Pre-Claim Consultation: Get a Plan Before You File Your Claim
Thinking about filing a long-term disability claim? Before you stop working or submit your claim to the insurance company, talk to an experienced disability lawyer about your situation.
A BenGlassLaw Long-Term Disability Pre-Claim Consultation is a personalized legal strategy session designed to help you understand your options, identify potential problems, and make informed decisions before you file.
You’ll provide us with information about your medical condition, occupation, insurance coverage, and situation. An experienced lawyer from our team will review your documents, meet with you by video, and help you develop a plan for moving forward.
Schedule a Pre-Claim Consultation By Contacting Our Team
Your initial conversation with our team is free. The pre-claim consultation with an attorney is a paid service.
Why Talk to a Disability Lawyer Before Filing?
Most people don’t spend their careers thinking about disability insurance. Then something happens. Your health changes. You can’t do your job the way you used to. You’re trying to figure out whether you should keep working, take leave, or file a disability claim. Suddenly, you’re making decisions that could affect your income for years. That’s where a pre-claim consultation can help.
The goal isn’t necessarily to have BenGlassLaw handle your entire claim. The goal is to help you make better decisions before you file.
We’ve been handling long-term disability claims for more than 20 years. We’ve seen how seemingly small decisions made at the beginning of a claim can create problems later.
A pre-claim consultation gives you the opportunity to have an experienced LTD lawyer look at your situation before you’ve already committed to a course of action.
What Is a Long-Term Disability Pre-Claim Consultation?
A pre-claim consultation is a one-on-one legal strategy session with an experienced long-term disability lawyer before you file your claim. This is more than a quick consultation where you ask a few general questions.
Before your attorney meeting, our team will work with you to gather and organize the information that matters to your potential claim. Your attorney will review the documents you provide and prepare for your specific situation. Then you’ll meet with your attorney by video for approximately 45–60 minutes to discuss your situation and develop a plan for your next steps. After the meeting, we’ll send you detailed notes summarizing the consultation and, when appropriate, information about potential medical or vocational resources.
You leave with a plan—not just a list of general information.
What Does the Pre-Claim Consultation Include?
Your consultation includes several steps designed to make your time with the attorney as useful as possible.
1. Preparation With an LTD Specialist
Before your attorney meeting, an experienced long-term disability specialist paralegal will introduce you to our process and help you organize your questions, documents, and concerns. The goal is to make sure your attorney has the information needed to understand your situation.
2. Attorney Review of Your Documents
Your attorney will review the documents that are relevant to your potential claim.
These may include:
- Your long-term disability insurance policy
- Medical records
- Doctor reports
- Test results
- Job description
- Performance reviews
- Other information you believe may be important
The attorney reviews these materials before your consultation so your meeting can focus on your actual situation, rather than generic disability law.
3. A 45–60 Minute Video Consultation With Your Attorney
You’ll meet with a BenGlassLaw long-term disability lawyer by video. You’ll have an opportunity to ask questions, explain what’s happening, and work with the attorney to develop a strategic plan for moving forward.
4. Detailed Follow-Up Notes
After your consultation, we’ll send you detailed notes from the meeting. When appropriate, those notes may also include information about potential medical or vocational resources that could be useful as you prepare your claim.
What Questions Can We Help You Answer?
Every disability claim is different. Your consultation is focused on your specific circumstances, but people commonly come to us with questions such as:
- Are my medical records strong enough to file now?
- How can I make my claim stronger?
- Should I continue working for now?
- What should I use as my date of disability?
- What should I tell my employer?
- How much should I disclose to my employer?
- What should I expect after I file?
- Could I qualify for partial disability benefits?
- What support will I need from my doctor?
- What if my doctor won’t complete the necessary disability forms?
- How will the insurance company evaluate my claim?
- What should I do—or avoid doing—while my claim is pending?
- How does my long-term disability claim interact with Social Security Disability?
- Will my benefits be taxable?
- What should I know about insurance company surveillance and social media?
- How long could my benefits last?
These are exactly the kinds of questions that are difficult to answer with a generic internet search because the right answer can depend on your policy, medical evidence, occupation, income, and individual circumstances.
Three Problems a Pre-Claim Consultation Can Help You Avoid
We’ve been handling wrongfully denied long-term disability claims for more than two decades. Over that time, we’ve seen certain problems come up again and again.
1. Filing Before Your Claim Is Ready
One common mistake is filing a claim before there is enough medical and vocational evidence to support it. A doctor’s note saying you’re “off work” may not tell the insurance company everything it needs to know about your disability. Before you leave your job or tell your employer you aren’t returning, it can be important to understand whether your existing medical records support the claim you’re preparing to make.
2. Waiting Too Long to File
You don’t necessarily have to be completely unable to work before a disability claim becomes relevant. Depending on the terms of your policy, you may have a potential partial disability claim if your condition has reduced your ability to work or your income.
We’ve seen situations where professionals were told they made too much money to have a disability claim or assumed they couldn’t qualify because they were still working. In one case described in our consultation materials, an OB-GYN who could no longer deliver babies but continued running a successful office practice forfeited $1.82 million in potential partial disability benefits.
3. Starting Without a Plan
The disability claims process can be complicated. Going into it without understanding what your policy requires, what evidence you’ll need, and what decisions you’ll have to make can create unnecessary problems. A pre-claim consultation gives you an opportunity to think through those decisions before you file.
Could Your Policy Provide Benefits You Didn’t Know About?
Sometimes, the answer is yes. A long-term disability policy may contain provisions or additional benefits that you haven’t considered. That’s one reason we review the actual policy as part of the consultation rather than giving you generic advice.
For example, our consultation materials describe a physician who discovered an additional $60,000 per year in catastrophic disability benefits with our help.
We’re not promising that your policy contains additional benefits. But having an experienced lawyer review the policy can help you understand what you’re actually entitled to before you file.
Who Is a Pre-Claim Consultation For?
A pre-claim consultation may be particularly useful if you’re:
- Preparing to file a long-term disability claim
- Considering leaving work because of a medical condition
- Still working but your disability has reduced your income or ability to perform your job
- Unsure whether you’re ready to file
- Unsure what your insurance policy actually provides
- Worried about making a mistake before filing
- A doctor, lawyer, business owner, executive, or other professional
- Dealing with a complicated medical or occupational situation
The complexity of your medical and financial circumstances can also help determine which BenGlassLaw attorney is the best fit for your consultation.
Who Will Handle My Consultation?
You can choose! We have highly experienced ERISA lawyers on our team for you to consult with: Ben Glass or Damon Miller.
Ben Glass
Ben Glass has been handling long-term disability claims for more than 25 years. He has represented high-income professionals, business owners, C-suite executives, doctors, lawyers, and entrepreneurs in long-term disability claims against major disability insurance companies.
A consultation with Ben may be particularly appropriate for business owners, doctors, lawyers, C-suite executives, and people earning $150,000 or more annually.
Damon Miller
Damon Miller has worked in long-term disability law since 2015. He has worked with disabled clients across the country and teaches attorneys and other professionals about complex ERISA issues.
A consultation with Damon may be particularly appropriate for upper- and middle-management professionals, nurses, paralegals, administrative staff, construction workers, maritime workers, industrial workers, and other blue-collar professionals, particularly those earning less than $150,000 annually. Consultation with Damon: $1,250
How Much Does a Pre-Claim Consultation Cost?
We offer pre-claim consultations for a flat fee, so you know what you’re paying before the work begins.
Consultation With Ben Glass: $2,500
Consultation With Damon Miller: $1,250
The consultation includes the preparation, attorney review, attorney meeting, and post-consultation follow-up.
Based on the firm’s standard hourly rates, the work included in a typical consultation would otherwise represent more than $2,930 in services for a consultation with Ben and more than $1,730 for a consultation with Damon. The flat-fee consultation packages are $2,500 and $1,250 respectively.
You know the cost upfront. There are no surprise hourly charges for the consultation.
Do I Have to Hire BenGlassLaw After the Consultation?
No. This is an important part of how we approach pre-claim consultations. Our goal is to give you the information and strategy you need to make informed decisions about your claim. Many people leave the consultation feeling prepared to handle the filing process themselves.
If you decide you want to handle your own claim, that’s okay. If your claim is later denied and you decide you need our help, the cost of your pre-claim consultation is credited toward future work we do for you.
What If I’m Not Sure Whether I Need a Pre-Claim Consultation?
That’s okay, too. You don’t need to know whether a pre-claim consultation is right for you before you contact us. Start with a conversation with our team. We’ll learn about your situation and help determine whether a paid pre-claim consultation makes sense.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a BenGlassLaw Long-Term Disability Pre-Claim Consultation?
A long-term disability pre-claim consultation is a paid legal strategy session that takes place before you file your disability claim. An experienced LTD lawyer reviews information about your situation, discusses your questions with you, and helps you develop a plan for moving forward.
How much does an LTD pre-claim consultation cost?
BenGlassLaw offers flat-fee pre-claim consultations. A consultation with Ben Glass costs $2,500. A consultation with Damon Miller costs $1,250.
What documents should I provide?
Depending on your circumstances, you may provide your long-term disability insurance policy, medical records, doctor reports, test results, job description, performance reviews, and other information relevant to your potential claim.
How long is the consultation?
Most attorney consultations last approximately 45–60 minutes.
Do I have to hire BenGlassLaw after the consultation?
No. The consultation is designed to give you a strategy for moving forward. Many clients use what they learn to handle their claims themselves.
What happens if my disability claim is denied?
If you later decide to hire BenGlassLaw to help with a denied claim, the cost of your pre-claim consultation is credited toward future work.
Is the pre-claim consultation available outside Virginia?
Yes. The consultation is conducted by video, and BenGlassLaw handles long-term disability matters for clients nationwide.
Before You File, Make a Plan
You may only get one opportunity to make certain decisions at the beginning of your long-term disability claim.
Before you stop working. Before you submit your claim. Before you start answering questions from the insurance company. Take the time to understand your options.
A BenGlassLaw pre-claim consultation gives you the opportunity to sit down with an experienced LTD lawyer, have your situation reviewed, get your questions answered, and leave with a strategy for what to do next.
Schedule a Long-Term Disability Pre-Claim Consultation by contacting us today.