Long Term Disability Claims – How Long Will It Take?

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Long Term Disability Claims How Long Will It
Take?
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The other week I wrote about why accident claims
take 2-3 years to resolve. If theres anything
positive to be said about long term disability
claims, its that they resolve more quickly.1-2
years is the norm.Theres two main reasons Im
going to outline today
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1. The Nature of the Claim ItselfIf you read the
What is My Personal Injury Lawsuit Timeline blog,
youll understand that insurance companies set
reserves.With an accident claim, theres always
lots of factors involved and different ways to
determine pain and suffering so that reserve is
always shifting as the case develops.
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A long term disability claim, in contrast, is not
about pain and suffering (at the legal level), it
is about an existing contract and what youre
entitled to receive under that contract. The
nature of a long term disability suit lends
itself to quicker resolution because the reserve
issue is mitigated.
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Consider this A long term disability insurance
company can figure out the reserve because they
know the maximum amount of benefit from day one.
The math is easy. Now obviously the disability
itself is not straight forward you generally
need to make the case about the severity of your
disability and its impact on you.
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The insurance company will say why you should
work, and you will say why you cant and provide
evidence to support that.But the value of the
case doesnt change much, only whether or not
theyre going to pay it out.For example, lets
say your benefit is 1500 per month. That means
your benefit is worth 18k per year.
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Now well assume youre 55 years of age. Most
policies end at 65, so the company knows the most
its going to pay out is 180k over ten years.
They might pay less because theyll assume youll
take CPP (thats a whole other blog post all
together) and you might be able to work a little,
but still, they KNOW the maximum amount they have
to set aside for you from day one.
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The entire reserve issue that influences so many
accident claims goes away.2. Long Term
Disability Companies are Smart (in a good
way)Long Term Disability companies are
sophisticated.Why is this? Well, the
representatives generally know their stuff and
dont waste time with unnecessary steps.
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Ive been involved in many cases where the
insurance company didnt require a discovery
(this never happens with an accident claim.) In
fact, its not uncommon to see long term
disability insurance companies settle quickly and
go all the way to mediation without a discovery.
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I appreciate that they often use in-house counsel
which is smart because it saves time.  I also
appreciate that they dont always do defense
medicals which I think are redundant.Overall, I
find theyre more streamlined than other types of
insurance companies.
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I suspect this is because theyre negotiating
with a known value from the beginning. Do They
Ever Take Longer Than Two Years? The only times
Ive seen long term disability cases extend over
2 years or more is when other types of lawsuits
are involved.
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For example, if the claim is because of a car
accident, there may also be an accident suit
where the monetary value of pain and suffering
must be assessed that process usually takes 2-3
years.
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But even then, its still a good idea to hire a
lawyer who you trust is going to see your case
through as quickly as possible, (but not so
quickly as to jeopardize it.)
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My advice? Work with a personal injury lawyer who
gets paid only when you get paid, and whose fee
depends on the size of settlement. That way
youre working together.http//derekwilsonlaw.ca/