Vancouver Disability Conditions
Certain Medical Conditions – Problems Getting Benefits
Insurance companies show reluctance to pay disability benefits for certain types of medical conditions. Before they will approve your benefits, insurance companies look for evidence that your illness fits into their own clearly defined categories. For example, if you were completely disabled and confined to a wheelchair, an insurance company may be more likely to approve your benefits. Similarly, if you had a head injury and were completely unable to function, the disability insurance company would be more likely to say yes to paying benefits.
Downtown Vancouver Disability Conditions
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We also have offices in Surrey and Abbotsford:
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Unfortunately, most disabilities do not fit neatly into the insurance company’s box. Medical conditions are complex, and it is not always crystal clear what is causing your disability. Insurance companies use these grey areas to suggest that your illness is not real, or that it is not disabling. In such cases, your disability insurance may not get paid.
Types of Conditions where insurance companies may not pay
Types of conditions which may have difficulty getting approved for benefits include the following:
- Fibromyalgia
- Multiple Sclerosis
- Depression
- Anxiety disorders
- Soft Tissue / Muscular Injuries
- Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
Many medical conditions cannot be diagnosed like a broken bone on an x-ray. For conditions like fibromyalgia, depression, anxiety, and soft tissue injuries, there is no machine or computer that can truly see your condition. However, that does not mean the condition does not exist. The reason these conditions can be hard to diagnose is that, when assessing these conditions, doctors rely largely on what the person says about their pain or feelings. Some doctors are more understanding of such conditions than others.
For example, fibromyalgia is a medical condition that is often misunderstood by the medical profession. People suffering from this condition often report symptoms such as fatigue, sleeplessness, and muscle pain. These types of symptoms can often be explained by other medical causes, and as such, sometimes one doctor may say a person has fibromyalgia, while another may disagree. The same can be said for chronic fatigue syndrome.
Depression, anxiety, and soft tissue injuries also suffer from the same problem with their diagnosis. The reporting of the patient is, largely, the way these disabilities are recognized. Again, some doctors may truly believe what the patient is saying and give a correct diagnosis, other physicians may be less sure.
Downtown Vancouver Disability Conditions
Call us today for a free consultation 604-684-4300
We also have offices in Surrey and Abbotsford:
Surrey Disability Lawyers – Abbotsford Disability Lawyers
Unfortunately, conditions such as these give the disability insurance companies a lot of ammunition in fighting your claim. Insurance companies always look for doubt when considering whether or not to pay you benefits. If the medical evidence is not entirely clear about your condition, the insurance company can use this lack of clarity to deny your benefits. To make matters worse, it is likely easy for an insurance company to find a doctor who incorrectly diagnoses conditions such as these. Even if the insurance company’s doctor diagnoses the condition correctly, the insurance doctor may then go on to say the condition should not disable you from working.
Bungay Law – using medical experts to prove your disability
If you have a medical illness or disability that is poorly understood, and being denied by the insurance company, our disability lawyers can help you win. We have access to a number of medical specialists who can review your case and outline your disability. These independent doctors review your medical history, interview you and carry out medical testing. The specialist who sees you can explain in detail why your medical condition is truly disabling. In other words, the specialist we use gives medical evidence about the true nature of your condition. Our experienced lawyers then use this evidence to convince the insurance company to recognize your disabling condition.
Use of Case Law
At Bungay Law, we also rely on case law to convince insurance companies to pay for your benefits. Case law is a history of legal decisions in our Courts where disabled people have won claims against insurance companies. We make legal arguments with this case law and provide it to the insurance company’s lawyers. In this way, we show the insurance companies the great risk they take in denying your benefits. If they deny your benefits, the risk to them is that we can take them to Court, show the judge case law/stories of people similar to you. In doing so, we force the insurance company to pay for your benefits and legal costs. Facing that type of financial risk, insurance companies will often back down before going to Court and agree to pay out on your disability insurance claim.
There is an established legal history of cases where insurance companies were forced to recognize someone like you was disabled. For example, in the case of Fidler v. Sun Life, a bank receptionist was suffering from chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia. This disabled person went to Court because Sun Life insurance denied her claim. Her disability lawyer convinced the judge that this was a genuine medical condition and that Sun Life should never have denied her benefits.
Similarly, in the case of CP v. RBC Insurance, a female physician claimed she was disabled as a result of anxiety and depression. The insurance company felt that she was not disabled by this mental illness. Her lawyers proved otherwise and took the case to Court. As a result, RBC Insurance was forced to acknowledge her disability and pay for her benefits.
The case of Sanders v. Clarica Life Insurance involved a woman who was diagnosed with pain in her neck and back along with depression. The insurance company did not feel that these conditions should have disabled her from working. With the help of her disability lawyer, the plaintiff convinced the Court that she was, in fact, disabled. The insurance company was ordered by the judge to re-instate her disability benefits.
Downtown Vancouver Disability Conditions
Call us today for a free consultation 604-684-4300
We also have offices in Surrey and Abbotsford:
Surrey Disability Lawyers – Abbotsford Disability Lawyers
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