Appeal Court upholds $1.5 million punitive damages against LTD insurer.

In Baker v. Blue Cross Life Insurance Co. of Canada, [2023] O.J. No. 5748, 2023 ONCA 842, the Ontario Court of Appeal (“OCA”) upheld a $1.5 punitive damages award against a disability insurer, finding that it was warranted in the face of what appeared to be a systemic approach by the insurer’s claims handling team to ignore the insured’s rights under the policy. However, the court found that the trial judge erred in creating a new category of cases where full indemnity costs will automatically follow (although they were allowed on the facts of this case). The insured suffered a...

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Canadian veterans could FINALLY receive millions in unpaid LTD benefits.

Global News reported on November 17, 2023, that about 330,000 veterans receiving disability payments from the federal government might soon receive their share of a multi-million-dollar settlement after lawyers identified accounting errors in the Veterans Affairs Canada (VAC) payment process. On Nov. 8, 2023, a final settlement agreement was signed on behalf of the veterans and their estates with VAC for a “miscalculation of benefits”, which dated back about 20 years.Dennis Manuge, a Canadian Armed Forces veteran living in Ostrea Lake, N.S., said he felt “a sense of relief” when he heard the...

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Chronic pain and LTD benefits.

Have you been suffering from recurring pain for a lengthy amount of time? Are you experiencing pain from an injury that should have healed months, perhaps even years ago? Is that pain disrupting your life emotionally and physically? Are you finding it difficult to effectively perform your job as a result of this recurring pain? If you have been unable to work due to your chronic pain symptoms and you have long-term disability (LTD) coverage, you likely qualify for LTD benefits. What is Chronic Pain? Statistics show that approximately 6 million Canadians suffer from chronic pain, and...

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Insurer punished for improperly withholding payment.

On May 3, 2022, the BC Supreme Court ordered that a homeowner’s insurer pay PUNITIVE DAMAGES for withholding payment of the undisputed parts of a fire loss claim. In Green Estate v. Sonnet Insurance Co., 2022 BCSC 709, an executor brought an application against the estate’s insurance company for breach of statutory condition 12 and breach of the implied duty of good faith in failing to indemnify the estate for losses arising out of a house fire.  Statutory condition 12 requires the insurer to pay or reject a claim 60 days after proof of loss.  The insurer initially agreed to pay the...

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Covid-19 testing and LTD benefits.

The lack of Covid-19 testing should have no impact on whether a long-term disability (LTD) claim is successful. With the shortage of PCR tests and the rapid spread of the Omicron variant, many are concerned that their inability to confirm Covid-19 through a positive PCR test will prevent them from getting approved for LTD benefits if they remain disabled from work.   Diagnosis not a prerequisite to getting benefits   A diagnosis of COVID-19, or any diagnosis, is not a prerequisite to getting LTD benefits. Look at the language of any standard LTD policy and you will find nothing...

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