Loss of over $600/m of my CF Pension Bridge Benefit to give LTD insurance my CPP Disability

Hi David, I just found out something very interesting today in discussing my situation with Sunlife. Apparently, Sunlife only “administers” the LTD payment for the federal government. What I think this means is that, the money is coming from the government, not the insurance company. The LTD company only finds the offsets (CPPD etc.) and distributes the funds on behalf of the federal government. This makes sense to me as the federal government always insures themselves and uses companies (private) to administer. This is just like Veteran’s Affairs who uses Blue Cross to pay treatment claims. Blue Cross does not pay the money but only administers each treatment claim. If this is the case, it changes everything! I am arguing the loss of my CF bridge payment to the wrong organization. What do you know about this and now how to I address it? Thanx.

Cherylynn, that’s great news at least it’s an avenue that seems promising.
I have my fingers crossed for you and am wishing you a quick positive resolution.

Yes, the Sunlife administrator seems to be at the mercy of TBS and is discussing our situation in the next couple of weeks. In the meantime you as I will too, reach out to your MP (again) to apprise them of this and see if there is more pressure that can be made.

I have been battling through the same mess with basically the same issues, but an added twist: When I became disabled I was buying back some pensionable years, and that is automatically deducted off my CRA disability pension cheque, but NOT recognized by Sunlife, therefore I am shorted not only the Bridge benefit, but also another $700 a month from my pension buybacks. I have discussed with Sunlife, CPP, and CRA. They ALL agree there’s a big problem, but none see it as their purview. I have contacted my union (CRA), and its not their problem neither. I have fought this for years - since 2013 - and all I have reached is a brick wall and extreme undue hardship. I am shorted about 1600 each month … and all because a car hit & run me (so no insurance payout), 5 yrs before I would have retired with a full pension. Now I am living in my motor home wondering what I did wrong to warrant such a poverty income. I’m really interested if anyone has figured out which one is the actual source. I pegged it to be Sunlife, and after many discussions, they stated that there are no provisions for such a case as mine. That’s it. And no CPP bridge, and once I turn 65 the cpp disability will stop, as will Sunlife, so I will be reduced to a pension that is about half of what I was supposed to receive upon real retirement. There is no one that can help, and per reading all the comments, it’s just too “complicated” to figure out by the powers that be…
May others be more fortunate.

Does that mean you took your pension early?
My LTD ceases when I retire, I guess yours doesn’t?

Is the bridge benefit in the public sector the same as LTD in the private sector?
It is based on CPP (-D?) instead of a persons salary (private sector)?

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Hi Jammer, I was forced to retire 2 yrs prior to maxing out my pensionable yrs, because the fed govt was closing some offices, and rather than keeping me on their books for my last 2 yrs, it also messed up my pension as I will always be 2 yrs short. I first was on Sunlife LTD, who made me apply for CPP-D, then the employer forced me to either return to work (with a Drs letter, impossible), or take early retirement. So in 2012 I rec’d retro Ltd, then I rec’d retro CPP which I had to give to Ltd, then my retirement which was a nightmare as I had to pay a lot of things… However, at NO time have I ever rec’d a bridge, nor will I, by virtue of receiving CPP-D, and when I’m 65 I get cut off everything but my pension; no CPP as its govt, although I also worked for the private sector, I am negated the CPP upon age 65. No bridge. Sunlife is supposed to top me up to a % of my wages, however as per my initial post, they do not, by alot every month. 7 more years of this, then I will be in serious hardship, not what I thought would happen when I decided to pursue the career I did with CRA. It’s a huge hit, had I not become disabled after a car hit me, I would already have retired a year ago with my pension almost double what I now receive. No one wants to go to bat because its too “complex” and “convoluted”.

Wow, it does sound complex.
I wish you luck.

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Thanks, and for sure it is complex per Sunlife, finally pegged the problem and responsibility is on them, as they “top-up” my monthly income, and they do not have any legislation / policy for this type of situation. I believe I have gone as far as I can, and now it is time to go to an MP’s office and show them the inequities and corresponding hardship that one’s due diligence reaps when unexpected accidents cause one to not be able to even receive what one’s contract states. It is a conundrum.

Hi RJCRAD, just to understand your situation:
You were working for fed, got LTD (Sunlife) and CPPD and you got an early PS Pension because you retired (forced after 2 years on LTD). Your PS Pension did not include a bridge because they already knew you were getting CPPD. Recall that the bridge portion of your PS Pension ceases once you receive CPP or CPPD because they are a combined federal benefit for fed employees. Also, you were able to increase your PS Pension by buying back some pensionable years whilst you were off on LTD. So your PS Pension increased because of that buyback BUT LTD Sunlife sucks that up by offsetting your LTD payment. They do not really care that you are buying it back it would not have mattered to them as they look only at the Gross PS pension amount that you are getting. The only advantage to you in buying back some service to increase your PS pension is that once you are cut off LTD at age 65, you will have that larger PS Pension. So you will have to live well beyond 65 to make up for the lessor LTD payments (a kunundrum indeed). So presently, your overall income still should be 70% of you last federal salary. You do not gain any further income than that. You get the CPPD and the PS Pension and LTD subtracts that from your 70% LTD payment to leave you 70% whole.
You state that LTD Sunlife is not giving you 70% and I do not understand that. Do the math again and make sure that they are in compliance with the federal 12500 contract. The other thing I do not understand is why you say that you will not get CPP (regular) after age 65? Depending on your CPP contributions which should not matter whether or not you also worked for the private sector, you have contributed to the CPP and are entitled to that. At age 65 you should get your CPP + PS Pension (now better because you bought some years back). If this is not enough to support you after age 65 then you will have to earn more money somewhere or reduce your expenses. There are perhaps a few things that you could do such as apply for the CRA disability tax credit (reducing your expenses), seek further legal action about your car accident (through a victim’s provincial fund) and/or try to get physically better by age 65 to earn some income (online business, doing other people’s taxes etc…). Recall also that because (I am assuming now, that you retired with a pension due to a disability) that you have preferential hiring back into the PS. I only mention all this to give you hope against a system that can be unfair. You need to do the planning to guide your course of action. Again, if you are not getting 70% of your last CRA salary (LTD + PS Pension + CPPD) then you need to first address that by either complaining to the Federal Secretary of the LTD Plan (I have contact info) that Sunlife is not in compliant with their contract and/or contacting a disability lawyer who will be paid only if your case is successful with a financial payout. Good luck, keep striving and don’t lose hope.

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Here too folks forced to apply for CPP dis after my two years of LTD. Was awarded CPP dis, CPP repaid LTD to insurance provider and sent me a sum of funds. The pension office contacts me to inform me that my pension will be reduced by 900 a month and that I owe them 16K which was more than I obtained from CPP dis. How is it I pay into CPP and my pension but then get penalized by being an injured vet and forced to apply for a benefit that actually puts me in financial distress. How is this legal? So sick of feeling like a 5th class citizen. Lying politicians and insurance company greed. If there is a class action suit count me in. Since i was released 3B my
pension is supposed to be at a guaranteed fixed rate which it is now not.

I am new to this blog, is there any updates, I find myself in a similar position.

Finn

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Hi Finn, no new news! I have contacted my MP (useless), Senator in my area (useless) and reasoning with the LTD insurer. The LTD insurer has the outright authority to suck up your deemed offsets at the GROSS rate not NET. It is not clear from my MP who can be contacted to help in these issues with those disabled recipients to help resolve the logic and insanity that arises. Talk to your MP and have them call my MP - Kyle Peterson (Newmarket/Aurora Ontario). If a few MPs are engaged maybe something will happen. The point is this: LTD payments should not affect the bridge benefit of a CAF Pension (unrelated employment) and if years are bought back by the member at their own costs, the increase in buyback pension out not to be offset. Why should a person buy back pension years only to have it sucked up by the LTD? Of course the only advantage is an increased pension after 65 years old when LTD is cut off. But I fail to see the logic of why the LTD insurer should get the gross increase. Let all who in this situation discuss with their MP and see if something can happen about this. :slight_smile:

Hi David, have you any more insight on this topic? Best Regards, Cherylynn

Hi David, are you aware of the class action against VAC that has been approved by the courts which involves retroactively paying back disability benefits offsetted from their financial Earnings Loss Benefit (ELB)? VAC worked in the same manner as LTD coys in that the department gave a 70% (now 90%) ELB from the veteran’s last salary before deemed disabled. However, it then reduced the amount of the ELB by offsetting any VAC disability benefit. So if a Veteran earned $2000/m as an ELB but then got $500/m for his service disability the net ELB reduced to $1500/m. This practice of offsetting ceased I believe in 2012; however, the retroactivity prior was never addressed and is now due to the class action. The premise of the class action rest on that deduction of disability benefits from ELB, CFIS, and WVA violated s. 15 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms , which prohibits discrimination based on disability. The class action seeks damages and compensation for all class members who were subject to the deduction.

The Class is represented in the case by Gowling WLG and Michel Drapeau Law Office (“Class Counsel”).

My question is this: The reasoning for this Class Action based on violating s. 15 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms – is this not very similar to the practice of Long Term Disability Insurance Companies like Sunlife (for Federal Employees) offsetting amounts received by disabled persons on Canada Pension Plan Disability Payments (CPPD)? To your knowledge has any class action ever been brought to address this very similar issue? Thanx David, hope to hear from you soon. Best Regards,

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The VAC class actions have their foundation in the wording of the Pension Act as it pertains to veterans. The key point was that the Act did not provide for the type of offsets that were happening, or at least the wording was ambiguous so the courts found. It was an issue of discrimination because disabled veterans were getting less pension than non-disabled veterans.

There is nothing legally wrong with offsets per se, its just that they must have clear language.

The legal theory and reasoning in the VAC cases will not translate over typical LTD insurer situations, because the LTD insurer’s right to offset payments is usually well documented in the LTD policies. Normally there is no ambiguity. there is no discrimination because all LTD claimants are treated the same, etc.


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.

Hello BD6:
I’m in the exact situation except the government waited 9 years to cease my bridge benefit. The notice came after they ceased the bridge benefit and deducted my CF Pension and left me with a $56,000 CRA tax bill. Besides the bridge benefit being taken away there also garnishing my CF pension to pay for the owed taxes. All my financial was set-up on the CF base through the pay department before I left. There is surprising information that I found about this bridge benefit which I’ll send tomorrow. Do you have any new information about our issue?

P.S. Do know if David Brannen, disability Lawyer, has any new information on our situation.

Im planning on speaking to my local MP MPP with the assistance of my Care Team. I too have the same issues. As well, I’ve been cut off of the Federal Health Plan since my Disability Pension was reduced and no longer covered that plan. I’m definitely interested in a class action suit.
From the start of my disabilities, (2014) Sun Life refused ALL requests from my medical providers to provide me with rehabilitation help and aide. I was forced to go on LTD, CPPD, Early Retirement Pension, etc. Throughout the years I’ve had to tell Sun Life the amounts I’m receiving from each payment provider due to my disabilities.
We are taken advantage of. Disabled prematurely. Im not able to return to work. And the expenses increase. Yet Sunlife keeps taking. The system is not made to aide those that have paid into it for years. The insurance companys don’t care to help. If anyone starts a class action suit, it will be good to have a spokesperson for the majority suffering in this struggle.

I’m in the same situation as many. I have a small CF pension and was forced by Sun-life to apply for CPPD and was approved after 2 years got a letter from CF pension that I owe a large sum of money for back payments of the bridging and my CF pension reduced.
And this year having a large tax bill due to CPPD having to claim back payments that Sunlife received. These situation like mine is very stressful and does affect my own disabilities.
Thanks for listening.

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Has anyone also experienced the joys of becoming separated shortly after going on LTD? I will have to apply to have the CPP credits split with my departing spouse. Will this have an effect on amount of backpay in respect to my CF pension as well as money to be paid back to Sunlife when I move to CPP disability? Not sure I phrased this right, not sure anyone is still here to notice… I will say though, that reading this topic from it’s original post to the last post, has scared the tar out of me.

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Sorry to hear that but welcome to the forum.
I can’t help since I never woked for CF.
Hopefully you get a response.