Apart from legal fees, every case requires that the law firm incur certain expenses. Most expenses in an LTD claim are incurred in obtaining necessary information, including medical records, expert assessments, and reports from physicians and other healthcare providers. 

Other expenses will include court filing fees, process serving fees, and mediator fees. At the conclusion of a successful claim, we will seek to recover the above-mentioned expenses, known as ‘disbursements’, from the insurer. You will be responsible for the portion of expenses that are not recoverable from the insurer. Those expenses will be charged against your settlement or judgment. 

Our long-term disability lawyer can answer questions about these costs. Book a free consultation with our firm to learn more. We handle these claims with no upfront fees.

We will make reasonable efforts to resolve your long-term disability claim as quickly and cost-effectively as possible. 

Our team of  lawyers will review your long-term disability insurance policy when handling your LTD claim. We will also check your collective agreement if you are a union member. 

Additionally, we will look at the insurer’s claim file. We will examine the medical evidence and other facts supporting or weakening your long-term disability claim. We will also address the legal issues that need consideration. 

You usually pay fees, and applicable HST on fees, after the LTD claim ends. Whether you are required to pay fees will depend on the outcome of your claim. If you recover compensation through a settlement or judgment, a money fund will exist and legal fees will be payable out of that fund. If we are unable to recover compensation for you, no legal fees will be payable. 

If you are successful with your claim, the insurance company will pay a part of your legal bill as ‘costs’, effectively reducing the amount of fees that you owe to our firm. 

Our long-term disability lawyer can go over these costs with you in detail. Get a clear answer about your costs in a free consultation. You pay no upfront fees for our help with your LTD claim.

Before a lawsuit starts, an insurance company is usually entitled, by the terms of the policy, to request reasonable medical examinations in order to substantiate or refute a claim of disability. 

However, this right has limits. You can ask for help in traveling for an assessment. This includes transportation, meal costs, and overnight hotel stays. 

Even after a lawsuit begins, the insurance company can set up medical assessments. The Rules of Civil Procedure, which dictate how lawsuits are to be conducted, allow specifically for this. 

It is common for LTD claimants to feel angry, frustrated, disrespected, and mistreated by the insurer that has denied their benefits. They may feel strongly about suing the insurer not only for the denied benefits but for additional damages intended to ‘punish’ the insurer for harsh, harmful or egregious conduct in the way it has handled the claim. Those additional damages are commonly referred to as ‘punitive damages’.

However, our courts rarely award punitive damages in LTD insurance cases. This is because of laws relating to contracts. Even if they seem wrong, insurer's actions generally do not rise to the level required for punitive damages. Moreover, insurers will rarely, if ever, pay punitive damages as part of a settlement of a long-term disability insurance claim.

While punitive damages are rare, our long-term disability lawyers can explain what compensation may be available to you. Our team has represented many claimants facing situations like this. We take these cases on contingency, so there are no upfront fees. Contact us to schedule a free consultation and get clarity on your options.

The majority of lawsuits settle without going to court. Settlements, not court trials, are typically the preferred way to resolve LTD claims, wherever possible, because: 

• Settlements allow the parties to control the outcome of the case and therefore achieve certainty as to outcome, rather than leaving an uncertain outcome to the courts. 

• Settlements can be reached at any time, rather than the parties having to await a potentially costly trial that can be many years away. 

• Settlements remove the risk that the losing party will have to pay the winning party a substantial amount of money in legal costs. 

One crucial, but often overlooked, reason for settlements is that they can include money for future LTD benefits. Trial judges cannot force an LTD insurer pay benefits for the future. Rather, judges only have the power to order the payment of past LTD benefits and interest if the insurer is found to have wrongly denied benefits. Judges can also order the reinstatement of LTD benefits based on the contract terms. Those terms typically speak only to current, not future, entitlement for which the claimant must continuously qualify. 

Our long-term disability lawyer can help you understand your options for trial or settlement. Book a free consultation to talk through your lawsuit. Payment only comes from your settlement, so there are no upfront fees.

If your insurance company denies your long-term disability benefits claim, you should immediately talk to a lawyer. Most policies require that you bring your objection to the insurer within 30, 60, or 90 days. 

Policies may require that a lawsuit for denial of benefits be commenced within a year of the denial. The provincial limitations statute that applies to long-term disability insurance claims, however, will typically allow you up to two years to sue the insurer from the denial date. To avoid a problem in this regard, it is best to consult with a long-term disability lawyer as soon as you are notified by your long-term disability insurer that your benefits claim is denied or is being terminated. 

We handle these cases with no upfront fees, so you only pay if we win or settle your claim. Schedule a free consultation with our firm today.

Yes, you can, but doing so may not be a good idea. When an insurance company denies a claim, it will typically inform you of your right to appeal the decision within the insurance organization itself. You will likely be advised to send to the insurer, at your own expense, further information to support your claim, usually medical documentation.  

In most cases, unfortunately, internal appeals do not result in insurance companies reversing their decisions to deny benefits. Moreover, the time required to start a lawsuit may begin to run from the date of the insurer’s initial denial, while you pursue the internal appeal process, which may be prejudicial to your rights in the event that your appeal is unsuccessful. It is for those reasons, and potentially other reasons as well, that we generally will not recommend that you pursue an internal appeal.

This is why we recommend involving our long-term disability lawyer from the start. Payment comes only after your claim succeeds, under our no upfront fees approach. Contact our firm to schedule a free consultation about your appeal.

LTD lawyers can pursue different remedies for you. These will depend on your particular situation, the LTD contract terms, and what the law allows. 

If your insurer denies your LTD claim at the very outset and you do not receive benefits, it must provide you with reasons. We will need to consider those reasons. The same is true if you received LTD benefits for a period of time and the benefit payments were then terminated. 

If we have serious questions or concerns about how and/or why the insurer responded to your claim in the way that it did, we will discuss next steps with you. This includes the possibility that our firm will be retained by you to investigate a potential legal claim. 

We will inform you if we believe the insurer had a valid reason to deny the LTD claim. We will also let you know if in our opinion the insurer had a valid reason to discontinue your LTD benefits. We may also try to assist by providing helpful advice about any options you may have.

Our long-term disability lawyer can walk through these remedies with you and recommend a path forward. You can set up a free consultation to discuss what happened with your claim and what comes next. If we take on your case, there are no upfront fees since payment depends on a successful result.

LTD insurance companies can immediately reject your long-term disability claim in certain circumstances. The denial may be because of an injury, condition or illness that the insurer does not accept as genuine or as sufficiently supported by medical evidence.  

Our long-term disability lawyers are well-suited to step in at this point. We have represented many people throughout Ontario who have struggled with their LTD insurance companies. We take on these cases with no upfront fees, so you pay only if we succeed. Reach out to schedule a free consultation and discuss what happened.

No. Even if your employer ends your job, you may still get long-term disability benefits as long as you continue to meet the eligibility criteria.  

In contrast, your right to participate in group benefit plans may end if your employer terminates your employment. However, this is separate from your right to continue receiving long-term disability benefits.

No, it is not. Employment insurance is a short-term program for people who have paid into it. It helps those who cannot work because of an injury or medical issue. 

The “waiting period” for long-term disability insurance is the period of time that you must wait in order to receive long-term disability benefits. This period is often several months and will vary by policy. Moreover, long-term disability plans may cover you for many years and often provide coverage through age 65.

Employment Insurance has a two-week waiting period. EI sickness benefits may be available up to 26 weeks for financial assistance if you cannot work for medical reasons. As it currently stands, you may be eligible to receive 55% of your earnings up to a maximum of $695 per week. 

Our long-term disability lawyer can help if you're not sure how these benefits work together. Ask us about your options in a free consultation. There are no upfront fees to get our help.

No, long-term disability insurance, usually provided through private insurers, is not the same thing as the Canada Pension Plan disability insurance. Private insurance companies typically pay benefits based on a set percentage of your wage while disabled. 

The federal government offers the Canada Pension Plan (CPP) disability insurance program. The benefit amount will depend upon the period of time over which you have paid into the CPP program, in addition to meeting the CPP disability criteria.

To qualify for CPP benefits, you must prove a mental or physical disability. The disability must prevent you from doing the essential tasks of your employment, and must be considered severe and prolonged.

Understanding which type of benefit applies to your situation can be confusing, and the appeal processes are different for each. If you're dealing with a denied long-term disability insurance claim, our long-term disability lawyers can help. You won't owe us anything unless we win your case. Contact us to schedule a free consultation and get clarity on your options.