Los Angeles and Orange County Disability Insurance and ERISA Claim Attorneys Fight Unum Claim Denials

At McKennon Law, we regularly represent individuals who have had their disability or life insurance claims wrongfully denied or terminated by Unum Life Insurance Company of America, one of the largest disability insurers in the country. We handle a wide range of insurance matters, including long-term disability, short-term disability, life insurance, health insurance, ERISA claims, and more. Many of our attorneys — including founding shareholder Robert J. McKennon — previously represented major insurance companies like Unum, giving us critical insight into their tactics. We use this experience to aggressively challenge Unum’s decisions, and we have a strong track record of success in reinstating benefits, recovering back pay, and compelling Unum to comply with its legal obligations.

Unum, headquartered in Chattanooga, Tennessee, has a long history in the insurance industry dating back to the 1840s. Today, it insures millions of Americans through employer-sponsored disability plans and individual policies. Despite its size and prominence, Unum is frequently criticized for its aggressive claims practices — including heavy reliance on internal medical consultants, vocational “experts,” and functional capacity evaluations to deny or terminate claims. Unum has faced significant scrutiny over the years for its claims-handling practices, particularly in individual (non-ERISA) disability insurance matters. Multiple regulatory investigations — including a high-profile multi-state market conduct examination in the early 2000s — concluded that Unum engaged in unfair claims practices and wrongfully denied legitimate claims. As a result, Unum was required to reassess thousands of denied claims and overhaul its claims procedures. Despite these reforms, we continue to see patterns of bad faith behavior from Unum, including the misuse of medical file reviews, biased surveillance, and undue reliance on ambiguous policy language.

At McKennon Law, we are highly experienced in identifying and exposing these tactics, and we aggressively pursue both contractual and extra-contractual damages when Unum violates its duties of good faith and fair dealing under California law. When Unum breaks its promises, we hold it accountable — in court if necessary.