Canada's Disability Insurance Laws

If you have ever been in a position where a disability, whether from a physical or mental impairment, left you unable to work, then chances are you researched disability benefits.

It is wise to understand disability insurance laws and what you are entitled to receive, if you ever find yourself needing to make a claim. The laws can be very confusing.

Disability Insurance Laws For Dire Situations

It is a common problem for many people suffering a disability to find themselves in dire financial trouble in a very short time. When a disability strikes, you are faced with a large amount of worries.

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Benefits do not just relieve all the emotional burdens and stresses of not being able to work, they help you to be able to carry on paying the bills, paying for treatments and living expenses.

You will by able to pay for in-home care and other expenses that may arise.

What You Need to Know

The procedures and laws that you need to know when attempting to claim a disability benefit are important. There are a vast variety of disability benefits that are available and the criteria for eligibility will vary from one to another.

Understand thoroughly what your condition is and then start doing some reading about the various options that may be available to you. Once you have done your research, you are then in a position to look into making a claim for disability benefits.

Whether you have a group benefit package at your place of work, an individual personal benefit package from your chosen insurance company or a government claim, disability insurance laws remain the same.

When illness or injury strikes, there is sometimes no time to do research because a person is already overwhelmed with the worry of a lost income.

There are many organizations that are fluent in all matters to do with disability and the best place to start is at your place of work.

If you are not covered, as many are not, certain online and off line organizations can point you in the right direction.

Be Prepared

It is always wise to be prepared beforehand, though and if you find there is no coverage at work, look into taking out some personal disability insurance for emergencies. Disability insurance is one of the most important parts of any insurance policy.

Some employers offer a short term benefit but if you are unable to get back to work within the allotted time, it can be disastrous.

A third party insurer is a good idea even if you are fortunate enough to have some coverage from your employer.

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The statistics show that 3 out of 10 workers will experience an illness or accident that keeps them away from work for more than three months and almost 60 percent of those injuries were not caused at work.

When a person is unable to work for an extended amount of time, having a long term disability insurance plan can cover some portion of their wages after the short term benefits have run out.

Paying for Long Term Disability Insurance

Once upon a time, long ago, many companies looked after the full amount of the cost for long term disability.

Those days are long gone, unfortunately for most. There are three types of plans:

Fully paid plan by the employer
Fully paid plan by the employee
Shared cost plan

Terms of Coverage

An employer can choose the amount of coverage for their employees. The majority of plans will cover anywhere between 50 and 70 percent of a monthly salary. The amount of time that the disability benefit lasts depends, but can usually be extended for a while.

Some plans pay out only five to ten years' worth of disability to those that qualify, but there are others that pay until age 65, being based on disability insurance rate schedules.

Under a plan's rules, an employee who files for disability will only be qualified for coverage under specific terms. These main terms are generally:

There must be a specific amount of time that an employee needs to have worked for the employer before any coverage kicks in. An employee must be considered a full time employee, which generally means 30 or more hours of work per week.

What the long term disability package plan usually includes:

A percentage of your monthly earnings that are paid out at a pre-determined monthly rate. This is usually 50 percent to 70 percent of your monthly salary.
It begins anywhere between 90 to 180 days after the injury or illness occurs, to ensure you are severely disabled and can not return to your usual line of work.

You may be limited on how much coverage you receive, depending on the terms of your plan. Knowing the disability insurance laws is the right step to take before an accident or sickness takes you by surprise.