Insurers must come up with some justification for denying your disability benefits claim — if their justification has no reasonable basis, then you should appeal the denial or pursue a lawsuit to recover your benefits.

Common justifications for a claim denial include:

• Lapse of coverage
• Material misrepresentations in the original insurance application
• Insufficient evidence of disability
• Application of a coverage exclusion
• Disability is tied to a pre-existing condition
• Failure to seek ongoing medical treatment