Should I retain a long-term disability lawyer?
If you’ve been injured or become ill and can’t work, and your long-term disability (LTD) insurance company denies you benefits, it’s in your best interests to get a lawyer. Unlike a disability claim with the Canadian government (CPP disability), long-term disability insurance companies are not impartial. Long-term disability insurers have a vested interest in the outcome of LTD claims, because the more disability claims they approve and pay out, the less financially healthy their bottom line is. And the fewer long-term disability cases they approve, the greater their profit margins will be.
Some say that the tactics used by long-term disability companies to deny benefits are unfair. For example, LTD companies will often conduct surveillance on people applying for benefits. An investigator from the company will secretly follow a claimant and take a video of their activities, such as taking out the trash, grocery shopping, even bending down to pick up a newspaper. Later, this visual evidence may be used to justify a denial on a long-term disability benefit claim, or even to make the argument that the LTD applicant falsely misrepresented his or her condition.
Video footage of claimants can often be unfair to an injured applicant because it often doesn’t show the whole picture. While an injured or sick worker can be recorded taking a heavy bag of garbage to the curb or bending down to get a newspaper, the recording probably won’t show the worker later resting and recuperating from the demands of such physical activity. LTD companies may show only the “highlights” from the recordings they obtain, meaning they show only evidence that may damage a person’s disability claim, not support it.
Because LTD companies do not always play fairly, finding legal representation for your LTD claim is more important than for other types of disability claims. In fact, sometimes it makes sense to consult with an experienced lawyer before you even file for, or get denied LTD benefits. There are a few reasons why. At the outset of an LTD claim, the insurance company, as part of their claim processing procedures, may ask you to submit information that it will later use against you. The company may also try to have you sign releases for specific types of information (such as medical or financial information) that will later facilitate its investigation of you. Most applicants for LTD benefits willingly comply with every request for information that is made by an insurer. Having a lawyer from the outset can give you protection in the form of experienced oversight, advice, and recommendations on what is in your best interest.
LTD insurers count on the fact that you probably won’t know their rules and procedures and, as a consequence, will have a more limited chance of fighting to win your disability benefits, despite the fact that you or your employer have dutifully paid the premiums for your disability benefits. To level the playing field, it makes sense to hire a disability lawyer with experience with LTD claims.
