Insurance (sunlife) offered me a buyout he said for a “few months” of payments, I am only one year into LTD but symptoms have not been diagnosed so they feel they can’t justify continued disability. I didn’t even ask questions about it because I am not ready to return to work yet. He then mentioned getting an independent management company involved to set up a treatment plan that of course includes psychological services because of course it’s all in my head (yeesh) I agreed but is it too late to ask questions about the buyout and perhaps change course of action? I don’t plan on returning to my employment as there is no work for me there anymore. I am certain I’ll be laid off and can go on EI until I can get into a program at school and retrain for something more conducive to my health. When they say a few months for the buyout is that what they mean or do they generally pay up to the two years? If so, that could keep me financially stable until school starts next year and I’ll be free of their stress causing antics and can really focus on healing. Thoughts?
I think that unless you get a lawyer they won’t negotiate. They are most likely offering 2 months. There is no legal reason for them to offer anything unless a lawyer gets involved. That’s just my opinion. Mine cut me off after 2.5 years and I have to get involved thru a lawyer now. I’ve been without payments for a year now.
Thanks Caramel. Yeah probably not eh? They seem nice enough but it’s always about the bottom dollar with them. I am sort of glad they offered that service, finding good therapy is hard to find and expensive and they said they would pay for it so I think it might be worth it and I can still do the EI thing afterward as my employer keeps telling me they have no work for me and they’re glad I’m sick. I can then spend that bit of time getting strong enough to undertake school. Sorry to hear they’re shafting you so bad.
Thanks Evie. I have very nasty words for insurers. They’re evil. You’re lucky they offered anything while still paying disability benefits. Could have been like mine and just cut you off with nothing. I believe you’re allowed 15 weeks EI medical which is something I didn’t find out until now so I don’t believe I would qualify. So unless you believe you’re totally disabled it may be worth fighting. Otherwise you have to weigh the pros and cons to their offers and go from there. I wish you much success.
Dealing with them has been the worst. I feel I’d be a lot further along in recovery if I didn’t have to deal with them. Thanks for the EI tip. I don’t know if I can work but I hope to do a job that allows me to work at home or close to home. I’ve realized that without our health we have nothing. I now just want a simple life and to learn an occupation that will allow for that, so I never have to depend on a company or insurance to pay my bills ever again. Best of luck to you!
Yep that’s how it is for all that are ill or disabled. They say they’ll take care of you but it’s all lies. They just want money. That’s why they’re billion dollar companies. Personally I think the government needs to rein them in big time. I know I would definitely be a lot better if they’d just leave me alone. But if it’s a fight they want I’m going to give it. I didn’t work most of my life to be treated this way lol.
This breaks my heart for you. Do you not have any coverage under your benefits for a psychologist or ask your Doctor for a referral to a psychiatrist?
Independent --not likely. Insurers only spend money to save money. I do not think you should accept a buy out–but your Insurer is up to stack a claim file against you. Please seek legal advice. Not sure what your medical issues are but no diagnosis means you do not know what your prognosis is. If you have not been working for a year you do not have EI as an option as you would not have enough insurable hours to apply.
I do have coverage but it’s so minimal I’ve exceeded it after 3 visits. I went down to the EI office and explained that I don’t have a job to go back to following a leave of absence due to illness. They told me this, which is also on their website.
“In some cases, the qualifying period may be extended to a maximum of 104 weeks if you were not employed in insurable employment or if you were not receiving EI benefits.” A perfect example is sick leave.
To be on sick leave from employment only to go back to no job they will go back to find those hours as long as you don’t exceed the 104 weeks. That’s what I was told. I hope that’s the case because there is no job there…
Oh wow-I stand corrected. That is huge and I wish I had known!
The corporations own the government. Bad faith is rampant but the courts rarely award any significant damages–
I so support you getting a lawyer and standing up to them -90% give up–
They need something from a doctor that says you can return to work. They cant just cut you off. I’ve been off for almost 6 years still no diagnosis nut that doesnt mean something isnt wrong. Ive been through the psychological testing and all. You need a doctor to fight for you. Theu ell everyone they ate getting cut off in hopes you doing nothing which probably 90% of people just accept it. They tried it with me at 2 yr mark and i appealed telling them there are no medical documents that state i could return to work infact all documents said i couldn’t. Needless to say i won my appeal immediately.
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Allyoops: I’ve been reading about “bad faith” - they’re very slick about dealing with that if it comes up. For instance there’s one insurer who’s tactics are to separate “bad faith” from other charges because if it was bundled all together they would have to pay a lot more! I have a document that states exactly how they do it. It’s deplorable. Thank you so much for your support. That’s exactly one of the reasons why I got a lawyer after my appeal was denied. If nothing else I intend to give them a run for their money that’s for sure. The more people stand up to these (&)(^&* the more it’s going to cost them.
Oh boy I wish it had turned out that way. They DID receive a letter from my Specialist as well as my Family Doctor. In fact, my Family Doctor spent 2 hours on the phone during patient time arguing with the Case Manager about my case - and she said she felt like it wouldn’t have mattered what she said - they were dead set on cutting me off. Initially the Insurer sent me a letter stating they were setting me up for occupational rehab to return to work. But after speaking with my Family Doctor for those 2 hours, they sent another letter a week later rescinding the rehab offer “on my Doctor’s advice that I could not do it” - and instead just cut me off! Done - just like that. My Doctors are completely on my side but it didn’t matter to them. They weren’t disputing my diagnosis’ - they were saying there’s no documentation saying I couldn’t “physically work” even though I had these diseases. It’s incredible really! My lawyer has a box with 6 binders full of paperwork on me - he’s very concerned with how they handled my case - so that’s encouraging. Now I have to deal with my Employer. They’ve undergone a huge upper Management change in the past few years and I think the policies have really toughened up (certainly isn’t the “Canadian” way)…
Ya, get a lawyer.
Without a diagnosis you will ever recover, you may need the LTD so don’t give it up.
Ask them to provide documentation from a medical proffessional that states
you can return to work. Bet they wont be able to do that…bingo!!! Thats
what i said in my appeal and i had no problems. Good luck. All my doctor
reports said no even their own doctor who did an IME. They still tried.
They have no legs to stand on.
Well unfortunately I do have documentation from their IME Doctor saying I could do sedentary work - but he’s not a Chronic Lyme Disease doctor so instead he diagnosed Fibromyalgia. The symptomology of Lyme disease is varied and diverse, resulting in significant difficulty in diagnosis. Known as “The Great Imitator,” Lyme disease can mimic the symptoms of Fibromyalgia, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, MS, ALS, Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s, as well as more than some 350 other diseases. Its also called the “Lyme Disease Complex”. So going to any other IME or FCE place having Chronic Lyme Disease is frustrating because so few in the medical field know much about it. I have about 5 diagnoses and just on one alone would stand up to the test. Manulife is a bitch to work with. They go against everything they claim they will do! They put all this stuff into their brochures but none of it is true. Employees are never given a copy of their Master Policy (of course) so they use that to their advantage.
The problem with evaluating how functional you are might vary day by day so 1 opinion on 1 day that you can do sedentary work is not valid in my opinion…
Jammer - I agree wholeheartedly and that’s what my Specialist told them as well - but they just didn’t care. They got someone with the word “Dr.” in front of his name who stated I could work in a Sedentary position and they ran with it immediately. It’s all they wanted to hear. Therefore, I sue.
Take this case to your lawyer https://www.canlii.org/en/nl/nlca/doc/2017/2017nlca32/2017nlca32.html