Short Term vs Long Term Disability in Ontario
When involved in any type of accident, (whether this is a vehicle accident or an accident in the workplace that results in you being unable to work and having to claim disability) you have options.
These options are STD or short-term disability and LTD, also known as long term disability. What is the difference between these two options?
The difference is going to mean the difference in the quality of life that you have, thus it is important to know all that you can know about these disability offerings in Ontario.
What is a Disability?
To first understand what these benefits are, you need to understand what a disability is. The problem is that disabilities are something that is hard to define.
What makes this even harder is that this definition is going to change depending upon what part of Canada you call home.
For those who call Ontario home, the word “substantial” is used when talking about what types of disabilities are considered worthy of STD and LTD benefits.
The standard definition of a disability is that this is an impairment that causes restrictions…from there, your location is going to be what dictates the rest of this definition.
What is Short Term Disability?
Short-term disability is defined as the disability benefits that a person receives for a short amount of time. However, what is the time limit on these disability coverages?
In Ontario, this is for a period of up to 15 weeks in which you can get disability from the government.
However, insurance companies in the area often classify short-term disability as lasting up to six months.
What is Long Term Disability?
Long term disability is the payments that you receive from the government or from your insurance company for longer than six months.
Please note that people can receive STD benefits and then claim LTD benefits if they are still not well enough to work and provide for themselves.
This is often a confusing question that many people have as they sometimes believe that they cannot claim both, but you can!
STD versus LTD
For those who are looking at both of these disability options, they will find that they have several elements that are similar and many that are different.
According to the facts of disability coverage, they are going to give you between 60% to 85% of your normal income, no matter if you are getting short term or long term disability.
Another similarity that these two options have is that they both can reduce their payments to you if you are receiving other benefits from the government like EI or CPP.
This is where the similarities between these two stops. Some other notable differences between STD and LTD benefits include the following:
- Rehabilitation services are not going to be offered with short term disability but will be offered with long term disability in most case.
- Long term disability payments may payout for a fixed amount of time, however, to continue to get these payments, you have to prove that you cannot work and provide for yourself.
Where do you get Coverage?
While people are familiar with STD and LTD, where do these coverage’s come from? This is another commonly asked question.
There are many employers who are providing this coverage to those who are interested in working with them. However, many people are purchasing this on their own through insurance companies. Either option can be an avenue to choose.
However, for those who are relying on their employer’s coverage only, be sure that you are reading the fine print.
In many cases, the employer option is only for STD and not LTD. Thus, you may still need to purchase a policy on your own anyways to ensure that you get the right type of coverage should you be out of work, especially if you are the main breadwinner for the family.
Applying for and Receiving Disability
Another large difference between STD and LTD coverages is how you apply for these coverages so that you can start getting payments.
With short term disability, you must provide a physician’s’ statement that is going to collaborate with the claim that you are making. Within this note there must be a prognosis as well as a timeline for when you will be recovered.
A personal statement is also needed that is going to explain why you can no longer work, along with your employer stating what your job consists of. The idea is that the company can then see that you cannot do the work that is needed to fulfill the position.
To apply for LTD, it is a bit more complex. You still have to provide the information that you had to with the STD. What makes this harder to get is that you have to prove that you are going to be unable to work.
In fact, the legal issues that surround this type of coverage often change from year to year. Therefore, most of those who are trying to get LTD after being out of work for months or years working with a lawyer to help them through this.
Denials Do Happen
Unfortunately, even those who desperately need these disability coverages often find that they are denied.
Denials happen more than what most people realize. Some of the more common reasons for denials include:
- Making errors in the application filing
- Insufficient information
- Circumstantial reasons
- An insurance adjuster decision you re-evaluate the extent of the claims
When a denial happens, there are several options that you have. You do not have to think that you are out of luck and simply have to make a living with no income.
There are often appeal processes that a person can go through in order to get their case re-evaluated. With an appeal process, you are given a written detail of all the reasons why your case may have been denied.
From there, you can try to tackle this appeal process on your own or you can work with a legal professional, which is the option that many people utilize as they do not want to be denied again.
Why Work with a Legal Professional?
For those who are still confused as to which disability coverage that they qualify for or who are having issues with getting approved, they will find that a lawyer can help out tremendously.
Many times, working with a lawyer is the only way to get the benefits that you deserve as insurance companies often want to fight on what they pay out to clients.
Here at Conte Jaswal, we know how difficult and stressful this process can be, and we want to help you.
If you have had your disability case denied or are unsure of where to turn to get disability, we can help with this process.
We can help you no matter what stage of this process you are involved in and help to ensure that you are getting the disability that your injury deserves.
Don’t try to go at this alone as this increases the chances of being denied and left without the coverage that is rightfully yours. Instead, contact Conte Jaswal for a free, no obligation consultation to discuss what options you have!
Contact us today for a FREE Consultation.
