Has your disability claim with The Standard Insurance Company been denied, delayed, or cut off after years of payments? You're dealing with one of the largest disability insurers in the country — and one that operates through several different channels, each with its own rules for what you're entitled to. Sandstone Law Group represents disability insurance policyholders nationwide against The Standard. Here's what you need to know.
Who Is The Standard Insurance Company?
Standard Insurance Company was founded in 1906 in Portland, Oregon, and began selling group employee benefits in the 1950s. In 1999, the company converted from a policyholder-owned mutual insurer to a stock company, becoming a subsidiary of the newly formed StanCorp Financial Group, which traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker SFG for the next 17 years.
In 2016, Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Company — one of Japan's oldest and largest life insurers — acquired StanCorp Financial Group in an all-cash deal. The Standard became a wholly owned subsidiary of Meiji Yasuda. Its headquarters, management team, brand, and product lines stayed the same, and existing policies weren't altered by the sale.
That ownership history matters for one reason: it tells you The Standard is not a fragile or disappearing company. It's backed by one of the largest insurers in Japan. When The Standard denies a claim, it isn't because the company can't afford to pay you. It's a business decision.
If Your Coverage Originally Came From Elevance Health
In 2023, The Standard announced it would acquire the life and disability insurance business of Elevance Health (formerly Anthem) — including group life, short-term disability, long-term disability, AD&D, and paid family leave and absence management. That acquisition closed in 2024, and the combined book of business now operates entirely under The Standard's brand, backed by a 10-year distribution partnership between the two companies.
If your disability coverage originally came through an Elevance Health or Anthem-branded plan, The Standard is very likely now the company reviewing, administering, and paying — or denying — your claim. Some claimants don't realize this ownership shift happened and are confused when denial letters, claim forms, or appeal correspondence arrive under The Standard's name instead of the carrier they originally enrolled with.
If that's your situation, you're in the right place: the policy obligations didn't disappear in the transition, and neither did your right to appeal or challenge a wrongful denial.
What Kind of Policy Do You Have? It Changes Everything.
Unlike some disability insurers that sell almost exclusively to one market, The Standard sells disability coverage through three distinct channels — and which one applies to you determines what legal tools are available if your claim gets denied.
Employer-Sponsored Group LTD (ERISA-Governed)
Most Standard disability claims involve group long-term disability policies purchased by an employer as part of an employee benefits package — now an even larger share of its book following the Elevance acquisition. These plans are almost always governed by the federal Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), which limits your legal remedies significantly: no jury trial, no punitive damages, and a mandatory internal appeal before you can sue.
Individual Disability Insurance (IDI) for Professionals
The Standard is also widely regarded as one of the "Big 5" carriers that write the majority of own-occupation individual disability insurance for physicians, dentists, attorneys, and other high-earning professionals. These are privately purchased policies, not tied to an employer, and they are not governed by ERISA — which means significantly stronger legal protections, including the right to a jury trial and potential bad faith damages under state law.
Professional Association Group Plans
The Standard also underwrites group LTD and STD coverage sold through professional and trade associations — for example, physician members of certain medical associations, or independent professionals through franchise and business-owner associations. These plans occupy a middle ground: some are ERISA-exempt because they're not sponsored by a single employer, and some aren't, depending on how the plan is structured and sponsored. That distinction has been directly litigated against The Standard, including disputes over whether association-based coverage counts as a deductible offset against other disability benefits.
If you're not sure which category your policy falls into, that's normal — and it's exactly the kind of question an attorney should answer before you file an appeal, not after.
Why Did The Standard Deny Your Claim?
"Insufficient Medical Evidence"
This is the most common reason cited on Standard denial letters, and it's often not what it sounds like. The Standard frequently isn't disputing that you're sick or injured — it's arguing that your medical records don't document specific enough functional limitations tied to your job duties.
Wrong Occupation, Wrong Standard
The Standard has faced repeated litigation over misapplying the definition of disability in its own policies — including cases where it argued a claimant should be evaluated under the wrong occupational category, or shifted prematurely from an "own occupation" to "any occupation" standard before the policy allowed it. In one California federal case, a court found The Standard had waived its own "any occupation" argument by failing to raise it during the internal appeal — and ordered the claim paid.
Independent Medical Exams and File Reviews
The Standard, like most large disability insurers, relies heavily on paper file reviews by physicians it selects and compensates, sometimes without ever physically examining the claimant. Litigation against the company has repeatedly raised the question of whether these reviews meaningfully engage with a treating physician's findings or simply provide cover for a predetermined denial.
Ignoring Social Security Disability Approvals
If the Social Security Administration has already found you disabled, that determination doesn't bind The Standard — but claimants and their attorneys have argued in multiple cases that The Standard ignored favorable SSA findings without adequately explaining why its own conclusion differed.
Terminating Benefits After Years of Payment
Some of the strongest Standard disability cases involve benefits that were paid for years and then abruptly terminated, often coinciding with the shift from an "own occupation" to "any occupation" definition. A long payment history doesn't guarantee anything going forward, but a termination without a documented change in your medical condition is a serious red flag.
Regulatory Scrutiny and Litigation History
The Standard's claims-handling practices haven't gone unnoticed by regulators or courts.
In 2024, the North Carolina Department of Insurance conducted a formal market conduct examination of The Standard's claims handling and complaint response practices. North Carolina regulators found gaps in The Standard's claims file documentation and complaint-handling procedures during a 2020–2022 target examination, and the state's report shows the company took an average of 61 days to process a group LTD claim denial.
The Standard also settled a $2.4 million class action in New Mexico involving its handling of group life and AD&D death benefits for more than 74,000 public employees, after being accused of denying benefits over technicalities like incomplete medical paperwork. That case involved life insurance, not long-term disability — but it speaks to a broader pattern regulators and courts have scrutinized in how The Standard processes claims across its group benefit lines.
On the legal side, one of the most important disability insurance cases in the country involves The Standard directly. In Kearney v. Standard Insurance Co., the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals — which governs both Arizona and California federal courts — established that when an ERISA disability plan doesn't grant the insurer clear discretionary authority to interpret its own terms, courts must review a denial de novo, meaning from scratch, with no deference to The Standard's decision. That's the most favorable standard of review available to a claimant, and it remains binding precedent in Arizona and California today.
Your Legal Options Depend on Your Policy
If You Have an ERISA-Governed Group Plan
You must exhaust The Standard's internal appeal process — typically within 180 days of a denial — before you can file suit in federal court. Once in litigation, the case is decided by a judge, not a jury, generally based only on the administrative record already created during your claim and appeal. Remedies are limited to unpaid benefits and attorney's fees — no punitive or emotional distress damages, regardless of how unreasonably The Standard behaved.
If You Have an Individual or Association Disability Policy
Your policy is a private contract governed by state law, not ERISA. That opens up meaningfully stronger legal tools, including the right to a jury trial and, in Arizona and California, the ability to pursue bad faith damages — including punitive damages — when The Standard denies a valid claim without a reasonable basis. Many individual and association policies also don't require you to exhaust an internal appeal before filing suit, though your specific policy language controls that.
Deadlines That Matter
State statutes of limitations for insurance bad faith and breach of contract claims vary widely, and many individual disability policies contain a contractual suit limitation — a shorter deadline written directly into the policy — that can be far tighter than the general state deadline. Don't assume you have more time than you actually do.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is The Standard the same company as Elevance Health or Anthem?
No, but The Standard acquired Elevance Health's life and disability insurance business in a deal that closed in 2024. If your group coverage originally came through Elevance or Anthem, The Standard is now the company administering your policy and any claims filed under it.
Does Meiji Yasuda's ownership of The Standard affect my claim?
No. Meiji Yasuda acquired The Standard's parent company in 2016, but The Standard's operations, management, and policy obligations continued unchanged. The ownership change doesn't affect your right to file a claim or appeal a denial.
Is my Standard disability policy governed by ERISA?
It depends on how you obtained it. Most employer-sponsored group LTD plans are governed by ERISA. Individually purchased policies and many professional association plans are not, which means you may have significantly stronger legal options, including the right to a jury trial.
Can I sue The Standard for bad faith?
If your policy is a private individual or association policy governed by state law, yes — Arizona and California both recognize insurance bad faith as a legal claim separate from breach of contract, with the potential for damages beyond your unpaid benefits. If your policy is governed by ERISA, bad faith claims generally aren't available; your remedies are limited to what the plan itself promises.
What if The Standard already approved my claim and then cut off my benefits?
A termination after a period of paid benefits doesn't necessarily mean anything changed about your medical condition — often it coincides with a shift in your policy's definition of disability from "own occupation" to "any occupation." This is one of the most common and most successfully challenged denial patterns in Standard disability litigation.
How long do I have to appeal or sue The Standard?
For ERISA group plans, you typically have 180 days to file an internal appeal after a denial. For individual and association policies, deadlines are governed by your state's statute of limitations and any contractual suit limitation written into your policy — which can be shorter than you'd expect. Contact an attorney as soon as possible after a denial to avoid losing your options.
How Sandstone Law Group Fights The Standard's Denials
Sandstone Law Group may be able to represent disability insurance policyholders nationwide against The Standard — whether your coverage is an employer-sponsored ERISA group plan, an individual own-occupation policy, or a professional association plan. We know the difference between what your policy promises and what The Standard's denial letter claims it means, and we know how to use Ninth Circuit precedent, state bad faith law, and the full record of The Standard's claims-handling history to hold the company accountable.
Call (602) 615-0050 or contact us online for a free case evaluation. There's no cost to talk, and no obligation.
For more on your legal options, see our pages on ERISA long-term disability appeals, individual disability insurance claims, and insurance bad faith.
100% Free Case Evaluation
Feel let down by The Standard? Sandstone Law Group offers a thorough, cost-free analysis of your case – we will give you the advice, and support, you need.