As a 52-year old collections specialist in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Evan spent most of his day on the phone with people in tight financial circumstances. This made for a lot of awkward calls. He could hear the anxiety in people’s voices as they tried to figure out how they were going to find the money to pay their bills, but he was good at navigating the conversations to find a solution that was agreeable to everyone.

But the regular talks with financially strained account holders took a toll. Some of their stress inevitably carried over into his own life, and Evan was having a hard brushing it off once he left the office. He wasn’t able to forget the tough times that people were going through. 

When management raised the budget goals for the entire department, Evan now had to generate much more revenue in the same amount of time. There just didn’t seem to be enough hours in the day. He soon found himself staying late at the office to meet his goals, all while facing more pressure to work overtime and close as many accounts as possible.

The new demands compounded the day-to-day stresses he already felt in his job. He tried to be fair to the people he was speaking with, but his bosses only cared about numbers, not the person on the other end of the line. This made his collections calls far more nerve-racking than they had ever been before.

It wasn’t long before Evan started to break down. He was having panic attacks in the middle of calls and hyperventilating in the bathroom during lunch, then going home and grinding his teeth while he was asleep. He always managed to make it to his desk, but Evan could tell that his performance was suffering. It was getting increasingly difficult to meet the relentless demands that were creating his anxiety. Evan started to break out in a sweat every time he heard a phone ring or when he knew he had to make another call.

Evan’s partner soon saw what the job was doing to Evan’s health. She advised him to speak to a therapist, who gave Evan a diagnosis of anxiety and depression. The doctor encouraged Evan to file a long term Disability claim while he took the time to work on his anxiety. He was approved benefits for nearly two years, until his insurance company’s case manager told him that his file would soon be updated under the change of definition. 

Evan had been making important strides in his healing but knew that he was not able to go back to work at the same job or anything similar that he was trained to do. While his medical condition still made it impossible to return to his previous role, his insurance provider argued that he should be able to move on to another job and was no longer willing to pay his benefits. His anxiety spurred up again when his disability claim was cut off – what’s called denied at the change of definition point. 

Evan began to despair, struggling with the same financial anxiety that he used to encounter when he worked as a collections specialist. He knew he wasn’t ready to rejoin the workforce and he didn’t know how he would pay his bills without his disability benefits.

When his in-laws recommended Share Lawyers, Evan scheduled a free consultation right away. The disability lawyers at Share Lawyers told him that he should still be entitled to disability benefits. Typically this means that to qualify for LTD benefits in the any occupation period, you must be totally or substantially disabled from the duties of any occupation for which you have the requisite education, skills, or experience.

Share Lawyers worked with Evan and his doctors to gather evidence that proved he was unable to work. They were then able to negotiate a settlement agreement during mediation that provided Evan with future benefits.

Even when it may seem hopeless, Share Lawyers is there to fight for the benefits 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. Toronto is home to the Share Lawyers office, but we have helped people all across Canada. 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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