How Long Do Long-Term Disability Benefits Pay?

If you consult the Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association (CLHIA), you’ll quickly discover that its definition of disability insurance is any type of coverage that protects against the chance of losing income because an individual became disable and was unable to pay their expenses. Simply put, it guarantees anyone disabled on the job a portion of their regular paycheck. This isn’t hard to understand, but what most people do have a hard time understanding is that such benefits like this only last for a specific period of time. How long can these long-term benefits last?

When you are disabled on the job, you won’t immediately start receiving benefits. Unfortunately, you’ll have to go through an entire spill and wait out a waiting period, which will vary depending on the provider. With most providers, you’ll start receiving compensation within at least three to six months. The same is going to apply for how long the benefits last. The amount of time that you’ll continue receiving payouts will depend on the provider as well as the type of applicable insurance policy that applies to you. Getting in touch with your provider and learning about the specifics of your long-term plan will inform you and keep you aware of all the particulars.

 

Understanding Insurance Policies

Although some guidelines on long-term disability insurance can vary depending on your provider, the CLHIA does have some general guidelines of their own in place. One of these is usually the length. For instance, the CLHIA states that your employer only has to pay you long-term disability insurance for two years or until you reach the age of 65. 65 is usually considered the cutoff age because this is the age at which most individuals retire. For instance, say that you are unable to perform your duties for 2 years. At this point, your employer could legally cut off coverage. If you are disabled at the age of 64, you might only end up receiving one year of coverage.

However, there are plans available that will cover certain individuals beyond the age of 65. This usually involves split payment. You are likely to only receive a percentage of your benefit until you reach 65 years of age. And, after 65 years of age, you’ll get the lesser amounts paid out for the next five or ten years. It depends on the provider and the type of policy that you enlist in. Be sure about the limits of your policy, and what is available to you, you’ll have to get in touch with your provider or go through your information packets.

A lot of insurance policies will also have what is known as rehabilitation clauses. These clauses can come in handy in a number of situations and are specifically designed to ease workers back into working status. Most of the time, individuals are required to participate in programs that are appropriate for their recovery. If after two years, you are still unable to return to your regular position, the provider might work with you to ease you into a different, less strenuous position that you might be able to handle. The goal is to get you back into the workplace in a position that you can handle.

After this period, you will have to be declared physically unable to perform any task in order for the benefits to continue. This means that you cannot perform any of the tasks required by any occupation that you may be reasonably qualified for or could become qualified for. Simply put, you will be physically unable to perform any tasks in the workforce.

 

Understanding The Deadlines

When it comes to deadlines and disability, there are several. There aren’t just deadlines as to how long you can receive disability benefits, but there are deadlines between the transitioning of types of disability. For instance, if you are on short-term disability insurance benefits, you will only have a certain amount of time to transition to the long-term. You might start out in the short-term in hopes that you will be able to rehabilitate and return to work. If you are unable to rehabilitate and return to work then you will eventually have to switch to long-term coverage. The timeline in which you have to do this is limited and extremely important. In fact, not meeting such a deadline could potentially detail your entire claim.

All waiting periods are outlined by your insurance provider and must be adhered to at all costs. Knowing these deadlines as well as what is required to meet this is extremely important. All of this information will be outlined in your policy, meaning that you’ll need to familiarize yourself. You do not want to mess up in this area.

As far as the length of long-term disability payment, benefits can vary from plan to plan, but everything will adhere to specifics outlined by your insurance provider in the applicable policy. Knowing this information coupled with an overview of your current financial and health will give you the clearest picture of what is possible in the event that a disability does occur. Whatever the situation is, you have to remember that disability insurance can be tricky. If you have been denied insurance and feel that it was unjustly so, you always have the option of getting in touch with a disability attorney. There are plenty currently available in Canada, and just standing by waiting to take your call. Most will provide free consultations.

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Other Disability Insurance Resources that you can read

 

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