Professional Athletes and Disability

How an Athlete Can Become Disabled

Sports have become an integral part of living for Americans today. Sports make up many of our television channels, sports are the after-school activities for many of America’s youth, and sports are played professionally by an elite group of individuals who are recruited by professional and semi-professional teams.

Professional athletes are recruited for many different sports such as football, soccer, baseball, golf, hockey, tennis, and rugby, just to name a few. These athletes are responsible for winning as many games as they can for their team, which means they’ll be putting in long hours of training, having extended periods of playing their sport non-stop, and having little to no breaks for them to rest and recuperate from their hectic schedule. Due to these conditions, accidents and injuries are more likely to happen, which can cause an athlete to become disabled in one of the worst-case scenarios.

When professional athletes become disabled, they can run into issues trying to collect their disability insurance, which can have disastrous results to that athlete and their family. Being listed as disabled when your career is based on movement and your physical abilities are tough enough as it is, so fighting with the insurance companies can make your life even more difficult than it needs to be. In these cases, you need a disability lawyer on your side who can fight for you and your rights and help you win your case against your insurance company.

Insurance Companies Tactics to Deny Disability Insurance

Injuries due to playing sports are common, with many injuries showing up multiple times for multiple sports. Some of these injuries can end up being disabling, and when that happens, athletes will want to take from their disability insurance as they figure out what they want to or can do next for their profession. Some insurance companies will try to deny athletes their insurance on the basis of topics like:

Pre-Existing Conditions: Insurance companies will try to say your disabling injury was something you’ve had for years and are just trying to use it not to work any longer. Often, this is an underhanded trick these companies use to deny insurance claims. Often, these false claims can be disproved when you have the right lawyer helping fight your case.

Can Still Work in Other Fields: When an athlete can no longer play, many companies can argue that they are able to work in other fields and are, therefore, not disabled. Unfortunately, not all athletes have training in other fields, which means they will need to go back to school or evaluate what they can physically do. Again, this is a trick these companies use to deny claims. Athletes who are disabled and can no longer play their sport are entitled to their disability insurance, which is something many athletes don’t fight for.

“Own Occupation” Denial: An “Own Occupation” policy is a policy that says that when a policyholder can no longer perform the occupation they have been trained for, they are entitled to their disability insurance. Many athletes have these policies but are not always informed on their purpose or helpfulness. If an athlete has one of these policies, an insurance company must nearly always pay them their disability claim.

A Disability Lawyer Here for You

After suffering a disabling injury that ends your athletic career, you may end up fighting your insurance company for the benefits you and your family need to live. At Edelstein Martin & Nelson, LLP, we are ready to help you and your case against the insurance companies. We are experienced and dedicated to helping you win your case and we know we can help you get the compensation you need and help you move on to new opportunities. Call us today at (866) – 532 – 2504.