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Know your worker's disability and employment rights. Employers can typically fire their worker or employee at any time as long as it accords with their employment contract and the employer provides the employee with the required notice or pays in lieu of notice. However, there are exceptions to this general rule. An employer is not legally allowed to fire an employee due to a characteristic that is protected by anti-discrimination or human rights legislation. The Human Rights Act protects every employee in Canada from being discriminated against due to a disability.

After an injury, it may be possible to apply for and receive disability benefits under the Canada Pension Plan if you have made regular, ongoing contributions. To quality, you must have a severe and prolonged disability. This means that you must have a mental or physical disability that regularly stops you from doing any type of substantially gainful work. The disability must also be long-term and indefinite in duration or is likely to result in death. This is a high bar to meet.

Many individuals are hesitant to return to work when on disability because they believe that this will negatively impact their claim. However, returning to work while on disability in certain situations may actually help to support your claim. This being said, if you are on disability and return to work with no limitations, this will not help your claim.

Most people arrive at the point of a disability denial after a long wait, and many medical appointments, knowing full well that they just can’t do their job. Commonly, they have used up all their vacation time and have a doctor in their corner who fully supports their sick leave. Unfortunately, the insurance company doesn’t agree that you are entitled to short-term disability benefits

Many disability claims are based on mental illnesses which generate an inability to work. Unfortunately, depression, anxiety, or other mental illnesses are often trivialized or considered insignificant by insurance companies. The insurance company's treatment of the claim may even worsen symptoms and further prevent many workers from completing their jobs.

Whether you are applying for Long-Term Disability (LTD) or Canadian Pension Plan-Disability (CPP-D) benefits, there is an overwhelming amount of technical jargon used by both private insurance companies and the government. Whether you are handling your application yourself or with the help of a lawyer, these keywords will be critical to understanding the process and how to win your claim!

Long-term disability results from chronic conditions like arthritis, asthma, depression, orthopedic injuries, and many more. In this article, you will learn about long-term disability, filing a claim, and its coverage benefits. If you are suffering from long-term disability and wrongly denied long-term disability coverage in Toronto, Ontario, or the rest of Canada contact Freedom Disability Lawyers today for free case assessment.

Whether or not the disability insurance company can deduct the amount of your long term disability benefit will depend on whether the right exists in the policy or contact. Most disability benefits policies and contracts allow for the deduction of CPP-D benefits because it saves the insurance company money and prevents double recovery by the disabled worker.

When seeking a disability claim, the issue may come up that you have some other conditions which have led to your inability to work. Courts will ultimately tackle the question of what the primary reason was for you needing to leave work.

When you are addressing the impact of your disability on your life, it is important to remember that two people with the same disability may have hugely different impacts on their lives. This can be based on several things including their educational backgrounds, age, and occupation. So, remember, when presenting the impact of your disability you want first to address who you are and what you do—what makes you different.

Unreported income usually results from a failure to file tax returns or declare income to the Canada Revenue Agency. Breaking down disability benefits into three types can help to illustrate where unreported income can become a problem: 1. For individual disability policies for employees, there is usually a prescribed monthly benefit; 2. Group policies for employees are often passed on insurable earnings as reported or paid by an employer; and 3. For self-employed individuals, disability policies are usually based on the earnings they established when purchasing the policy, and many policies can increase as income grows. In cases where there is a prescribed monthly benefit, or an employer’s records should show your income, there is less concern around unreported income. However, unreported income can become an area of contention for self-employed individuals, especially when their past income is hugely different from their current income.

When making a disability claim, credibility can be the factor that tips the scales in your favour. Credibility is important whether you have an evident disability, such as a condition that shows up on x-rays, or an invisible condition such as chronic pain or a mental illness. However, when dealing with these invisible conditions, credibility may play a more significant role.

Have you filed a claim for disability benefits and recently learned that your insurance company denied your claim? This is disappointing news of course, and you are likely wondering what to do next. Keep in mind that just because the insurance company decided to deny your LTD benefits, that does not mean you should accept the decision. Why? Many disability claims are denied by insurance companies even though benefits should have been awarded. Denials are a tactic used by insurance companies to have disabled workers walk away from their benefit – which saves the insurance company money. While feeling defeated and disheartened is common after learning about a claim denial, don’t consider the denial decision as final. If your long-term disability claim has been denied and you would like to file an appeal, here are five steps to appeal LTD denials, along with links to additional resources to appeal disability claim denials.

Knowing whether or not you need to pay disability insurance premiums during the course of an active long term disability claim is important when it comes to financial planning. You need to know whether or not you will have to set aside money to pay for disability insurance premiums if you are off work and seeking disability benefits.

Would you believe that there are over 500,000 Canadians who are unable to work because of mental health problems? Of the 500,000 that are unable to work, two-thirds are related to mental or behavioural disorders, and one-third are due to mental illness. The economic burden of mental illness in Canada, including health care, and loss of productivity, is approximately $51 billion every year.

It is well known that Covid-19 is having a massive physical and emotional toll on employees. The damage to our health and economy is not merely statistics – it is the lives of those harmed. In the coming months and years ahead, we will begin to see the full toll that Covid has on the long-term health and well-being of Canadians. Another effect will be that employers and their insurers are going to see a large increase in applications for long-term disability benefits. Unfortunately, this uptick in claims will also lead to denials, many of which may be unjust or contestable.

Disability benefits are essential for anyone who cannot work. Are you considering applying for Pension Plan Disability Canada Benefits? Perhaps the insurance company has asked you to apply for benefits– even if they are going to get the money if you win the benefits. Or perhaps you are considering applying for CPPD benefits because you cannot work and have no access to a long-term disability plan? Learn how to access CPPD benefits in this post, and others on this topic on our site. Discover your rights, obligations, and important considerations related to CPPD benefits and a plan for Long Term Disability Benefits.

Our Principal Lawyer and firm founder, Jeff Mitchell, recently took part in an interview concerning his business. The interview was focused on the launch of NOVA injury Law in Halifax and his approach to client service. We have reproduced sections of the interview in this post.

The CPP (Canada Pension Plan) Disability Benefit is a Canadian program that can provide financial assistance to Canadians who are unable to work due to impairments as well as their dependents who are either under 18 or between 18 and 25 and in full-time education. The CPP Disability Benefit, however, has high denial rates, which can lead to incredible frustration, especially when the reason for denial is unclear.

Most Long Term Disability insurance policies contain clauses that would force a would-be beneficiary of Canada Pension Plan Disability Benefits into applying for the benefit. Why? The insurance company will often be permitted to deduct 100% of the benefit from the amount otherwise payable to a disabled person. An example of this type of clause would look like the following:

You can appeal a Canadian Pension Plan Disability (CPP-D) denial. Say your initial CPP-D application was rejected, what next? Don't panic; over 50% of initial CPP-D claims are denied. There are multiple levels of appeals that can overturn a denial. This post will give a quick outline of what these levels are and what happens at each stage

Mental health long-term disability claims are often denied because the disability insurer rejects the evidence to support the disabling condition. It is vital that a claim for long-term disability benefits is advanced with the right evidence and a clear condition between the disabling condition and the mental health concerns. In this post, you will learn six reasons why disability benefits claims are denied and how you can avoid a denial of your disability benefits application.

Freedom Disability Lawyers was made to help those who are working through a short term or long term disability claim. Dealing with a disability insurance company is never an easy task and often the struggle occurs at the work time in your working life. Workers are lucky to have disability insurance either through their workplace or through an individual plan that they purchased.

In this post, Freedom Disability Lawyers will explain how the ‘Change of Definition’ may impact you during your long term disability claim and how we can help you fight for your disability benefits.