Statute of limitation is the period of time in which an individual must file a suit in court. Failure to file within the specified time may result in being forever barred from pursuing their claim. Unfortunately Congress did not specify a statute of limitation in the ERISA statute. Although ERISA is governed by Federal law, the courts have uniformly allowed the use of the most analogous state statute of limitation, unless plan documents specify a shorter period of time.
While I have seen statute of limitation as short as 1 year, there is a 1998 case where a Florida court held that a 90 day statute of limitation from the date of the plan’s final review of the claim was reasonable. (See Medical Center v. Waffle House System Employee Benefit Plan). If you have an ERISA long term disability claim, it is important to review your policy early and often.
