About The Standard (Standard Insurance Company)
Founded in Portland in 1906, The Standard Insurance Company has been providing disability coverage to Pacific Northwest employers and individuals for over a century.
Today it covers more than 8 million people through tens of thousands of employer groups across the country — with a particularly strong presence in healthcare, education, and public sector markets in Oregon and Washington.
Many nurses, physicians, teachers, and government employees in the region carry Standard disability coverage without realizing it until they need to file a claim.
Despite its Pacific Northwest roots, The Standard has faced significant legal scrutiny for its claims handling practices, including regulatory actions and class action settlements.
How The Standard Denies Disability Claims
The Standard's claims handling practices in Oregon and Washington follow patterns that disability attorneys in the region recognize well. Common approaches The Standard uses to deny or terminate disability claims include:
- Excessive and repetitive requests for medical records and documentation designed to delay and frustrate the claims process
- Using a small group of preferred medical reviewers who consistently produce denial-favorable opinions
- Applying narrow interpretations of own-occupation definitions — particularly for healthcare professionals and educators
- Conducting independent medical exams through selected providers whose findings rarely support claimants
- Benefit terminations triggered by minor improvements in medical documentation, even when the claimant remains unable to work
- Citing inadequate functional limitation documentation when treating physicians have not used standard disability language
- Imposing aggressive review timelines that pressure claimants to respond before they have legal guidance
The Standard counts on its home-field familiarity with Pacific Northwest employers and its claims infrastructure to make denials stick. A prepared, well-documented appeal challenges that advantage directly.
How Cowell Law Fights The Standard Disability Denials
Cowell Law is based in the same region The Standard calls home, and we understand how it handles disability claims in Washington and Oregon. We review Standard denials by obtaining your complete claim file, analyzing the specific medical review findings the insurer relied on, and identifying the arguments your appeal needs to make.
We handle Standard disability appeals for ERISA group plans — including those covering healthcare workers, educators, and public employees — and for individually owned Standard policies. We are familiar with The Standard's preferred medical reviewers and how to challenge their conclusions. If your appeal is denied, we take Standard cases to federal court.
Our Claim Clarity Process™
- Schedule a Clarity Call — We review your policy, your denial, and your situation and explain what your options are.
- Build Your Strategy — We analyze the policy language, gather supporting documentation, and prepare a targeted response to the insurer.
- Move Forward — Whether through appeal, negotiation, or litigation, we represent you through every stage until your case is resolved.
Individual disability insurance cases require a different approach than some claims — and we have the experience to navigate that distinction on your behalf.
Frequently Asked Questions — The Standard Disability Denials
The Standard is headquartered in Oregon — does that give me any advantage as a local claimant?
Not in terms of the claims process — The Standard applies the same national claims practices regardless of where a claimant is located. However, it does mean that many WA and OR employers carry Standard plans, and that local courts — including the federal district courts in Oregon and Western Washington — have significant experience with Standard disability litigation. Cowell Law practices in both states and understands how these cases proceed locally.
The Standard keeps asking for more documentation. Is that normal?
It is a recognized pattern. The Standard has been criticized for using repeated documentation requests as a delay and attrition tactic. If you are receiving multiple rounds of information requests without a clear claims decision, that is worth discussing with an attorney. There are limits to what The Standard can require, and an attorney can help you respond appropriately without inadvertently providing information that harms your claim.
What types of workers are most commonly covered by Standard disability plans in WA and OR?
The Standard has a particularly strong presence in healthcare — many hospital systems, medical groups, and healthcare networks in Oregon and Washington use Standard for group disability coverage. It also covers large numbers of educators, public employees, and professionals. If you work in any of these fields and have an employer-sponsored disability plan, there is a significant chance it is administered by The Standard.
See other insurance companies that we litigate against: Unum, The Hartford, Lincoln Financial Group, The Standard (Standard Insurance Company), Cigna (Life Insurance Company of North America), MetLife, Principal Financial Group, Mutual of Omaha, Sun Life Financial, Northwestern Mutual