Disability lawyer in Toronto can significantly Increase the Chances of a Positive Outcome

Posted by John Fostar
6
Aug 12, 2013
692 Views
An insurance policy that covers you for compensation if you are unable to work due to disability is a contract between you and your employer or an insurance company.

Any disability lawyer in Toronto will tell you that a contract is binding because much of the contract deals with the rights and obligations of the parties to each other.

If you are injured in an accident or otherwise and cannot work and your long term disability (LTD) lawyer denies you benefits it is prudent to seek the services of a lawyer.

The reason is simple. Long term disability companies are hawks. We would be naïve to expect them to be impartial. The more disability claims they approve, the more is the outgo from their funds. Admittedly, they will put all efforts to deny disability claims by putting forth flimsy reasons.

LTD companies use bad faith tactics to deny legitimate claims.

What is bad faith?

Bad faith means duplicity, deception, or double mindedness. It can involve intentional deceit. In insurance lingo, bad faith is a legal term that describes a tort claim an insured person can have against an insurance company.

Under the law of most jurisdictions in Canada insurance companies owe their insurers good faith and fair dealing.

If an insurance company violates that pledge, the policy holder has all rights to sue the company on a tort claim in addition to standard breach of contract claim.

Insurance companies use a host of tactics to deny claims. For a claimant it may not be possible to decide on their own whether bad faith tactics were employed by the insurance company.

Here are some general examples of how insurance companies deny claims.

The company:

•    Intentionally or otherwise ignores facts that support the claim
•    Pays benefits conditionally or with reservations and then threatens recovery
•    Imposes new terms that do not appear in the policy
•    Allege material misrepresentation by the claimant
•    Perform coercive claim practices
•    Conduct shady surveillance that trespass claimant’s privacy
•    Overuse independent medical examiners (IMEs)
•    Offers low settlements
•    Do not adhere to fair claim practices

The above list is only illustrative. A disability lawyer in Toronto will tell you that the methods applied by LTD companies to deny claims are many more.

Yet, claimants on their part can do something on their own to strengthen their case. Here are a few suggestions. Claimants must:

•    Make an effort to understand the terms, requirements, and limitations of the policy – Sometimes there are differences between the obvious meanings of a word and the legal implication of the word. The definition of disability itself has many hues. For instance, insurers distinguish differently of a person being disabled from job, own occupation and any occupation.
•    Must be in close touch with the treating doctor – This helps in providing strongest possible evidence in support of the LTD claim
•    Maintain documents in a chronological order
•    Be fully prepared for medical examination by Insurer’s Medical Examiners
•    Appeal denials within the stipulated time

There are many more. In any case if you are thinking about hiring a long term disability lawyer, benefits are many and worth going over.

Share Lawyers is disability lawyer in Toronto committed to protecting the rights of individuals in Ontario. The long term disability lawyer handles legal matters in the areas of insurance disputes involving illness, injury or death, long term disability denials, motor vehicle accidents, and serious personal injuries. 
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