The Canadian Pension Plan (CPP) offers disability benefits to qualified workers, those that become disabled before they reach the age of retirement. Those that do not qualify for such benefits have the chance to investigate 2 other options.
Required characteristics of Canadian worker that qualifies for CPP’s disability benefits.
• That employee must have a severe and prolonged disability.
• That employee must have worked at least 4 of the last 6 years, in order to have contributed a designated amount of money to the CPP fund.
• That employee must be under 65 years of age.
What happens to a disabled worker that does not qualify for CPP’s disability benefits?
He or she has 90 days in which to request a reconsideration of the submitted and denied application for the available benefits. If that reconsideration fails to end with the promise of monetary replacement for the employee’s lost income, then two further actions remain open to the disabled worker.
That same worker has the right to file an appeal. The filing of an appeal sets-in-motion a legal process. That process can be used to seek a change in the decision that led to the denial of CPP’s disability benefits. Personal Injury Lawyer in Milton can help as the appeal must be submitted in writing. The written letter needs to be sent to the Social Security Tribunal. The Tribunal will recognize any letter that has been submitted within 90 days of the date when the requested reconsideration was denied.
Workers that do not care to appeal the decision made in response to the request for reconsideration can pursue a different strategy. Each of them has the right to send an application to the Ontario Disability Support Program. That program accepts a larger percentage of applicants than those accepted by the Canadian Pension Program.
Does every worker get only 1 opportunity to appeal a negative decision, after a reconsideration has been requested?
No, a worker can file a second or third appeal. By the same token, that same worker’s options include that of applying for acceptance in the Ontario Disability Support Program.
How does the CPP’s system for seeking disability benefits differ from the system used by private insurers?
CPP does not have both an internal and external appeal process. Moreover, a request for an appeal gets directed to a different location, if a worker plans to appeal a denial of requested benefits.
Those appealing a denial by CPP must send a letter to the Social Security Tribunal. Those that have a requested an external appeal of the decision reached by a private insurance company need to hire a lawyer. With the help of that lawyer, the disabled and denied worker has the right to take the private insurance company to court.