Disability Insurance Lawyers

Your insurance company refuses or has stopped paying you the benefits provided for in your disability insurance contract?

It is easy to abandon yourself in your insurance claim process, especially when your insurer asks you to provide many documents and submit to several medical expertise.

Don’t think this is the end of your battles. Our firm will analyze your insurance policy to advise you on the various possible remedies and help you obtain the compensation to which you are entitled.

*Please note that the percentage rate only applies to claims over $40,000. For claims under $40,000, an hourly rate applies.

Disability Insurance Lawyer

Insurance contracts contain provisions that are often long and complex and require further analysis.

It is important to understand the coverage provided in your insurance policy, particularly with regard to the concept of disability, as well as the medical assessment and review processes, before filing a legal claim against your insurer.

Disability insurance and disability rate

There are several different types of insurance policies that provide different coverages. Indeed, it is wrong to believe that being sick automatically means that one is disabled.

Some policies protect your ability to continue the same job you were in at the time of your insurance claim, and others offer coverage only if you are unfit to do any job. In short, the disability rate is not the same between a permanent total disability at any job versus the inability to return to work.

The required burden of proof is not the same either, and the insurer will certainly have you meet with one or more experts to determine whether you are fit or unfit to perform the actual job or any employment.

Often, when faced with a refusal of their disability insurance, people do not realize the amount of compensation that is at stake and the impact it can have on the quality of their lives.

It is important to fight for compensation; don’t delay in taking action.

Contact us now. We will make every effort to assert your rights against your insurer.

Disability insurance and medical expertise

Your insurer has the right to require you to undergo one or more medical examinations under the law, even if you have already submitted medical certificates from your attending physician.

In the event that your insurer’s expertise shows that you are fit to work, it is then important to obtain a counter-expertise. Be aware that even if you have several medical certificates from your doctor in your file, they are often very basic and will often not have the same weight as a good independent expertise. For more information on this, see our page on the importance of expertise.

Examples of disability cases in insurance law

There are several illnesses and injuries that can make you disabled, whether for a short or long time.

Here are some cases we frequently see in our disability insurance files.

Fibromyalgia and disability

Fibromyalgia is a syndrome with pain, fatigue, sleep disturbances and mood disturbances as the main symptoms. It often results in an inability to work full-time or to go about one’s daily activities.

Although it has long been poorly known and misunderstood, fibromyalgia is now a disease that is recognized at the medical level, affecting between 270,000 and 400,000 people in Quebec.

Fibromyalgia is diagnosed in some cases by the family doctor, and in other cases, by a specialist doctor (rheumatologist or neurologist).

The challenge is very present in insurance cases involving this disease, because it is considered a disabling disease by some and not disabling by others.

Indeed, the different subtleties in the provisions of insurance contracts mean that your insurer could refuse that fibromyalgia is a disease within the meaning of the contract, but only a symptom, given that it has no known cause.

It is important to get independent expertise to have a good assessment of symptoms that make you unable to perform your job.

Depression and disability

Mental health problems contribute a lot to occupational disability, and depression is often one of the leading causes.

Depression can occur because of a major ordeal (separation, bereavement, accident), the work environment (burnout, harassment) or other. It is a disabling disease that many hesitate for a long time before deciding to take a work stoppage.

Although in the majority of cases, the diagnosis of depression (major depressive disorder) is made by an attending physician, your insurer may request medical expertise by a psychiatrist, who may disagree with your attending physician. For more information on this, see our page on medical expertise.

A diagnosis of depression that is secondary can lead, in some cases, to the termination of disability insurance benefits.

In one of our files, our client was put on leave from work by her attending physician and followed up with a neurologist for balance disorders. After three years, she developed depression related to her pain and limitations.

Thus, in this case, the primary disabling diagnosis was at the physical level, and the depression that followed was a secondary diagnosis. Our client underwent an expert appraisal by her insurer’s psychiatrist, who declared her fit for work, and the insurer immediately stopped paying her benefits.

You will understand that in this case, there was no evidence that our client was physically fit, but the insurer found a way to stop paying her benefits.

Each case is a case in point. Contact us so that our firm can assist you in your compensation procedures.

Recourse in case of refusal of the insurer

We understand that taking legal action can be very costly, especially when you find yourself in a situation where your insurer is cancelling your disability insurance benefits.

That’s why our firm offers you a percentage rate, that is to say an agreement based on the amount that will eventually be collected from your insurer.

We understand that justice can be long. Know that it is of crucial importance for our firm to work in collaboration with our clients to avoid unnecessary delays and to speed up the file.

Contact us for legal advice.

Read also…

• Tips when taking out an insurance policy
• Access to information request to your insurer
• Recourse for damage caused by potholes

Follow our weekly legal capsules on different legal topics on our Facebook page!