Well - it’s finished. After being cut-off my LTD I appealed (& lost) so I initiated Litigation. My Employer changed my status to “Unpaid LOA”. A year after LTD ended my Employer terminated my Employment under “Frustrated Contract”.
I have now negotiated a settlement with the Insurer and can take that heavy burden off my shoulders. OMGawd it was a horrible experience! If I had the energy I would lobby the Government to put some very severe restrictions and guidelines/regulations on Disability Insurers!
Now onto finding an Employment Lawyer and start this process all over again - but I’m not as stressed out over this one as I don’t have to “prove” my illness. I now have a bit of breathing room once the cheque arrives. I consider this a win!
That’s great news. I’m about to go through the same process myself. I’m really stressed out about it and don’t really know what to expect. It would be nice if you could share your experience if you’re legally permitted to do so. Also I agree that pressure needs to be put on legislators to force insurance companies to be more transparent and fair. What I’ve gone through with my insurer has exacerbated my disability and I can only feel that they’ve done this in the hopes I’ll become frustrated and give up. I have no intention of letting them off the hook at this point.
Hey Jam1 - No I didn’t have to go through mediation and/or discovery. We had scheduled a meeting for last Monday for a Questioning/Discovery but over the weekend my Lawyer called me (we had met last Friday to go over what would happen in the Questioning meeting) to ask me if we wanted to just counter an offer they had made several months back (which was stupidly low and I ignored). Anyway - I agreed with the decision so instead of going thru a questioning we countered and went back and forth several times (I was not in the meeting room with them - only my lawyer was - he went back and forth from the meeting room to me in his office). The negotiation settled after about 3.5 hours. It’s not going to replace my income to 65 (11 years owing) by any means but I’m not unhappy with what I we settled for (we’ll see after legal costs, disbursements, taxes & GST). BTW - I signed a non-disclosure agreement to not talk about this (LOL).
That was my attitude as well. Totally - and the stress on me was huge and showed on my followup medical exams. I actually thought that the next day after the settlement I would miraculously feel good with some of the stress relieved but to my dismay I have felt almost worse. Shouldn’t surprise me with all the things I suffer from but was still hopeful for some reprieve.
Elaine - It took me approx 11 months from start to finish. I consider that amazing. The settlement was liveable. It’s never going to cover 11 years of income replacement. More like 3. But if I don’t go into remission in the next few years I’ll have my pension to rely on.
Thank you very much for your detailed reply. It certainly helps as I am awaiting mediation scheduled in the next couple of months with Manulife as well.
Thanks for sharing, I so appreciate the people on this forum who are so supportive and helpful with questions and concerns. I’ll certainly keep people posted how things go for myself and if I end up settling. I know I’ll likely have to sign a non-disclosure agreement as well but that should not preclude me from sharing “hypothetical” scenarios.
I’m behind you on pushing for legislation change. I’m currently in a legal dispute with my insurance company so I’m a little leery of pushing too hard at this point. Having said that, at the end of this soul crushing nonsense I also plan to push for change. The insurance industry needs to be taken to task and be held to account for their end of the agreement. They currently have way too much power and need to be knocked down a notch.
Elaine - unfortunately I am unable to work at this time as I have Lyme Disease and about 4 other illnesses. I just saw my Lyme-literate specialist today and he’s concerned about my weight loss and throwing up (might be an obstruction) so I have to go for more testing plus I have an MRI in April. My health has not improved but I’m hoping one day it will. If it does I would definitely work.
Congrats to your win! My partner is currently under LTD with manulife as well since 2016, but they have increased reports from self-assessment. She has multiple diagnosis similar to yours including chronic pain issues, central sensitization syndrome, mental health diagnosis that hinder her from effective functioning. She has been with Chronic Pain Clinic (2 different hospitals) in the past years and failed all invasive procedures with injections…etc, and not a suitable surgical candidate.
Now manulife is increasing self-assessment forms frequency (used to be annually, but now almost every 6 months). we are trying to prepare for what they can or may do in the future – ie finding ways to cut her off LTD. Fortunately, she is currently approved by CPP as well. We live in BC.
what is your take on her situation? what we should be doing to prepare for a possible litigation? what she should be doing if manulife is sending out surveillance?
More Questions: =)
did you go thru similar changes, ie increasing frequency, possible surveillance,etc, with manulife ?
why would a chiropractor be the independent medical examiner in your case ? shouldn’t they be using an MD or specialist for this matter?
thank you for your help…and your story has been very motivating and positive for us!!
Very similar situation as yours. Order the claim file is the first step, you probably will be surprised to see they have done surveillance on you if your case has been a few years. At least in my case they did, and I can see the next one is coming. so you can at least have your mind set for it, not saying you react differently, as you never know when they will come to videotaping. But to mentally more prepared for it and be less paranoid and in complete panic when it happened.