Accident bnefits while on long term disability?

I am on ltd passed change of definition ( any occupation). i was involved in car accident and applied for non earners benefits (no benefits so far). my question is my ltd is entitled to deduct non earner benefits from my monthly LTD payment. or will i be entitlement to non earners on top of my LTD payment.

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It depends how your policy is worded and you should ask the insurance company and then ask a lawyer if necessary.
I think with my policy because the car accident is not related to my disability, the amount would be on top.

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my policy is worded as below :

Payments that reduce your benefits

Your STD and LTD benefits may be reduced by some or all of the following amounts:

earnings from employment (excluding amounts attributable to employment that existed in the 12 months or more prior to disability and certain amounts earned under an approved rehabilitation program);

Canada/Quebec Pension Plan (CPP/QPP) primary disability benefits payable to you (before-tax amounts and excluding cost-of-living increases). If you refuse to apply for or to disclose the status of your CPP/QPP benefits, your income replacement benefits will be reduced by the deemed amount of the CPP/QPP benefits, up until the time you submit full information;

where permitted by law, benefits from workers’ compensation
where permitted by law, accident benefits received from no-fault government insurance or automobile insurance that does not take into account income benefits payable by Employment Insurance (EI). If you fail to disclose and provide proof of the amount of accident benefits received, your STD benefits will be suspended up until the time you provide (XXX) with full information of the accident benefits;

any payments from any other government plan or agency where these payments constitute earnings for the purposes of EI;

for LTD, any disability benefits under a plan of insurance available as a result of membership in an association (except to the extent that those benefits were payable in each of the 12 months preceding the date of disability);

for LTD, any other disability benefits (excluding prepayments of life insurance) or retirement benefits (excluding benefits from plans to which an employer did not contribute) resulting from employment;

any amounts paid as salary continuation, pay in lieu of notice of termination of employment (or damages in lieu of same), severance pay, retiring allowance, or similar payments relating to the period you were ill or injured; or

supplementary unemployment benefits (SUB) (that is, maternity leave benefits) relating to the period you were ill or injured (STD only).

Your benefits will be reduced by CPP/QPP and workers’ compensation amounts before tax. The other payments listed above may be considered income for the purposes of determining the maximum benefits from all sources for STD and LTD.

Benefits from other sources

If you become disabled, you may receive a payment, or be entitled to receive a payment, from a third party – either a person or organization – where the payment is intended as income replacement, wages, or other benefits. For example, this could happen if you were injured in an automobile accident and received a legal settlement – if all or part of that settlement was intended to replace wages you lost due to the injury.

If you receive any such payments for the same period of disability for which you receive similar benefits payments under the STD or LTD plans, then you are required to notify and reimburse (XXX) or Great-West Life, respectively, for those payments. Upon receipt of proof of the amount of benefits from other sources, (XXX)will also reduce your ongoing STD payments as described in Maximum benefits from all sources for STD. If you are entitled to receive such a payment, but you do not exercise that right, (XXX)/Great-West Life is entitled to exercise that right on your behalf and is entitled to all the rights of recovery of the employee for recovery of these payments to the full extent of the benefit paid. In simplified terms, (XXX)/Great-West Life is not required to pay benefits to you to replace your lost income or wages if that lost income or wages has already been or could have been reimbursed in some other manner.

Can Anyone please look and advise accordingly. ?

Thank you for help

DAVID can please also advise on this and if there is dispute than can i contact you?

Also, the above policy details never mentions deduction of non earners benefits?

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I read what you wrote and I kept losing focus.
It too complicated and I didn’t understand it.
Common sense to me would say that it refers to an accident that caused the disability but common sense is not very common.
I would ask the insurance company and if they want the money, talk to a lawyer.
@David_Brannen

thank you Jammer. i will speak to lawyer, the above is details of my ltd policy.

Unfortunately the answer here is complicated because there can be conflicts between what the insurance policy says and the provincial legislation that governs car insurance benefits in each province. Both can say they can deduct the other, so this is a situation where you just can’t rely on your LTD policy for the answer. It depends on your province. I would start with asking your insurer for their position on this and ask the same thing of your auto insurer paying the benefit.


David Brannen

Disability Lawyer with Resolute Legal

The response posted above is based on the limited factual information made available and is not intended as a full and complete response to the question. The only reliable manner to obtain complete and adequate legal advice is to consult with a lawyer, fully explain your situation, and allow the lawyer enough time to research the applicable law and facts required to give an adequate opinion. The basic information provided above is intended as a public service only, a full one-on-one discussion with a lawyer should be done before taking any any action. The information posted on this forum is available to the viewing public and is not intended to create a lawyer client relationship with any person. If you want one-on-one advice, please click here to request a free consultation or call toll free 1-877-282-5188 to speak with a member with our disability claim support team.

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I am in ontario and thanks david for your input. also, do you help in these complicated cases?