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the markham economist sun saturday may 27 2006 disability insurance not always what you think some workers end up in court battles by linda johnson staff writer when youre looking for inter esting reading you probably dont think of your pay stub and anyway who wants to look at all those deductions but in fact that information signals whether one day if an injury or illness should leave you unable to work for an extended period of time you will have a living wage or be living in pover- ty though she had no reason to think she should ever need it susan chevalier thought she was covered against any chance injury or illness would one day prevent her from working as an independent consult ant she had insurance in fact by december 2004 when she fell getting into a car she had paid 3000 annually for seven years for insurance includ ed longterm disability coverage the accident crushed her arm and led to surgery to fit her with a prothesis of the upper armand shoulder joint as far as she knew the policy would pay her shortterm dis ability for 27 weeks standard longterm disability for two years and all medically necessary equipment instead little more than a year after her fall the insurance company stopped thepayments on the grounds she was not working full time and cancelled the policy i was so upset because i had no other options i could not do more which is the way ive always done things there was nothing i could do she said in fact the only option was to take the company to court which is where many disability claims go the situation is made all the more difficult she added because youre trying to cope with an injury or illness emotionally youre not at the top of your game youre very vulnerable as a person who has a disability youre in need of a lot of support and losing your main income puts you into a spin she said the company paid 350 for chiropractic and physiotherapy care it cost her 3400 for eight months but refused to pay for medical equipment fortunately because the acci- staff photosteve somerville ray gilchrist who has dia betes was fired before he could access his longterm disability insurance dent involved a car ms cheva liers auto insurance company decided to pick up the disability payments of 1250 a month ray gilchrist who worked for a large company had longterm disability coverage as part of his group benefits as most of us do the woodbridge resident worked for 11 years when med ical assessments following a car accident revealed a condition making him increasingly dis abled when mr gilchrist then 54 came to the end of his short- term disability and applied for longterm benefits he was first asked to apply for disability allowance through the canada pension plan but the company would not apply for the disability on his behalf instead it fired him on the grounds he was not showing up for work they just said youre- canned he recalled adding los ing his job meant he also lost all his other benefits they pulled the plug on me when i needed it though reinstated he was fired again when he applied for permanent disability with two small children he has had only cpp to live on since 2000 coverage is an issue vital to everyone according to statscan peo ple are much more likely to suf fer from prolonged disability than most realize anne nicoll principal mercer human resource consulting said many times employees dont recognize the value in a dis ability plan because they dont think they are going to get sick she said but it can happen you can be in an accident you can develop a condition and find youre unable to work people who do not have cov erage must rely on ei which pays for 15 weeks or cpr which covers people with a severe dis ability and who are unlikely to recover neither pays much so if someone has expenses and needs an income they may find themselyes with financial challenges on top of dealing with an illness and trying to recover ms nicoll said shortterm disability often full pay sometimes 60 to 80 per cent of pay usually covers an employees first four to six months of leave when long- term disability starts typically 60 or 66 23 per cent of salary as well employers plansusu- ally cover a wider variety of dis ability a person unable to work would not only receive income but also rehabilitation services and help finding another job so its important to find out what you can about your disabil ity plan how is disability defined are you covered if you just cant do your own job or any kind of work are there preexisting condi tions sometimes you may not qualify for a plan if you had treat ments for a medical problem before you joined the plan learn too if theres a waiting time many policies dont start until the worker has been there for three or four months though its most important to ask about the ltd disability plan when you join a company thats when people are generally most reluctant to do so ms nicoll said its unfortunate because its just as important to ask those questions as it is to ask about fea tures in their health and dental plans she said to find about your ltd coverage ask your human resources department if youre in a union you can find the informa tion in the collective agreement sell your unwanted household items quickly cheaply from the comfort of your home computer no phone ads on this offering only applicable to ads placed online for one newspaper or online ad15 words 500 per additional word private party ads only work wemmm ecom aaiwsi it clicks home i goto wmyqrkregioncom to place pr article re sale ifs only 995 in any one of our newspapers or website and 1500 for any two offerings leverage unparalleled market reach to sell pr stuff bwbj government gbuvernement hb of canada dti canada canadas new government budget 2006 focusing on priorities tax relief focused spending debt paydown tax relief for all canadians including 1 percentage point off the gst and 28 other tax cuts focused spending to help families including child care spaces and the 1200 per year 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