Manulife insurance offers several disability packages to its policy holders:
- Proguard Series disability insurance
- Venture Series disability insurance
- Manulife Buy-Sell Plus disability insurance
- ExpenseComp disability insurance
- Personal accident disability insurance
Regardless of your policy, if you ever find yourself saying “Manulife denied my claim!”, you should immediately get in touch with your Manulife long term disability insurance contact and gain a full understanding as to why your claim has been denied. Once you have gathered all of this information, we highly suggest you contact a long term disability lawyer.
Long Term Disability Lawyer for a Manulife Disability Claim?
This will only be in your benefit, for your long term disability attorney will overview all the Manulife long term disability forms and claims you filed and were ultimately denied, they will review the supporting evidence provided by you and by your Manulife long term disability agent, and provide a thorough proposal as to how you must appeal this denial of benefits. You have legal rights.
Manulife Long Term Disability Forms
Do not initiate your insurance company’s appeal process without contacting a long-term disability lawyer. You would be surprised how much unjust is done without having the proper understanding of your legal rights and the full mental and physical strength to fight for your appeal. A long term disability attorney comes with the insight and the zeal to fight for your rights and access your full policy benefits.
Manulife Long Term Disability Investigation
After an investigation by their claims department, Manulife insurance decides whether to accept or deny your disability claim.
As per Manulife Financial terms, you are eligible for Manulife disability benefits when you are:
“An employee who is wholly and continuously disabled due to illness or accentual bodily injury and, as a result, is unable to perform the duties of his normal occupation or the duties of any occupation for which he is fitted by education, training or experience.”
Once approved for access to benefits, you are entitled to 70% of you basic monthly earnings, which is a number based off of your salary that was directly affected by your disability. This benefit, as stated in the section before, is subject to income tax deductions.
Manulife’s LTD Process
If you are in the middle of a disability claim process, whether for a Manulife long-term disability or short term disability benefit, and you are asked to meet with one of Manulife’s Doctors for a medical examination, contact a long term disability lawyer first. Make sure that your insurance company is not trying to minimize your claim or subject you to further physical and/or emotional stress.
Unfortunately, while it may irk some people, it is common for long term disability insurance companies to hire private investigators to conduct video surveillance of a claimant’s activity. They do so in order to make sure that you are not lying on your insurance claim form, and are indeed suffering from physical and mental distress. Further, if you are already receiving benefits, that want to make sure you are still entitled to such and have not actually recovered and just “sitting around”.
That being said, these videos are conducted with a bias in favour of the insurance company and can skew an actual situation to act as evidence to held against you. An example of such is if you are filmed going up a flight of stairs, but the investigator does not film you having to take breaks, or that you had to sit down and rest at the top of the flight, once completed climbing. If they did include this in their investigation, then it can be argued that you still struggle and are not at your physical best.
Manulife Long Term Disability Benefits: What Happens After 2 Years?
Not all Manulife LTD plans last until the new age of retirement at 67, nor do they provide a coverage period extending more than the 2 years following the initial date of disability.
This is because they assume that while you may not be able to carry out the initial duties of your original occupation, you may be able to work in a new occupation that can sustain yourself. A Manulife Long Term Disability Benefits holder is entitled to further coverage, post 24 months, if they can provide evidence and are actually unable to perform, with continuity, the “material and substantial duties of any occupation”. This means that if you are capable, after two years, to perform the tasks of any job that exists near or around you, then your Manulife LTD benefits may be terminated.
A long term disability plan uses instances of commencement of coverage on the first day the employee is actively at work and engaged in employment on a continuing basis. Payments will cease if:
- You no longer are under medical supervision or treatment, approved by Manulife disability insurance
- You have intentionally self-inflicted injuries
- You decide to leave your job for maternity or paternity leave
After a full year of obtaining Manulife disability benefits, you may have an increase of a maximum of 7%/year as an adjustment for your cost of living expenses. This is instated on a commutative basis, effective the January of each following year. Benefits cease when you are either no longer disabled, or when you have reached the age of 67, in which you qualify for CPP disability benefits provided by the federal government.
Manulife Long Term / Short Term Disability 2017 Tax Changes:
As of 2017, Manulife has altered the way they deduct income tax for the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) and Revenue Quebec (RQ). Previously, the amount of income tax was deducted from the disability benefit payments “at source”. They claim that mistakes were made due to their use of a government approved income tax table, which ultimately didn’t allow for proper exact calculations of deduction amounts. This affects their policy holders.
This change means that a plan member may notice a reduction to their benefit as of end of June, 2017. Due to the adjusted tax deduction being automatic, members who are holders of a Manulife disability plan and are affected by this change, should have received an Explanation of Benefit (EOB) letter included in their June 2017 payment.
Contact a Long Term Disability Lawyer Today
If you are a victim of permanent disability, then you are entitled to social and economic support in order to sustain your life, and any loved ones that depend on you. There are options and legal rights you have as a citizen of the city, province and country you live in. If you think that your Manulife long term disability insurance has been wrongfully terminated, contact a disability insurance attorney, an esteemed long term disability lawyer today. Here at TSF lawyers, we are always there for you.
