Unfortunately Manulife is playing games with my LTD just because they can. I was awarded CPP DISABILITY and the rep at Manulife said that they do not care what CPP says. I’m sure that they would use any CPP denial against me.
Now I have to use a lawyer who will take one third of the money’s owing to me…
I asked the lawyer about recouping court costs so the insurance companies have to pay for being jerks… he said that they are never held to any account no mater what.
That doesn’t seem fair or right but then again that would mean that a lawyer would hold another lawyer to accountability for their actions and lawyer’s only advice and don’t stand behind their work… sorry but I’ve been burned a few times by lawyer’s on both sides of the bench
Once you file a lawsuit you are entitled to legal costs, which are meant to act as a reimbursement for your legal fees charged. Each province have civil procedure rules that calculate legal costs amounts, and each does do a bit differently – with Ontario having the most generous legal fee reimbursements in Canada and New Brunswick being the lowest. Normally if there is a one time settlement or a reinstatement of benefits the insurance company would pay legal costs as part of any settlement. These legal costs will offset the % of compensation you pay to the lawyer for legal fees. Some lawyers lump the legal costs in with the the amount paid for compensation, but you should ask for legal costs and disbursements to be broken out so no % is taken of this money.
Tanious v. The Empire Life Insurance Company, 2017 BCSC 85
This case provides a great argument and relevant case law for having your legal costs fully indemnified.
Your lawyer may not be a good match for you or may be trying to manage your expectations.
I had a lawyer who told me I would never get my property insurer to pay 100% of my legal costs or any punitive damages.
I got a new lawyer who said we will just go for a global settlement approach to avoid the labels of damages when negotiating and it worked.
The lawyer got me 10 times the amount my first lawyer said was possible.
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