The Pellegrin Firm August 11, 2019

Living while receiving long-term disability benefits from an insurance company can feel stifling. If the insurance company is paying tens of thousands of dollars to a claimant yearly, it may find it cost effective to invest in surveillance – either through social media or in person – to find a reason to terminate benefits.

A recent case out of California shows the extent to which an insurance company will go when big dollars are at stake. In this case, the beneficiary was surprised to learn that his benefits were being terminated based on videos he posted on social media of traveling to a conference as well as in-person surveillance conducted by the insurance company. Just because an insurance company finds a person eligible for benefits at one time, it will constantly be reevaluating a person’s disability until the beneficiary reaches the termination age in the policy. Many people do not know this and become complacent, leading to bad results.

The California case is Renzi v. Aetna Life Insurance Company, 2019 WL 323619 (C.D. Cal. July 12, 1019). Luckily for the claimant, he was able to submit sufficient information during the appeal of his termination from his treating doctors to rebut the insurance company’s contention that he could go back to work. The judge found that while he may experience short burts of energy, this does not mean he can go back to work on a full-time basis. Also, while the judge found the surveillance footage did contradict some of what the claimant stated in his appeal narrative, he did show some pain behaviors even in this covert footage. The judge therefore reinstated benefits.

Of course, benefits might not have been terminated in the first place had the claimant been a bit more careful about what he posted to social media. This is something to remember for people first applying for disability benefits, as well as those receiving them on an ongoing basis.