I passed the 2 year point last year for LTD and was deemed total disability. 6 months later I was sent the mail for another review and had to have all my drs fill them out yet again. Is this normal ? I had to hire a lawyer to be granted total disability as they tried to drop me. I called to have an extension on when to have the forms mailed in by as originally they only gave me 4 weeks.
Also waiting for the cppd outcome so it is a stressful time.
My 3 drs all constantly say the same thing to them that this is permanent and it is even inappropriate to mention return to work or talk about it and even my treatment is focused on quality of life in home and community.
When I asked my case manager (same one who I hired a lawyer against as they never changed them) why am I doing this so frequently they said they could do it once a month if they wanted. I hate being treated like I’m not even a person with them.
Any advice for me moving forward ? Should I request my case file, to change case managers ? Or to have all communications done by email ? I don’t know any advice is appreciated.
I’ve been in the same type of situation. Once I got my CPP approval they basically went away. Full updates every 6 months for a terminal condition is not appropriate and if after being approved for CPP they continued to do that they would need to provide a reason why. Don’t listen to anything case managers say. They are undertrained and revolving door employees. Don’t even talk to them. Especially hostile ones. Stop answering your phone. Tell them postal mail only. Make them go find easier fish to bully. Most of these case managers are bullies. The job attracts that type of personality. They only pick on people who they can get a reaction out of. They love people who answer the phone and give them the reactions they want.
Is it a bad idea to ask for my full case file since I’m doing another review ? And should I request all communication be made through email and letter mail ? I’m surprised that after I hired a legal team and they approved the LTD beyond 2 years they kept the same case manager. Seems unprofessional
If you just completed a review then I would personally wait for your CPP approval to come through. Once you get approved for CPP you have a lot more leverage. If they keep harassing you and ask you for another full review then I would definitely ask for a new case manager. Then I would tell them that you only want communication through postal mail and email. If the update forms they send you are just the same forms then I just get your doctor to photocopy the old ones and send those to them. If they’re not asking for new information then just photocopy and send that’s what I do. Or just write unchanged. Make it so they can’t harass you without actually committing employee hours to you. Once they have to start writing custom questions specifically to your case and having someone review them and so forth they will just move on to an easier fish. Basically make it so that no case manager wants to deal with you. Being nice really doesn’t get you anywhere or being cooperative. I mean you should be cooperative to a certain extent but once you have already provided all the information you provided and you had to sue them and you got CPP approval then at that point there’s no point in being nice anymore if they aren’t going to be nice to you. But you don’t want to draw attention to yourself that’s the trick. Obviously you’ve drawn a lot of attention to yourself so far which is fine because you had to do that but now just make it very difficult for them to contact you and there are certain ways to do this. Like I said the main way is billable hours make it so they don’t want to contact you. Think of if you were a case manager the worst person you’d ever want to deal with someone who rambled on the phone incoherently. Maybe when they phone you start telling them about your cats or your grandmother or tell them about how you just went on a grocery store trip and spend 15 minutes telling them about the different types of milk you looked at. Or write them a letter saying all of that send them a 20 Page letter just rambling about whatever. No I’m kind of joking but you got the point. I think there’s anything in the world my case manager would rather do than talk to me. Kind of like a cat. Once the mousw dies or stops fighting back the cat doesn’t care anymore it moves on to find more exciting prey to deal with
I’m going to not answer phones and just have them have to email me or mail things. It is beyond stressful and the anxiety is crippling. If I get harassed again I will make sure they can only communicate by email. I’m still waiting on the cppd which is also stressful. The case manager should have been changed after the legal stuff. If any issues I’ll request a new one.
Yeah this dynamic sucks so how to change the dynamics. Strategy wise I would do two things. Instead of having me and my doctor fill out the forms, I would send a short letter saying (if true) that there is no change since the date of the last form (or no change except xyz). I would also include in the letter a request for all personal information in my file, in the format required by the privacy statute of your province (or the federal government if your province doesn’t have such a statute). Minimize your effort and maximize their efforts to discourage this bs. You could even pre-print a bunch of copies of your letter to date, sign and send.
Totally agree with @Caro about requesting (do it by email) their claims file on you every single time they ask for an update from you. They are legally obliged to do this everytime you request it. This will hopefully reduce their contact with you, and give you an idea what they are up to.
Yes, good plan to only communicate through email/mail. When they leave a voicemail to call them back, just email them asking them to send their requests over email/mail only. You’re not obligated to talk to them over the phone.
You can also send an email requesting a change of adjuster, because the current adjuster is causing you additional stress that is hampering your recovery and well being. Send it to your adjuster and also copy the Manulife’se Ombuds Office (their complaints department). That email address is ombuds.office@manulife.ca.
Still waiting on cppd. It’s another headache cause I called and they said an answer was made March 9th. I didn’t get a call or letter. No letter was mailed. Called again and they said after a decision was made it was sent to the benefits officer department but no communication and nothing showing anywhere on MSCA.
So I don’t know if approved or denied, it was a reconsideration as the initial application I didn’t get any of the forms in on time. I hope that is approved but again I bet it will be denied.
I asked for my complete cppd file under the privacy last week so I hope I get an answer one way or the other. I do think making a decision a month ago and not communicating that decision. Just makes it more stressful. I talked to service Canada 3 times and no answer and nothing comes up on MSCA or CRA which makes me think it’s a denial since it’s been a month. From
My understanding, benefits officers also can deny and
If you login to your Service Canada account you can see if you are approved. There’s a bit of a trick. I think you go to “Apply for CPP benefits” or something and if it says “You cannot apply you are already on benefits” then it means you’re approved.
Unfortunately that doesn’t show anything for me. I’m leaning towards it was denied as it’s been a month since a decision was made, no communication and nothing showing online. I don’t understand why though it takes this long to just provide an answer. I have checked MSCA almost daily for last couple weeks and no status changes. Just don’t know why the decision was sent to a benefits officer a month ago
If it is any comfort, I received my letter after 8 weeks of them telling me that it is with the benefits officer and also my status in MSCA changed after that and not before I received the letter. I understand that it is a very stressful time not knowing what the decision is but worrying about something you have no control over is not helpful. So be kind to yourself and take care of your mental health during this stressful time. Take care.
Is this true? I don’t know what to think anymore because the insurance companies have the right to do anything. The Federal Government gave them this right.
Yes it’s true. You don’t have to talk to them over the phone. What would someone do who doesn’t speak very good english? That would be a very long conversation with a translator involved. Or maybe someone’s disability is that they are mute? Or maybe someone just has so much anxiety that whenever you talk on the phone it exasperates their condition. Whatever it is it’s none of their business. If they truly won’t drop it and they try to make you talk on the phone just get one or two questions in and then start screaming as loud as you can and have a full-on panic attack that’s what I do. Start hyperventilating and whatever. I’ll play that game all night long
My union once told me I have to speak to LTD. That was years ago.
Sometimes speaking to them is better than filling a form because they sometimes send me the wrong form.