If you鈥檙e experiencing chronic dizziness, vertigo, or balance problems that make it hard to function at work, you may be wondering whether you qualify for long term disability benefits. Vestibular dysfunction is often misunderstood by disability insurers because its symptoms can be invisible, unpredictable, and difficult to document through standard testing. Yet for many professionals, these symptoms are anything but mild. They interfere with concentration, mobility, and the ability to perform even routine job tasks.
Below we鈥檒l explain how vestibular dysfunction may qualify for long term disability and what evidence is most effective in building a strong LTD claim.
Vestibular dysfunction happens when there鈥檚 a problem with the parts of your brain or inner ear that help control balance, spatial orientation, and coordination. When these systems aren鈥檛 working properly, it can lead to symptoms that make everyday activities, including the ability to work, extremely difficult or even dangerous.
Common symptoms of vestibular dysfunction include:
These symptoms can come and go, or they might be constant. Even mild episodes can make it hard to drive, use a computer, attend meetings, or perform physical tasks at work.
Medical conditions that can cause vestibular dysfunction include:
Because vestibular dysfunction is often misunderstood and its symptoms can be difficult to prove with standard imaging or lab work, it鈥檚 easy for insurance companies to deny these claims. That鈥檚 why involving an experienced long term disability attorney early in the process can make a significant difference.
An attorney can help you gather the right medical evidence, work with your doctors to strengthen documentation, and present your claim in a way that clearly demonstrates how your condition limits your ability to work.
To qualify for long term disability benefits, your vestibular dysfunction must be severe enough that it prevents you from performing the key duties of your job. For white collar professionals, that usually means showing that your symptoms interfere with your ability to work in a reliable, safe, and consistent manner鈥攅ven if your job is primarily sedentary.
Most long term disability policies define disability in one of two ways:
Even under the 鈥渁ny occupation鈥 definition, vestibular dysfunction can meet the threshold for disability if symptoms like dizziness, vertigo, or disorientation prevent you from performing critical job functions. These essential job duties might include:
Insurance companies often overlook how disruptive vestibular symptoms can be, especially when the job doesn鈥檛 appear physically demanding on paper. But if your condition makes it impossible to work reliably day after day, it may qualify as disabling, even if you can push through for short periods.
Your claim will be strongest when your symptoms are well-documented by treating specialists, backed by objective testing when available, and clearly tied to how they interfere with your specific job duties.
Here are key forms of evidence that can help prove vestibular dysfunction is disabling:
Your doctors鈥 treatment notes should describe:
Seeing the right specialists is critical. These may include:
A neuro-ophthalmology examination can be especially valuable if you have symptoms like visual disorientation, motion sensitivity, or difficulty reading. These are common problems for professionals who spend time on screens.
Even though some vestibular disorders don鈥檛 show up on imaging, there are tests that can document abnormalities:
We鈥檒l delve deeper into the importance of objective medical evidence for vestibular dysfunction long term disability claims in the next section.
Functional assessments can play an important role in proving how vestibular dysfunction limits your ability to work, especially when symptoms affect your stamina, coordination, or cognitive functioning.
One common type of evaluation is a Functional Capacity Evaluation ("FCE"). This is a structured, objective test that measures your physical and sometimes mental ability to perform work-related tasks. It can assess things like your ability to walk, sit, stand, lift, maintain balance, or sustain activity over time. For someone with vestibular dysfunction, an FCE might reveal that even light activity leads to dizziness, disorientation, or fatigue, making it unsafe or unsustainable to perform job duties for a full workday.
In addition to FCEs, a neuropsychological evaluation may also be useful鈥攑articularly if your vestibular issues include 鈥渂rain fog,鈥 trouble concentrating, or difficulty with memory or decision-making. These tests are administered by a licensed psychologist and are designed to assess your cognitive functioning in detail. For white collar professionals, results showing impaired attention, slowed processing speed, or reduced executive function can be strong evidence that your symptoms are interfering with key mental demands of your occupation.
These functional assessments are especially helpful because they go beyond subjective descriptions and provide measurable data. When paired with your medical records and diagnostic testing, they help paint a fuller picture of how your condition impacts your ability to work consistently, safely, and effectively.
Keeping a daily record of your symptoms, including severity, duration, and what triggers them, can provide real-world context to support your claim. This helps show the pattern and unpredictability of your condition, which is often missed in brief office visits.
Written observations from people who鈥檝e witnessed your difficulties at work (such as needing to lie down, missing meetings, or appearing visibly disoriented) can help show your insurer how your symptoms interfere with your job duties.
It鈥檚 important that your reported symptoms, your doctors鈥 findings, and your test results all align. Inconsistencies can be used by insurers to question your credibility, even if your condition itself is well-documented.
Yes. Although vestibular symptoms like dizziness and imbalance are often described as 鈥渟ubjective,鈥 there are several medical tests that can provide objective evidence of how your balance system is functioning. These tests can help validate your symptoms to an insurance company that might otherwise dismiss them as unproven or exaggerated.
Common objective tests for vestibular dysfunction include:
These tests can be especially valuable in long term disability claims because they provide measurable, objective data. Even if imaging like MRIs or CT scans appear normal, vestibular testing can reveal clear dysfunction in how your balance system is operating.
Because insurers often demand 鈥渙bjective proof,鈥 having these tests in your medical record can make a major difference in showing that your vestibular symptoms are real, measurable, and disabling.
Yes, you can still qualify for long term disability benefits even if your vestibular symptoms fluctuate. Many people with vestibular dysfunction experience good days and bad days鈥攐r even good hours and bad hours. That unpredictability is part of what makes these symptoms so disabling, especially in professional environments where consistency, focus, and reliability are essential.
Disability policies generally don鈥檛 require that you be incapacitated every minute of every day. Instead, they look at whether your condition prevents you from performing your job regularly and reliably. If your dizziness, vertigo, or imbalance flares up frequently enough to interfere with your ability to work full-time or safely carry out your responsibilities, you may still meet the definition of 鈥渄isabled鈥 under your policy.
This is particularly true for white collar professionals who need to:
Even if you鈥檙e able to push through your symptoms for short periods, what matters most in a long term disability claim is whether you can perform your job consistently and reliably. For many people with vestibular dysfunction, the unpredictable nature of symptoms makes sustained work impossible鈥攅specially in professional roles that require focus, coordination, and stability throughout the day.
To build a strong claim, it鈥檚 essential to document how often your symptoms occur and how they interfere with your work. That includes keeping a symptom diary, securing detailed records from your treating doctors, and collecting statements from coworkers, supervisors, or family and friends who have witnessed your struggles.
An experienced long term disability attorney can help coordinate this evidence and make sure it clearly connects your symptoms to your functional limitations. In many cases, your attorney can also work directly with your medical providers to strengthen the language in their written statements, help identify the right testing to support your claim, and ensure your insurer can鈥檛 simply brush off your condition as 鈥渟ubjective.鈥
Fluctuating symptoms don鈥檛 disqualify you. They鈥檙e often the hallmark of vestibular disorders. With the right legal and medical support, you can present a claim that accurately reflects how disabling your condition truly is.
Symptom diaries help fill in the gaps between doctor visits. While a physician might only see you for 15 minutes every few months, your daily notes provide a fuller picture of how often your symptoms occur, how severe they are, and how they interfere with your ability to work.
For example, you might record:
This kind of documentation can help your doctor understand and describe your limitations more accurately in their notes. It also shows your insurance company that your condition is real, ongoing, and functionally limiting, even if some test results look 鈥渘ormal鈥 or symptoms vary from day to day.
You can keep your symptom log in a notebook or a spreadsheet. The format doesn鈥檛 matter as much as the consistency and detail. Over time, this record can become crucial evidence that supports both the credibility of your symptoms and the severity of your limitations.
In many cases, personal documentation is what ties all of your other medical evidence together. It can often be the deciding factor between an approval and a denial.
Insurance companies frequently deny long term disability claims involving vestibular dysfunction. Not necessarily because the condition isn鈥檛 real or serious, but because it gives them just enough wiggle room to argue there鈥檚 a lack of proof. Dizziness, vertigo, and balance issues often don鈥檛 show up clearly on standard imaging or lab tests, which makes them easier for insurers to label as 鈥渟ubjective鈥 or 鈥渦nsupported.鈥 In many cases, these denials are driven less by medical facts and more by financial motives.
Insurers often rely on a playbook of tactics to justify denying claims based on vestibular symptoms, including:
These tactics are designed to cast doubt on your credibility and shift the burden of proof onto you. The reality is that vestibular dysfunction is often invisible but profoundly disabling. Just because a symptom can鈥檛 be seen on an MRI doesn鈥檛 mean it isn鈥檛 real or that it doesn鈥檛 prevent you from doing your job.
Ultimately, insurance companies are businesses. If they can find a reason to deny your claim and avoid paying benefits, they will. That鈥檚 why it鈥檚 so important to back up your claim with thorough medical records, objective testing, and detailed symptom tracking. It鈥檚 always recommended that you consult an experienced long term disability attorney. A knowledgeable attorney can help you push back against your insurer鈥檚 assumptions and make your claim as strong as possible.
If you鈥檙e struggling to get long term disability benefits for vestibular dysfunction, you鈥檙e not alone鈥攁nd you鈥檙e not imagining the obstacles. These claims are often denied or delayed because insurers treat symptoms like dizziness, vertigo, and imbalance as vague or 鈥渟ubjective.鈥 That鈥檚 where an experienced long term disability ERISA attorney can make a real difference.
An attorney understands how insurance companies operate and how to build a claim that overcomes their common tactics. When you鈥檙e dealing with fluctuating symptoms and complex diagnoses, your focus should be on your health, not fighting an uphill paperwork battle.
Here鈥檚 how a long term disability attorney can help:
When you鈥檙e dealing with a serious medical condition that causes vestibular dysfunction, you shouldn鈥檛 have to fight your insurance company alone. A long term disability attorney can give you a clear strategy, reduce your stress, and help you pursue the benefits you deserve.
Our attorneys immediately stepped in to strengthen her claim. We recommended that Olivia keep a detailed headache journal to document the frequency and severity of her episodes. Recognizing the need for objective support, we referred her for a Functional Capacity Evaluation and coordinated with her specialists to obtain additional testing, including an EEG and MRV. We also worked closely with her doctors to craft comprehensive narrative statements directly addressing the reasons her insurer had used to justify the denial.
Because Olivia鈥檚 migraines left her unable to sit at a computer, we even dictated her affidavit for her to ensure her voice was heard. With a strong, well-documented appeal package in place, we successfully persuaded the insurer to reverse its decision and approve Olivia鈥檚 long term disability benefits. Thanks to the support of Riemer Hess, Olivia now has the financial stability she needs to focus on managing her health.
If you鈥檙e looking to file a long term disability insurance claim for brain cancer, appeal a wrongful claim denial, or litigate your insurer, Riemer Hess can help. Contact us today at (212) 297-0700 or click the button below for a consultation on your disability case.