A letter to Patricia Peard, attoney for UNUM regarding my request from the court for a preliminary injunction requiring back payment owed me.


Continuing Dialog
is an entry of 01/12/99 in this diary.




       Judy Morris, MD
       261 Bumstead Rd.
       Monson, MA  01057
       Jan. 2, 1999

Patricia A. Peard, Esq.
Bernstein, Shur, Sawyer & Nelson
100 Middle St., #9
Portland, ME 04101-4166

Dear Ms. Peard,

I will be requesting from the court a preliminary injunction to force
UNUM to pay my back benefits during the pendency of this lawsuit.

As you are well aware, there is substantial likelihood that plaintiff
will prevail on the merits for the following reasons:

Massachusetts Insurance Law MGL 175 clearly states ^ÓWhere there is
ambiguity in the terms of an insurance contract, the ambiguity must be
interpreted strictly against the insurer.^Ô ^ÓLanguage in insurance policy
must be given its ordinary meaning and construed in sense the insured
could reasonably understand to be the scope of his coverage.^Ô
^ÓExclusions from coverage are to be strictly construed so as not to
diminish protection purchased by the insured.^Ô ^ÓAmbiguities in policy
are to be construed against insurer, exclusions from coverage are to be
strictly construed, and where language permits more than one rational
interpretation, that most favorable to insured is to be taken,^Ô etc.
Since it appears to be UNUM^Òs position that there is some ambiguity
regarding the words ^Ódisability^Ô and what constitutes ^Óproof,^Ô it is
clear that you are breaking the law by denying me my rightful benefits
during this litigation.

The Massachusetts Law clearly applied to my Individual Customax
Disability Insurance Policy which I bought and paid for entirely
independent of any group benefit plan.

As far as the Group Policy, there is clearly abuse of discretion on
UNUM^Òs part in the processing of this claim as evidenced by the multiple
misleading and deceptive, not to mention ludicrous statements made by
employees of UNUM.
The court will clearly find that plaintiff is entitled to benefits even
under the most stringent arbitrary and capricious standard.

You have in your possession records from all of my doctors, numerous
diaries,
criteria from the CDC and NIH for diagnosis and treatment of Chronic
Fatigue Syndrome, your own job analysis of an ER physician which would
clearly be in conflict with those treatment guidelines, and a letter
written by Jack Taylor, the agent who sold Harrington^Òs group policy
stating unequivocally that I am entitled to these benefits and your
excuses for denial are implausible.

This is your notice of my intention to file this motion.  If you wish to
confer in Good Faith pursuant to Federal Rule Local Rule 7.1 (2), please
contact me within 5 days of receiving this letter.

If you call and leave a message on my answering machine and I do not
return your call within 48 hours, you can assume that I did not receive
your message (for some reason) and I would suggest you keep trying. My
telephone number is
(413) 267-3606.

At the present time the value of my unpaid benefits, refund of premiums
paid after disability, absent interest and Cost of Living increase is:

Group benefits from February, 1997 through December 1998 = $130,525
Individual benefits from February, 1997 through December 1998 = $154,169

Premiums paid after February, 1997 through June 1998 = $2567

Total due as of January 1, 1999 (absent interest and COL) = $287,261

Yours truly,



Judy Morris, MD




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The URL for this document is:
http://graham.main.nc.us/~bhammel/INS/DOCS/ltr010299.html
Created: January 6, 1999
Last Updated: May 28, 2000