What Are STD And LTD Benefits?

As a disability lawyer at Lerners, I represent people across Ontario who have had their disability claims denied by their insurance company.

When this happens it can be devastating for you and your family and you need to know what you can do about it.

I want to share some of the basics with you so that you’ll know you’ll be ready if this ever happens to you.

Like most people, you probably rely on your job to provide for your needs and the needs of your family.

If you couldn’t work, you don’t know what you would do to make your rent or mortgage payment and pay for the necessities of life.

But then disability strikes.

Maybe it’s an accident where you get injured, or an illness you didn’t see coming, or mental health challenges that have been building up for years.

But the effect of it is that you’re unable to work, at least for a little while, and you need to step away from your job to focus on getting better.

This is why you have short-term disability benefits, called STD benefits, and long-term disability benefits, called LTD benefits.

In most cases, you have been paying the premiums for these benefits for years, out of every paycheck. An insurance company collects those premiums and they’re supposed to be there for you in case you ever need them.

STD benefits start as soon as you become disabled, or as soon as your regular sick days run out.

LTD benefits are supposed to start when the STD benefits run out, which depends on the policy but is usually around six months.

LTD benefits are supposed to continue until you either recover enough to go back to work or you turn 65, whichever is sooner. Some people receive LTD benefits for many years.

TOTAL DISABILITY

The test for STD and LTD benefits under most policies is called “total disability,” but it doesn’t mean that you have to be disabled from everything you do. It means that you’re disabled from doing your job.

It is not enough just to be unwell – the test relates to work, and whether your disability prevents you from working.

Under most policies, there is a two-year period where you are disabled if you can’t go back to your own occupation that you had before you were disabled – that’s called the “own-occupation” period.

Usually the test for disability changes after two years to whether your disability prevents you from doing any reasonable occupation, so after two years they call this the “any-occupation” period.

For example, maybe a roofer who hurts his back can’t go back to roofing, but he can take an office job if he has the education and experience for that kind of work. Maybe a teacher with an anxiety disorder can’t return to the classroom, but she could succeed in some kind of quieter work.

GET ACCURATE INFORMATION

But a lot of the time this just isn’t true, even if the insurance company says it is. Insurance companies sometimes seem to encourage people to think that their benefits will end after a maximum of two years, but this does not have to be the case, not at all.

LTD benefits can continue for many years. If you are disabled from your own job, and your condition doesn’t improve substantially, you may very well be disabled from any reasonable job you might expect to do.

Can the roofer with a back injury handle the physical strain of being stuck in an office chair all day? Can the teacher do well under the daily stresses of another kind of busy workplace?

Work is hard and it puts serious demands on us, even when we’re healthy. Disability can make it very hard to succeed in any job.

If you have been disabled for a year or even two years or more, there is reason to believe that it may be a long time before you are able to work again. You shouldn’t feel pressure to return to work before you’re ready.

Our video series is designed to shed some light on personal injury and disability law and provide the insights you need to make an informed decision about what is best for you and your loved ones.

Be sure to watch the other videos in our Personal Injury Explained series.

As a disability lawyer at Lerners, I represent people across Ontario who have had their disability claims denied by their insurance company.

When this happens it can be devastating for you and your family and you need to know what you can do about it.

I want to share some of the basics with you so that you’ll know you’ll be ready if this ever happens to you.

Like most people, you probably rely on your job to provide for your needs and the needs of your family.

If you couldn’t work, you don’t know what you would do to make your rent or mortgage payment and pay for the necessities of life.

But then disability strikes.

Maybe it’s an accident where you get injured, or an illness you didn’t see coming, or mental health challenges that have been building up for years.

But the effect of it is that you’re unable to work, at least for a little while, and you need to step away from your job to focus on getting better.

This is why you have short-term disability benefits, called STD benefits, and long-term disability benefits, called LTD benefits.

In most cases, you have been paying the premiums for these benefits for years, out of every paycheck. An insurance company collects those premiums and they’re supposed to be there for you in case you ever need them.

STD benefits start as soon as you become disabled, or as soon as your regular sick days run out.

LTD benefits are supposed to start when the STD benefits run out, which depends on the policy but is usually around six months.

LTD benefits are supposed to continue until you either recover enough to go back to work or you turn 65, whichever is sooner. Some people receive LTD benefits for many years.

TOTAL DISABILITY

The test for STD and LTD benefits under most policies is called “total disability,” but it doesn’t mean that you have to be disabled from everything you do. It means that you’re disabled from doing your job.

It is not enough just to be unwell – the test relates to work, and whether your disability prevents you from working.

Under most policies, there is a two-year period where you are disabled if you can’t go back to your own occupation that you had before you were disabled – that’s called the “own-occupation” period.

Usually the test for disability changes after two years to whether your disability prevents you from doing any reasonable occupation, so after two years they call this the “any-occupation” period.

For example, maybe a roofer who hurts his back can’t go back to roofing, but he can take an office job if he has the education and experience for that kind of work. Maybe a teacher with an anxiety disorder can’t return to the classroom, but she could succeed in some kind of quieter work.

GET ACCURATE INFORMATION

But a lot of the time this just isn’t true, even if the insurance company says it is. Insurance companies sometimes seem to encourage people to think that their benefits will end after a maximum of two years, but this does not have to be the case, not at all.

LTD benefits can continue for many years. If you are disabled from your own job, and your condition doesn’t improve substantially, you may very well be disabled from any reasonable job you might expect to do.

Can the roofer with a back injury handle the physical strain of being stuck in an office chair all day? Can the teacher do well under the daily stresses of another kind of busy workplace?

Work is hard and it puts serious demands on us, even when we’re healthy. Disability can make it very hard to succeed in any job.

If you have been disabled for a year or even two years or more, there is reason to believe that it may be a long time before you are able to work again. You shouldn’t feel pressure to return to work before you’re ready.

Our video series is designed to shed some light on personal injury and disability law and provide the insights you need to make an informed decision about what is best for you and your loved ones.

Be sure to watch the other videos in our Personal Injury Explained series.