POLICYHOLDERS SUE UNUMPROVIDENT FOR NOT PAYING CLAIMS

A lawsuit has been filed in a county court in San Francisco on behalf of policyholders of UnumProvident and its Paul Revere Life Insurance unit who say that the Tennessee-based disability group routinely and improperly denied claims. The suit, which is seeking class-action status, is asking for billions of dollars in premium refunds and damages. The action was filed three weeks after the group agreed to pay $8m in fines and reassess 26,000 claims in California to settle similar charges levelled by the state insurance department. In light of that settlement, UnumProvident said that the latest lawsuit was moot. The group settled similar charges with 48 other states last year.