Articles Posted in Long Term Disability Claim (LTD)

This edition of the Toronto Injury Lawyer Blog is from the mind of our founder and directing lawyer; Brian Goldfinger.

Brian spends a lot of time of the phone speaking with prospective clients; existing clients; insurance adjusters; doctors and opposing lawyers. But most of Brian’s time on the phone is spent answering questions from new and existing clients.

One of the most commonly asked questions of Brian Goldfinger is “how long will make case take to settle?”

Brian hears this question in a variety of cases spanning from catastrophic car accident cases; slip and fall cases; motorcycle accident cases. But it seems like this question is most frequently asked in the context of long term disability cases. I don’t know why this is. It just is (if that makes any sense).

In the context of a long term disability case; keep this in the back of your mind. If your long term disability insurer liked your case; and believed that you had a claim they would have paid you by now and you wouldn’t need a lawyer. This statement is half true. It’s half true because even if you have a meritorious long term disability claim, some insurers will just deny you for the sake of denying you because they would rather keep their money instead of paying you out in the hopes that you never retain a personal injury lawyer to fight your long term disability case. For many long term disability insurers; denying claims only to have them litigated is part of their business model. This is why they have an army of in house lawyers at their disposal. To fight long term disability cases like yours at minimal cost. Farming the long term disability work to outside counsel became too expensive. Long Term Disability insurers found it far more efficient and cost effective to hire and grow their in house legal teams to fight long term disability claims. The in house legal departments at Sun Life Insurance, Desjardins, Manulife and Great West Life have all (from my perspective at least) appear to have grown in size and scope of practice.

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The focus of this Toronto Injury Lawyer Blog Post will be on the denial of Long Term Disability Claims.

Of the hundreds of thousands of Long Term Disability Claims which large insurers like Manulife, Great West Life, Sun Life, Desjardins, SSQ, Industrial Alliance etc. handle, why was YOURS singled out for denial?

You’re a good person.

You’ve worked hard at your job for years without taking much time off like some other co-workers who abuse the system.

You’ve paid LTD premiums for years without complaint or missing a premium payment.

So why me? Why was my claim denied and not the other guy who abused the system?

Why are “good people” always getting the short end of the stick?

I don’t have an answer as to why specifically your Long Term Disability claim was denied in particular; but rest assured; you’re not ALONE!

While it may seem like the vast majority of people you know who applied for long term disability, let me tell you that hundreds of thousands of claims go the other way and get denied.

It’s not uncommon for long term disability claims to get denied at first instance, and approved at a later date; or simply denied altogether.

The important thing is to maintain positive and maintain a level head (as best you can). Easier said than done when bills begin to pile up and the collection calls begin to flood in. But doing something drastic in desperate times is never a good idea.

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My name is Brian Goldfinger. I’m a personal injury lawyer. My law firm Goldfinger Injury Lawyers helps accident victims, disability claimants, and their loved ones fight insurance companies to get the benefits and compensation which they deserve after a serious accident, illness or injury.

My law firm only acts on behalf of injured and disabled people. We do NOT act on behalf of insurance companies. The only area of law which we practice is Plaintiff side personal injury law. We do not practice in any other areas. Goldfinger Injury Lawyers serves the province of Ontario with meeting offices in Toronto, London, Peterborough and Kitchener. If you can’t make it to us, we would be happy to visit with you for a free initial consultation.

If you are reading this latest installment of the Toronto Injury Lawyer Blog Post, you likely have some questions about long term disability claims and how they work.

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Brian Goldfinger and Goldfinger Injury Lawyers have assisted a large number of disabled teachers and disabled Canada Post workers with their Long Term Disability cases.

Representing teachers and postal workers can be tricky.

For starters, most, if not all full time teachers and postal workers are unionized.

That means their employment and benefits process will be governed by the terms of their respective collective bargaining agreements.

Each collective bargaining agreement, and each term of that agreement differs depending on the union, the employer, the employee’s position, the seniority of the employee, the length of time they have been working for the school board or Canada Post.

In some cases, the collective bargaining agreement prohibits the disabled unionized employee from hiring a personal injury lawyer to fight their long term disability case. That means that the disabled claimant must proceed with his/her union by way of grievance.

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