Filing a long term Disability claim seems like it should be a straightforward process. The law in many Canadian provinces allows people to apply for and receive disability benefits if a mental or physical illness or injury hampers their performance in the workplace. This provision was set up in order to give people the time and resources needed to recover.  

Unfortunately, filing a disability claim does not always lead to that claim being accepted. Despite following the application instructions carefully, many people are denied their LTD benefits, leaving them feeling confused, frustrated, and concerned about their financial future. 

Luckily, there are some things you can do – these disability lawyer approved tips can increase your chances of success. 

Start With Your Employers

For starters, find out what kind of benefits are included in your company’s Insurance policy or the private policy that you purchased. You can try to get a copy of that policy from your company’s HR department or if it is a private policy, from your insurance agent. If you want to know what you can expect from the disability claims process, keep in mind that you can always call Share Lawyers at any time during the application process for a free consultation to discuss the important paperwork you will need – we can talk to you about the questions you have that your employers and the insurance company can’t or don’t want to answer. 

Insurance Companies Want Objective Proof

Generally speaking, insurance companies want to see objective proof of a medical condition, usually in the form of imaging tests like x-rays or an MRI. However, many conditions cannot be diagnosed with that kind of documentation. In these cases, it helps to have an established history with a medical practitioner – this includes your family doctor or general practitioner (GP) and any specialists that you have seen, including mental health professionals. The more detail you can provide about your condition, the more likely it is that your condition will be recognized as legitimate grounds for a long term disability claim. Our disability lawyers recommend that you keep detailed notes on the following:

• symptoms
• duration
• treatment
• official diagnoses
• impact your condition has had on your life 

Keep in mind that just because your long term disability claim has been denied does not mean that your claim is invalid. Insurance claim denials are common and often incredibly unfair. The fact of the matter is that many insurance providers try to avoid paying out long term disability claims. They often argue that someone’s condition is not severe enough to prevent them from working or cite insufficient medical evidence as grounds for rejecting an insurance claim, even in cases in which the applicant has an official medical diagnosis and valid medical documents.

If your claim has been denied, we can answer any questions you may have about your case. At your free consultation, we don’t need to see anything beyond your denial letter and a copy of your company’s disability policy. From there, we’ll be able to figure out what other documents we need to collect once we have a better understanding of your case.

Reach Out to Share Lawyers

After we review all of the necessary information, our long term disability lawyers will use their specialty in disability law to fight to get you the disability benefits you deserve. We’re here to make the insurance claim process feel less intimidating and to your insurance company that you are willing to fight for what you deserve. 

If you have had your claim for long-term disability denied, contact the long-term disability insurance lawyers at Share Lawyers. Our experienced team of long-term disability (LTD) lawyers can help. We have recently settled cases against Canada Life, Desjardins, Manulife, RBC Insurance, Sun Life, and many more. We offer free consultations and there are no fees unless we win your case. Find out if you have a disability case.

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