# Problems related to sickness and disability policies provided by insurance



## M&M (Jan 20, 2002)

This was posted to the Co-Cure list:************************************************MAY BE REPOSTED In December 2004, Dr Charles Shepherd from the ME Association gave a presentation to the UK All Party Parliamentary Group on the problems being faced by people with ME/CFS when they are making claims for sickness and disability policies offered by insurance companies. The ME Association also asked James Millar Craig - a Partner in Royds Solicitors who has dealt with many such disputes involving insurance companies - to appear as our expert witness. In addition, there were two presentations from people with ME/CFS who were in dispute over income protection claims. Extracts from these presentations can be found on pages 12 - 15 of the February 2005 edition of the MEA magazine, ME Essential. Transcripts are available on the MEA website: http://www.meassociation.org.uk/fwhats_new.htm On Monday 4th April, the 'Tonight with Trevor McDonald' programme (8pm on ITV 1) will be covering this issue, and one of the case histories will involve a lady with ME/CFS who is in dispute with a well known insurance company. The ME/CFS case history will deal in particular with the role of functional assessment procedures (ie the Blakenship examination) which are increasingly being used by the insurance companies to deny claims - despite the serious flaws that were pointed out in the APPG presentations. As a result of the APPG meeting, Tony Wright MP is looking at whether an adjournment debate can be organised to reawaken interest in this subject amongst a wider group of MPs. It may also be possible to persuade the House of Commons Select Committee on Health to conduct an investigation. The ME Association is fully supporting these important parliamentary initiatives. Dr Charles Shepherd Posted on behalf of the ME Association


----------

