TORONTO INJURY LAWYER BLOG

Our law firm litigates countless Long Term Disability (LTD) claims against large, multi-national insurers such as Great West Life, Sun Life, Manulife, Industrial Alliance, Desjardins, SSQ, Canada Life, Empire Life, RBC Insurance, Co-Operators, Equitable Life and the list goes on.

Litigating these claims can prove to be difficult for a variety of reasons.

It’s important for all claimants to understand that these claims are based on what the policy says. In our office, we refer to this concept as the four corners of the insurance policy.

There are certainly ways around these four corners, along with way at tackling damages for LTD claims which are outside of the scope of the police such as punitive, aggravated and damages for mental distress. But these topic will not be covered in this edition of the Toronto Injury Lawyer Blog Post.

For now, we are going to focus on damages under the LTD policy.

The policy will define what the monthly LTD benefit amount is; how long benefits will be paid for; when those benefits will begin to be paid; what medico/legal definition a Plaintiff must meet in order to be considered disabled under the policy; what injuries are and aren’t covered under the policy; and what exclusions would limit recover under the policy.

Plaintiffs/Claimants don’t write their policy. Insurance companies do. Accordingly; many provisions contained in long term disability policies aren’t there to protect claimants. Rather, they are there to protect the insurer’s interests so as to mitigate their damages and minimize any potential pay out.

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In Ontario, injured parties who are seeking for compensation generally have 2 years from the date of the accident, or the date of denial to sue. With the exception of minors and sexual assault claims, this is the general rule of thumb which it should not be taken lightly.

This two year period in which Plaintiffs have to sue is called a “Limitation Period“. And if you miss that limitation period to commence your claim, then you’re out of luck.

We have a specific Act in Ontario devoted specifically to limitation periods. It’s called the Limitations Act, 2002 and it sets out the time periods in which you can, and can’t commence a claim.

Determining when a limitation period begins to run in a car accident, or bike accident case is pretty easy. The time begins to run from the date of the accident itself. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist, or an elite personal injury lawyer to figure this out.

BUT: what happens when the triggering event from when time begins to run isn’t as clear as a car accident. What happens in cases not caused by torts or negligence on a identifiable date; such as in a long term disability case for benefits which have been wrongfully denied.

That’s when limitation periods can get tricky and when disability claimants and injured parties can get tricked. Keep reading so you don’t get tricked like countless others.
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