Things You Should Know

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Things that you should know about…

WCB AND CPP DISABILITY..

Many people have great difficulty dealing with WCB.

-          And it is not made any easier when you have a doctor who sees you very regularly and says you cannot work, and then the WCB gets a doctor who says ..”Sure he/she can”..

-          Or the rehabilitation centre that is owned and operated and paid for by WCB says that you can and should..

-          Or WCB doesn’t accept aggravation of your pre-existing degenerative disc disease, then since this is only a back sprain..

-          Or maybe they don’t accept all of your injures as work related so..

But there is something you can do if you have been unable to work for a year, and your doctor or doctors believe that you will not recover soon.

APPLY FOR CPP DISABILITY BENEFITS.

The criteria is that you must have a severe and prolonged disability to apply.

There are some catches for WCB recipients, but most are easy to overcome- with some knowledge.

WCB never tells you to apply for CPP disability benefits - if you have been disabled at least one year – apply – you have nothing to lose…and CPP is not deducted from WCB payments, so if they deem you fit to return to some form of work and you have a wage top up  – you also get to keep the wage top up and your CPP disability benefits.

You have to have contributed to CPP for 4 of the last 6 years – if you haven’t because you were on WCB, and didn’t know you could (and now you haven’t contributed for 3 of the last 6) - make a late application- just make sure you use the date you were last able to work as your application date.

If you were “forced” back to work” by the WCB but could not do it and had to stop working again – this will not affect your right to CPP disability benefits – the date of disability on your application would be the date you stopped working before your failed attempt, not the date that you stopped your attempt at re-entering the work force.

On your CPP disability application, you must list your WCB claim number(s) so they base their answer on medical that is released to them by WCB – not usually in your favour – if they say “no”, APPEAL, it is far easier to disprove the WCB medical opinion at a CPP disability hearing than it is to disprove the WCB opinion at the WCB Appeal Commission hearing because no one else in the world is bound to the rules, regulation, policies and act of the WCB, except the WCB and the Appeals Commission. (For example – medical consultants who never see you – or all those things they don’t consider compensable)

Although the WCB does not compensate for pain – it is recognised by CPP disability as being disabling, so chronic pain, either of organic or non-organic nature is accepted.

CPP disability benefits can be paid retroactively for up to 2 years – but if they

say “no” on the first application, it can take a year or more to get to the first

“in person” level of appeal.

So, if you believe that your injury will result in a severe and prolonged disability, contact the Canadian Pension Plan office and ask to be sent the forms to apply for disability benefits.