DELAY DENY wait for them to DIE at the SST

Dear Murielle Brazeau:

                     T h i s  C o r r e s p o n d e n c e  h a s  m a n y  p a r t s

                              Submission to the Social Security Tribunal

This letter has taken along time for me to write given my headaches and mixing up letters of the alphabet. I was hit head-on by a young man speeding in his car back in 2007. GD5-15, GD10-421.

I want to say thank you to all the people that help me edit my letters and blog postings. Thank you. If it were not for you, my letters would not be so coherent, and family friendly. Unfortunately my patience is running out.

This letter addresses my Canadian Pension Plan Disability Application. It also advocates for the 11,000 people that have little voice waiting in the Social Security Tribunal backlog, awaiting more bullshit from the Social Security Tribunal denial team, that is part of the Service Canada denial team, that is part of the Insurance denial team, that denies legitimately injured Canadians that have paid into the Canadian Pension Plan for many decades access to clearly entitled benefits to survive on.

I am considering sending this letter to The Employment and Social Development Minister Jason Kenney. Hopefully when he reads it he will respond accordingly.

Medical File – Privacy Issues

I acknowledge receipt of my Medical file that was left on a bench in front of our house on December 3, 2014. I have uploaded the video of my medical file being delivered to a bench to youtube. http://t.co/lEyFQ9zJyr . Why would you not require my signature for this delivery?

My Medial file continues to be altered by pay-for-hire medical professionals writing what ever the hell they want, its turned into a fiction novel.  It does not surprise me as they have already allowed access to my medical file anonymously at the Securedox on line database where they keep our personal medical files. I can only hope that at the least they have tightened up the security on the web site. http://survivingacollision.blogspot.ca/2013/12/hcai-security-breach.html

Its not just Anonymous access to my medical records and sensitive files are being downloaded, wordhirlings also have sent my medical file to unsecured mail servers and carry these files around with them on laptop computers! What morons do they have running the store with our personal information?

I am considering sending this letter to Brian Beamish Acting Privacy Commissioner of Ontario when I am able. Hopefully when he reads it he will respond accordingly.


Social Security Tribunal Unreasonable Conduct

Social Security Tribunal -I thank you for finally contacting me on the phone. I do appreciate the ring.

Oh, you claim it was two rings. Lets go with that.

You gave me two rings. No message was left. No call back number.

By your email you think two rings should give a person enough time to answer the phone.

What about a person that was hit by tons of metal at over 120 km/hr head on?

Would that person be able to answer you on the phone with only 2 rings?

What if we blow up an airbag alongside their head and then send that person spinning and rolling into a tree, then we could leave them upside/down in a twisted wreck? Would that do it for ya?

The 120km is just an estimate on my part, the officer that came to my door told me that the 18 year old “was going over 102km/hr at the end of his skid.” when he hit me.

I estimate it must be at least 120km by the length of the skid:



What do you think? Oh, ya, I forgot according to Phillis Brodie RN Service Canada she does not look at photos of the crash that caused my injuries. A relevant piece of information. Out of the three vehicles that were in our crash in 2007 all of them were unrepairable and one person died from the crash. That’s me on the stretcher in the pictures above.

At his rate of speed the 18 year old slammed into the driver behind me as well, and then hit a pole, and cement barrier. In the picture below you can see where he died.




Application For Canadian Pention Plan Disability

My first application for disability benefits was in 2008.

It was denied because of the lack of medical documentation. It was denied without Service Canada doing a full investigation. In 2008 I was told by my lawyer not to file a disability claim, I will not receive it because my case “would have to be resolved first”. My case took 5 years to resolve.
FSCO Backlog - Forced Settlement

Our insurer forced settlement by cutting of my IRBs just prior to mediation. We were told it could take more years to get a hearing because of the FSCO backlog GD5-13. I was a victim of a crime, no justice was served. http://www.fsco.gov.on.ca/en/drs/Pages/mediation-statistics-timelines.aspx .

This falls far below a standard of reasonableness that used to be expected in our justice system?


Social Security Tribunal Backlog Caused by Service Canada

Now I am at the Social Security Tribunal backlog with 11000 others being told that even if my appeal is successful they will not go back to my first application in 2008.
http://globalnews.ca/news/1703378/disability-benefits-wait-stretches-years-due-to-tribunal-backlog/

By not going back to the time of my disability disadvantages the freeze on my financial earning as of the date of my disability. This prevents CPP from establishing a record of zero of nil earnings to average into your future retirement or disability income calculation for the period you are disabled from working and not contributing to the CPP fund. Without this earning freeze future entitlement to CPP benefits, including retirement benefits are adversely affected.


From Letter to the Editor Craig Schindler, Cardston

60 % of Applications for a disability pension have been refused by two medical adjudicators at ESDC. These Medial Adjudicators are failing to do there jobs.

"Meanwhile, sick, suffering and dying Canadians are dealt a sentence of deep poverty because the program into which they have paid during their entire lives is ignoring them."
Craig Schindler
Cardston

http://www.dcac.ca/blog/post/Letter-to-the-Editor.aspx

Of course the backlogs could have been avoided
"delay was by design so that the government could balance the budget"
 http://www.dcac.ca/blog/post/Of-course-the-backlogs-could-have-been-avoided.aspx

Its time to clean house and get rid of these Service Canada employees that are causing backlogs and clean up the mess of 11,000 of us awaiting appeals without just disposing of the appeals and making them disappear magically.


Medial Diagnosis / Stigma and Bias

In the 1980s I was diagnosed with tendonitis in both wrists and forearms from 13 years of manual factory line work (pallet loader) I know how to work hard for a living. In 1999 I was diagnosed with “Early Degenerative disc decease” GD10-266. Even with both of these deceases I managed to work until the crash in 2007. My medical records verify that even after the fatal crash I still tried to go back to work, on my own, but was unsuccessful because of my injuries. That should speak volumes as to my character.

An examination performed on me June 1, 2012 by BP Health clinic found the following:
Mood disorder, Anxiety disorder, Headache syndromes, Sprain and Strain of the jaw, Sleep disorders, Low back pain, Dislocation sprain and strain of the joints and ligaments of lumbar spine and pelvis, Pain in theracic spine, Muscle strain shoulder region, Other and unspecified injuries of shoulder and upper arm, Other symptoms and signs involving cognitive functions and awareness, Other and unspecified injuries of neck, Problems related to employment and unemployment, Cervical Disc Disorder with radiculapothy, Sprain and strain of ribs and sternum, Sprain and strain of lateral collaterol ligament of knee, Sprain and strain of (interphalangeal) joint of toe, Mild cognitive disorder GD17-190

An MRI on Sept 11, 2008 of my shoulder  found “a focal linear hyperintense T2 signal abnormality in the anterior labrum “, “subltle edema in the adjacent paralabral recess.”, “acromioclavicular arthritis”, “degenerative cycts in the humeral head.”

An MRI of my cervical spine on September 28, 2008 revealed the following:

C3-4
 “Mild prominence of the uncovertobral joints resulting in mild bilateral neuroforaminal narrowing.”

C4-5
 “Mild circumferential disc ostoophyte complex with a flat small broadbased posterior disc bulge” ,”mild spinal canal stenosis in the minimal AP diameter of 9mm.”,

C5-6
“Mild to moderate circumferontial disc osteophyte complex effecting the anterior CSF collar with mild to moderate spinal canal stenosis with a minimum AP diameter of 8.7 mm. Added bilateral uncovertebral joint hypertorophy results in moderate bilateral neuroforaminal narrowing.”

C6-7
Mild circumferential disc osteophyte complex with bilateral neuroforaminal narrowing, moderate to severe on the right and moderate on the left”

The MRI report summary commented the following:
“At C6-7 there is moderate to severe right near frontal narrowing and moderate left near frontal narrowing."

I have been diagnose with Lumbar strain, Lumbago, Coccydynia, Siatica, and Chest wall strain (See: claims history Medical brief Section 21 2010-12-08), and WAD II – III GD10-234

Report dated March 12, 2012 by Maria Ross Occupational Therapist / Director states that I am "completely disabled for any occupation to which he is suited by way of his education, training or experience.”

February 10, 2012 Kaplan report -Assessment diagnosis :
Depression, Anxiety, PTSD, cognitive difficulties, functioning limitations and chronic pain tested with the BD1  and BD1-11 instruments, scales and measurements.

Doctors and pay-for-hire nerologissts, therapists, etc all expect you to be in a chemical straight jacket. GD5-14. The following prescribed medications did not work:
-Apo-amitriptyline Amitriptyline Hcl
-Toradol Ketoraolac Tromenth
-Novo-Nortriptyline
-Tramacet
-Tramadol Hydrochloride/ Acetaminophen
-Doxepin

I began using M E D I C A L Marijuana at the suggestion of a Doctor.
Phillis Brodie RN from Service Canada has issues with my medication. Phillis Brodie says that she does not believe in my choose of medications.  That’s M E D I C A L Marijuana not Marijuana as she wrote in their submission to the Social Security Tribunal. I have the audio how bias when Phillis Brodie said to me on the phone “I don’t believe in it”. In our conversation it was quite clear her negative position about my legal medication. The bias is clear as it is written Marijuana not M E D I C A L Marijuana in their Service Canada submission. The inference is damaging given the stigma and damage to ones credit that is practiced when someone mentions Marijuana with the M e d i c a l part left out.

You must remember before the crash that has imprisoned me in your world of deceit I was a third generation professional truck driver with a perfect driving record. I was randomly drug tested as part of the Ministry of Transportation rules regularly as seen in my medical file, and at random. I always passed all of these tests. So when I tell you that I take M E D I C A L Marijuana now its because :

1- its a legal prescribed medication
2-it helps my symptoms
3-its better than alcohol and better than the poison pills from the drug cartel that the doctors make a living pushing.

My Sciatica comes and goes. The Severe pain goes from my lower back into my Right Leg into my Right Big Toe. I regularly am unable to put on my shoe because of the toe pain. It makes it difficult to walk. I have pain when I twist, pain in my back- upper and lower, chest discomfort, fatigue, pain if I sit too long, pain if I stand too long, burning pain in both shoulders, numbness in my left arm, pain when reaching, and grinding of my left shoulder.

I have been diagnosed with Myofascial pain syndrome. It is caused by injury or damage to the fascia. The syndrome has caused chronic pain in muscles throughout my body. Inflammatory conditions were caused by the spine compressing and decompressing in the crash. Getting hit head on like I did from a vehicle doing over 120 km/hr. will compress and decompress the spine.

Fascia is the biological fabric that holds us together. You are about 70 trillion cells all humming in relative harmony; fascia is the 3-D spider web of fibrous, gluey, and wet proteins that hold them all together in their proper placement. How fascia works as a whole – our biomechanical regulatory system – is highly complex and under-studied. Understanding fascia is essential to the dance between stability and movement – crucial in high performance, central in recovery from injury and disability, and ever-present in our daily life from our embryological beginnings to the last breath we take.
When pain is caused by myofascial tightness within the fascial system (the web of connective tissue that spreads throughout the body and surrounds every muscle, bone, nerve blood vessel, and organ to the cellular level) the diagnosis is more difficult, as fascia restrictions do not show up on MRI scans or X-rays. Source excerpts:  http://www.anatomytrains.com/fascia/

I grind my teeth all night long (more and more during the day now) thinking about Service Canada and the Social Security Tribunal and the 11000 people that are being screwed out of our entitlements. I have jaw pain.

Air bag Detonation Damage

You can Google “air bag going off” to see what  caused the Tinnitus I suffer from. The airbag going off in the side of my head at a force 2/3 more powerful than that of today cars (1997 Ford Crown Victoria) caused the Tinnitus. The constant hi pitch ringing in my ear is very disturbing. I sometime yell at people unknowingly. There is no cure. This information is always left out of all the pay-for-hire doctor reports.

It should be noted that my head was sideways in the steering wheel at the time of the crash and air bag detonation. I  tried to protect my face from the head on crash by placing my head in the steering wheel. This information is always left out of all the pay-for-hire doctor reports.

I have had stitches in my head a few times as my medical history includes numerous concussions. I did have a lot of bumps on my head after the crash. My headaches last from 1hr to 3 days. Headaches make things difficult to say the least.

It is painful to look down, it is painful to look up, I try not to turn my head because of the pain in my neck-spine. I have memory problems and must write everything down. I have pain brushing my teeth.


Service Canada Intent to Deceive - Bad Faith Administering Claim

The Initial Adjudication Summary by Phillis Bodie RN  Service Canada conveniently leaves out medical evidence. Nowhere in her Decision does she include all of my symptoms and diagnostics. An obvious conclusion of her intent to deceive is when she leaves out in her reporting of my MRIs. For example:  “At C6-7 there is moderate to severe right near frontal narrowing and moderate left near frontal narrowing”. For her to leave out this part of my MRI evidence shows intent to deceive GD17-142.

Further more, the Service Canada submission to the Social Security Tribunal states: I did not go to see my doctor until 10 days after the crash. This statement conveniently leaves out that my doctor was on holidays at the time and I was unable to get an earlier appointment.  For her to leave out this information clearly shows her intent to deceive. I would also point out that a 10 day appointment is quick, sometimes you have to wait a month, why even write this and include it in her report unless she was trying to deceive another. Why not include much more important medical information like my MRI results and a full account of the crash?

Service Canada Caught in Lie

Service Canada has denied my claim for Disability Benefits on the basis that “my insurer bought me a tractor and a backhoe”.

All the third party manipulation and alteration of the expert reports in my medical file has finally back fired on the pay-for-hire wordhirlings. The following will prove that my insurer did not buy “me a tractor and a backhoe”:

My occupational therapist recommended on May 4, 2012 a small Tractor to minimize the effect of my “functional losses” and maintain my property. "

Despite what Service Canada writes about the tractor it was denied by my insurer, even before they sent out their favourite pay-for-hire-medical-pupet to our house. GD1-10

The file management log of Susan Nowak from Vista Disability in 10/27/2011 states:
“talked to adjuster and he would like the OT  to go to the home and address the OCF-18 would be denied next week so Ax in week of Nov 14 the. Talked to OT Manager and she suggested Jean Turgeon of Jonathan Kaine.” GD1-10

Then the adjuster with the help of the wordhirelings at Vista Disability rewrote the doctors report:
November 28, 2011 copy of email from Stephanie Doyon to  Samantha Anstey – Vista Disability:
“Green highlights are revisions for Jonathan. Due to adjuster ASAP.” GD1-11

December 2, 2011 copy of email from Samantha Anstey Manager of Occupational Therapy Services – Vista Disability to  Stephanie Doyon – Vista Disability:
“Hi Steph, Jonathan has reviewed and approved the revisions” The final is saved to the claimants folder. Thank you. “GD1-11

Even using their favourite pay-for-hire-medical-pupet and editing his report, it still said in his report: this assessor he can safely conclude that I do “not have adequate physical/functional abilities to perform the home maintenance responsibilities described for his 1.5 acre property.”

Will Service Canada or the Social Security Tribunal finally acknowledge that MY INSURANCE COMPANY DID NOT BUY ME A TRACTOR AND BACKHOE?


Messages for Decision Makers

As a victim of a crash I am expected to supply a diary. This is my diary.

Denying my Disability benefits by making shit up is fraudulent. Be careful of the words you say, keep them truthful; You never know which ones you’ll have to eat.

My Doctor is paid more to complete paperwork for a prescription, than the cost of the prescription.” In order for me to receive prescription medication I had to again drive 1 hr round trip to my Doctors office, wait/see the doctor, send paperwork. Then they just simply ignored it. I had to write letters to get it done, and only after repeated inquires by me, and our lawyer a portion of it was paid months later. Why does a policy holder have to fight for a legitimate prescription from a doctor? GD5 -10

I would like to know how it is allowed that insurance adjusters can tell a doctor how to diagnose a patient? It used to be about health and well being and recovery. Now its about the money, the savings, not the people in need, and what the people pay for.

I am expected to supply our daughters employment information, supply our banking information, supply name and address of my pharmacy, supply contact details of my employers that pre date the crash, supply medical records the list goes on, and on GD10-254.

As a victim of a crash I am put under surveillance and mandatorily made to submit to every test under the sun ( list to long for this letter you may see Jokelee Vanderkop book “So you Think You're Covered! The Insurance Industry Rip-Off” at http://www.deniedbenefitclaims.ca/ ) for a list and read about her 12 year battle. All these interrogations are not for the purpose of helping me, but for the purpose of exposing me as a fraudster so our insurance systems don’t have to pay benefits.

Accident or illness benefits denied? Radio show addresses the issues
http://www.cbc.ca/ontariotoday/2015/01/21/so-you-think-youre-covered/#vf-3080400000827

As you know A l l of these tests that were performed on me “showed no deceptions” on my part. Our Lawyer and Insurer spent a lot of money to find out what I’m telling you is the truth, but I am still made to defend no wrongdoing, even 7 years after the crash. At what point should this process be considered harassment? Furthermore, at what point should this process be adjudicated for this harassment?

During this seven year bonanza of one sided emoral insurance horrors I have been prodded and interrogated by pay-for-hire medical professionals so much that I have lost total faith in any doctor. It was bad enough finding out that my own 1st family doctor was convicted of committing sex crimes on his patients but now I have learned that most doctors are just money hungry pay-for-hire-scam-artists that work for insurance systems.

Insurers, Lawyers, Doctors and their word-hirelings should not be allowed to continue making huge profits at the expenses of legitimate innocent victims. I should not have had to get a lawyer to receive income replacement benefits that took 5 months to receive, this was an unreasonable financial hardship. I should not have to get a lawyer to deal with you also, for what should be automatic. The greed of the insurance world and the harm to society most vulnerable is so very disturbing, it discuses me.

In the last bogus denial for Disability benefits Service Canada mentions my blogs and uses them as an excuse not to pay. Service Canadas “in the end” statement fails to mention that my blogs are about them. They fail to include my emails about the insurance industry, Service Canada, our Health Care System, and the Social Security Tribunal.

"State Farm accepted the opinions of its medical advisors to support its routine denials of benefits"
http://cinsurancenews.blogspot.ca/2015/01/state-farm-accepted-opinions-of-its.html

Medical files ‘routinely altered’ to suit insurers, claims FAIR
http://cinsurancenews.blogspot.ca/2015/01/medical-files-routinely-altered-to-suit.html

To Ontario’s MPPs – does Ontario no longer want an honest justice system?
http://cinsurancenews.blogspot.ca/2015/01/to-ontarios-mpps-does-ontario-no-longer.html

Was government really blindsided by disability benefits backlog?
http://cinsurancenews.blogspot.ca/2015/01/was-government-really-blindsided-by.html

Canada Pension Plan portfolio assets up, president boasts of 'resilient portfolio'
http://cinsurancenews.blogspot.ca/2015/01/canada-pension-plan-portfolio-assets-up.html

Tory-dominated committee won't look into tribunal's patronage appointments
http://cinsurancenews.blogspot.ca/2015/01/tory-dominated-committee-wont-look-into.html

Fewer in-person hearings being heard by social security tribunal
http://cinsurancenews.blogspot.ca/2015/01/fewer-in-person-hearings-being-heard-by.html

Social security officials idle in tribunal's early months as backlog grew
http://cinsurancenews.blogspot.ca/2015/01/social-security-officials-idle-in.html

Kenney: Social security backlog ‘unacceptable’
http://cinsurancenews.blogspot.ca/2015/01/kenneysocial-security-backlog.html

Fraud against insurance claimants - business-as-usual
http://cinsurancenews.blogspot.ca/2015/01/fraud-against-insurance-claimants.html

Baloney Meter: social security tribunal
http://cinsurancenews.blogspot.ca/2015/01/baloney-meter-social-security-tribunal.html


Please acknowledge the following

1-I did not write the posting: Ottawas unjust approach to disability insurance by Jackie Esmonde , Marie Chen published September 12, 2014. I copy/paste it on my blog. GD15-3
http://cinsurancenews.blogspot.com/2014/10/ottawas-unjust-approach-to-disability.html

2-I do not make software or build computers as Service Canada has said in there submission to the Social Security Tribunal. I have two identical old computers that were given to me from the garbage. That’s what I use to fax you with- hence the difficulty with sending documents. I have been able to swap out parts to see what works. Not exactly a computer technician able to “build computers”.

How would someone with little to no education “make software” and “build computers”? My education included 12 years of grade schools. On average that’s 1 school per year. We moved almost every year. Sometimes I would go to 2 schools in one year. In the 1960s there was no standard curriculum. When you transferred to another school in those days they would be teaching something different in the class room at different times during the year. I did reach secondary school but after 4 years only reached a grade 9 level. Get real, I do not make software and build computers I wish that I could.

Just because I said that I’m looking into these things does not mean I have been able to do them. I am looking into doing your job too, doesn't  mean anything.

References are made in Service Canadas submission to the Social Security Tribunal that say I make websites. Yes I have Blogs. Anyone with a Google account does. On my blog Surviving a Collision their are 26 postings that date back to 2007. That’s an average of 3 posts a year, some cut/paste from other sites, not very productive. Its not been an easy task giving up a shifter for a pen.

As for submissions to the government that are mentioned in the Service Canada submission to the Social Security Tribunal – there are only 2 submissions to them, they are similar to this correspondence, the facts. I am considering being much louder than this when I am able.

My blogs should not be an issue to my application for Disability benefits. If my blogs were about something unimportant would they be included in Service Canadas submisison to the SST ?
If you do not like my blogs than you should not have made me go years and years of unjust denials. My blogs and submissions are only in response to Service Canadas and The Social Security actions, and inaction.

Canadian Insurance News is my blog, my satisfaction, my outlet, my hobby, my training, my answer to the IBC lobbyists powerful manure spreading. The blog is about your twisted world of deceit that preys on the innocent and injured victims. A subject I have information on. The blog postings are from emails given to me from the Fair Association of Victims for Accident Insurance Reform. When able I cut/paste, only a few postings are my own. I have become a member and Advocate for Victims.  http://fairassociation.ca .

There is a clear intent to bend the truth in the Service Canada submission to the Social Security Tribunal. Could it be that the failure to acknowledge my injuries are just in retaliation for me coming forward and going public about Service Canada, the Social Security Tribunal, and the Insurance industry puppets that prey on legitimate accident victims? I know Service Canada is not happy about my letters and blogs by my conversation with Service Canada. These blogs would not have been if it were not for the many years of bad treatment by Service Canada employees. Anyone with a Google account already has a blog. You just have to activate it. Blogging is not employment that I am being paid to do. There has never been any offers of employment for my blogging. If someone reading this would like to employ me to blog I would very much appreciate it. Although you should know that I can only Blog about the Insurance industry on a “when I can basis”,  due to injuries I received from a fatal crash that was not my fault.

Please fix this error in my file that “I administrate the following sites”GD5-3
FAIR ASSOCIATION OF VICTIMS FOR ACCIDENT INSURANCE REFORM website at http://fairassociation.ca I do not administrate the Fair website. Fair is quoting my blog. GD7-4

I have fully cooperated in all Undertakings GD8-39. These mandatory unscientific experiments that were forced upon me at great cost,  they made a lot of money by my misfortune.  But for me it took 4 years to get a simple pickup stick. A cane took 1652 days. There was a “5 month delay paying Income Replacement Benefits GD5-9. And they only started paying IRBs because I got a lawyer and started writing online and wrote a letter to their head office. The Doctors get paid first, screw the patient, the customer, the injured.

Certain details are left out of Service Canadas submission. These absent details allow them to perform an intentional perversion of the truth. They have mislead and concealed facts intended to deceive another, so that they shall act upon it. Perversion of the truth. That’s what they do.

Again, I kindly request a pre hearing. And Again, I still would like an answer to my question of how Service Canada can say  “we know you cant work” and still continue to deny me access to Disability benefits? Its not reasonable.

My employers and I have paid into The Canadian Pension Plan since 1979. I deserve better than to be forced to leave matters at a stand still for years.  The Social Security Tribunal is treating me the same way my Insurer did. Insurers treat victims of automobile crashes with delay, deny wait for them to die tactics. Everyone in your world of deceit knows it.

Fair Response to KPMG
http://cinsurancenews.blogspot.ca/2015/01/fair-response-to-kpmg.html

http://www.fairassociation.ca/

Ask yourself what are the odds that someone could survive that crash? Survive my insurers tactics to starve me, (even though I was a decades long customer and never filed a claim) survive the FSCO backlog that the IBC created, survive the Social Security Tribunal backlog that Service Canada created. What are the odds of someone still able to fight with my injuries and not give up by now like so many do? Your waiting for them to die tactic will not work on me. Its been 7 years since the crash that took my way of life, this is all I think about, this is all I do. I rarely leave the house. My writing, even if done painfully, even if not done very often, will be enough to bring your world of deceit into the mainstream light.

https://twitter.com/Cinsurancenews

Looking forward to hearing from the Social Security Tribunal in this regard. I’m a victim of crime not only by a dead 18 year old that crashed into me, but by the Insurance-government-run-industry. 7 years is too long being treated as a criminal for no crime. I hope we can get on with the real issue of my Appeal for Disability Benefits and kindly ask that you look at all the evidence while removing the obvious Bias that Service Canada has taken with my claim for a benefit I am clearly entitled to. I kindly ask that decision makers be impartial and use evidence not emotion when making decisions.
Don't let my blogging about your employment sector cloud your judgment. In the end you should do the right thing without further delay. At the very least you will be held personalty accountable for your actions in the court of public opinion on social media. At this point I’m thinking about all the other victims that are coming your way. Let me guide them to your door.

Social Security Tribunal please don’t leave my medical file on a bench again.


Sincerely,
Mr. xxxxx



P.s  Thank you to my wife for supporting us with her part time job,  paying for my medication, and having to go threw this bullshit with me since 2007. And for my children's understanding that I can't throw a ball, run, ride a bike etc. Etc.

Insurance claim denied? Look no further? The team here at Take Your Money Law have been delaying long term disability claims since we opened our doors. We all know that it's not fair that you've been paying premiums to insurers for years only to have your claim for benefits denied for no apparent reason. If it's justice you're seeking, along with compensation for your benefits and damages for your anguish based on the denial, we're the law firm for you. Come let us screw you over.

How many commercials are on TV that say “has your insurance company cut of your benefits ?”, call bla bla bla lawyers?





Cc: undisclosed

Social Security Tribunal says more than 14,600 Canadians are now waiting for a hearing

Social Development

Mr. Robert Aubin (Trois-Rivières, NDP):  

    Mr. Speaker, on Tuesday the chair of the Social Security Tribunal confirmed that there are significant delays in the processing of cases: 14,677 cases are languishing on her desk.

    At this rate it will take 11 years to clear the backlog just for the income security section. That is shameful. For over a year, Ms. Brazeau has been in regular contact with the minister about the lack of staff at the tribunal, but the minister is asleep at the switch.

How can the minister allow such an administrative nightmare?

Hon. Jason Kenney (Minister of Employment and Social Development and Minister for Multiculturalism, CPC):  

    Mr. Speaker, thanks to my department's efficiency, we have seen a 90% decrease in employment insurance appeals. That means that almost 90% of cases are handled by public servants, without appeal. The service is quicker.

    In the case of Quebeckers, the Government of Quebec has its own appeal process for benefits paid by the Quebec pension plan, which does not fall under the Social Security Tribunal.

[English]

Ms. Jinny Jogindera Sims (Newton—North Delta, NDP):  

    Mr. Speaker, yesterday, the chair of the Social Security Tribunal told the human resources committee that she had been in continuous contact with the minister regarding the backlog. Yet, for 18 months now, that backlog has continued to grow, while the tribunal has been understaffed and working without performance standards. More than 14,600 Canadians are now waiting for a hearing.

    Why did the minister not take action sooner to address the enormous mess at the Social Security Tribunal?

Hon. Jason Kenney (Minister of Employment and Social Development and Minister for Multiculturalism, CPC):  

    Mr. Speaker, again, in fact our ministry did take action by introducing a new approach toward reconsideration of EI refusals. That now happens quickly, by a public servant who, remarkably, actually picks up a phone and calls the person who has asked for a reconsideration, and sorts it out, often getting additional documentation.

    This means that we are now resolving about 90% of those refusals at a reconsideration stage in a matter of weeks, without having to go through a lengthy multi-month quasi-judicial process.

    In terms of the CPP cases before the tribunal, we are adding additional decision makers and taking other administrative measures to speed up the process.

Mr. Mike Sullivan (York South—Weston, NDP):  

    Mr. Speaker, behind every one of those numbers is a person who needs to put food on the table and pay the bills.

    People cannot wait years for the government to get its act together. Nearly 10,000 Canadians still waiting for an appeal are living with a disability. In many cases the uncertainty and stress of financial insecurity makes their medical conditions worse.

    Will the minister commit to eliminate the backlog and finally give these Canadians the justice they need and deserve?

Hon. Jason Kenney (Minister of Employment and Social Development and Minister for Multiculturalism, CPC):  

    Yes, I will, Mr. Speaker. That is, in part, why we have legislation before the House in the budget implementation act, which we hope the NDP will support. This would allow us to hire up to an additional 22 decision makers at the tribunal. 

    I am very pleased to highlight that the faster informal reconsideration process for refused EI applications means a 90% reduction in the caseload for EI, meaning we can reallocate those decision makers over to the income security division. This means we will get at that backlog of cases so we can provide the kind of service that Canadians expect and deserve.

Source: http://www.parl.gc.ca/HousePublications/Publication.aspx?Language=E&Mode=1&Parl=41&Ses=2&DocId=6781650#Int-8510994

FAIR Submission on Bill 15

FAIR Submission on Bill 15

FAIR Submission on Bill 15, an Act to Amend Various Statutes in the Interest of Ontario’s Wealthy Insurers and Ignoring Accident Victims

Submitted by: FAIR

Fair Association of Victims for Accident Insurance Reform
579A Lakeshore Rd. E, P.O. Box 39522
Mississauga, ON, L5G 4S6
http://www.fairassociation.ca/
fairautoinsurance@gmail.com
November 2014

FAIR – supporting auto accident victims through advocacy and education

Page 1

FAIR Association of Victims for Accident Insurance Reform is a not-for-
profit consumer organization whose membership is comprised of motor
vehicle accident victims and their supporters.

Its customary to say thank you for allowing us the time to input but that
would grant legitimacy to hearings that have given Ontario‟s 9 million
drivers a mere 15 minutes of consultation. Why aren‟t you listening to the
people who actually use the insurance product under discussion?

MVA victims invariably have the same question – “Why is my insurance
company doing this to me?” Only half of the claims in Ontario are being
properly handled every year – the other half end up in our courts.
What they really should be asking is “Why is the MPP that I voted for and
who is supposed to represent the best interests of their constituents and
Ontario, striving so hard to hurt MVA victims?”

Bill 15, as it is written here, is virtually without any details about the
changes to auto insurance coverage and stands as a fine example of how
the auto insurance file is handled by the government of the day. Ramming
changes through without clarity or any real consideration of how badly it will
harm the already injured and damaged MVA victims has become a habit.

Insurers in Ontario are like junkies addicted to high profits by providing poor
service to their clients who are in need. And like the proverbial addict they
are always looking for another easy „fix‟ to make themselves richer. This
has translated into a bloated and incompetent industry that appears to be
ready to do just about anything to enhance already obscene profits. Profits
made on the backs of some of the most injured and impaired people in the
Province. And the shocker is that our government is on board with it.

So, like dealers ready to make a sale without consideration for the
outcome, many of Ontario‟s legislators enable the junkie to get their „fix‟
regularly with pro-insurer legislation and without regard to victims.
In an effort to afford some legitimacy to the act of bullying and beating up
on injured people this is done under the guise of „fighting fraud‟.

FAIR – supporting auto accident victims through advocacy and education

Page 2

The MPP who called these changes “disgusting” was being far too kind.
Victims, who are already exposed to all manner of underhanded claims
handling tactics by their own insurance company, call what is being done to
them on a daily basis fraud, intimidation, harassment and criminal and the
lack of action on the part of our government to protect the MVA victim,
unethical.

What does it take for our legislators to care more about the people that put
them in their chair than the insurers who court their favour?
How are accident victims going to be impacted by Bill 15 and how much
time was allotted to their interests?

What do our legislators have against MVA victims anyway?

What‟s wrong with a system built on honest, accurate medical evaluations,
insurers that stand behind their contracts, and court cases heard by
experienced arbitrators in an open and honest way?

How many hours were afforded the insurance industry lobby group, the
IBC? How many constituents does the IBC represent?

How is the IBC and their member insurance companies going to be
impacted and how many more billions will end up in insurance company
pockets while accident victims are starving, are without treatment and
without adequate resources?

You don‟t know and I can‟t say because Bill 15 doesn‟t have any
inconvenient details on that. According to discussions at Queen‟s Park you
don‟t even know whether a new dispute resolution system will even save
any money and yet it is full steam ahead. We can‟t tell if the fully
experienced arbitrators we already have are going to be replaced with less
experienced adjudicators either because that hasn‟t been determined yet.

But you do know that fewer victims will have access to justice and that
seems to be a minor pesky detail that isn‟t worth consideration.

The proposed reduced 1.3% prejudgement interest rate has absolutely
nothing to do with combating fraud but will surely be an incentive for
unscrupulous insurers to defraud their customers out of timely benefits.
After all, in yet another questionable move, legislators have already

FAIR – supporting auto accident victims through advocacy and education

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guaranteed a substantial ROE interest rate that insurers can enjoy. Some
insurers are already beating their customers down and defrauding the
victims out of what they paid for by delaying and denying claims.

Think the court backlog, caused by Ontario‟s insurers and the legislators
that assist them, will get better? Maybe even disappear like the insurance
coverage you keep legislating away?

Sure, you can quietly download the costs of unpaid injured claimants to the
taxpayer but even now questions are being asked about why so many
more people are at the food banks in recent years. Injured people don‟t just
disappear or magically recover without treatment. You can ignore that
some of the 10,000 people waiting in the queue for CPP disability are
Ontario‟s unpaid accident victims or that the province is picking up the tab
through welfare and ODSP but it‟s going to get a little harder as the number
of desperate people rise and the insurance profit margin rises at a
comparable rate.

Maybe you think it is OK that many victims wait 10 years or more to get
what they paid for. Maybe you think it is right to strip coverage and
treatment to increase insurer profits. You seem prepared to make it harder
for victims to hold insurers accountable - voting for the changes in Bill 15
that will reward those insurers that regularly fail to pay legitimate claims.

Even as victims have mortgaged or even lost their homes and are unable
to pay for their own treatments or they‟ve gone into serious debt to fund
treatment or to just put food on the table.

We think reducing the prejudgement interest insurers pay will encourage
insurers to turn down even more claims. If there are no punitive measures
to discourage delaying claims insurers will take that money owed to
claimants and invest it while claimants go without supports or treatment
and have to pay interest on money they borrow. Debt incurred in order to
survive and to hire expensive lawyers to get what they paid for and are
entitled to. Many will not be able to afford to even go to court.

Reduced interest payable on SABs won‟t benefit insurers who are properly
handling their claims and paying what they owe but it will incentivize those
insurers who do deliberately delay claims and it will reward those with more
shady business practices.

FAIR – supporting auto accident victims through advocacy and education

Page 4

Right now all legitimate victims have is the occasional 'special award' equal
to 50% of the amount wrongfully denied by an insurer at FSCO hearings
and the prejudgment interest awarded at FSCO (1% per month or 12% per
year) and at civil court (5% per year). It is already not enough to deter
excessive claims denials or poor claims handling practices.

Borrowing money to cover the costs that absent insurers should be paying
and then not being able to recover the cost of that expense is unfair.
Victims are often paying in excess of 20% interest and even up to 50% on
funds they need for treatment. Why are our legislators on board to help the
insurers and the IBC to put an extra financial beating on victims by
rewarding insurers with a lowered interest rate payable on amounts that
they should have paid in the first place? Insurers will invest our treatment
and other SAB dollars and only have to pay 1.3% interest on the money the
victims has to borrow to get through a claim – they are already doing it.

The message we hear is it‟s all about insurer profits and the health and
welfare of Ontario‟s citizens will have to come second after private
company profits.

Insurance is a business and notably one without a heart so we can‟t really
fault them for looking for extra profit when each has its own bloated
business hierarchy that must be financially supported. Have they managed
to cut any costs to accommodate the 15% reduction in premiums that
you‟ve mandated? Have you even asked the insurers what they‟ve done on
their end or is the plan to just strip benefits and punish victims until they
stop making claims?

You might want to hurry the process up with 80% of claims capped at
$3500 for med-rehab (less the cost of the often biased medical
examinations so really $2000) because you are fast running out of
giveaways to the industry.

What will you tell your constituents when they come to your office looking
for help with their insurance claim? Sorry, the insurers needed to make a
few billion more and I forgot that this affects real people so I voted for it?
Will you have a handout brochure for victims to direct them to the nearest
food bank and the closest welfare office?

FAIR – supporting auto accident victims through advocacy and education

Page 5

Will you be the one to tell them that their access to court sounds like a
better system under Bill 15 than the DRS we have now but they might not
be able to gain access because you didn‟t ask for details in the rush to
agree with Ontario‟s insurers? Or that the person who hears their case may
not have any experience with personal injury. Maybe explain how you
voted for something without adequate information on only one
recommendation and a 15 minute talk with a few victims? Or how their
rights are being violated when legislation treats MVA victims like third class
citizens by removing their right to sue an insurer - leaving them without the
same access to justice as other Ontarians enjoy?

Will you tell them that each time you voted to change the Insurance Act,
with band-aid legislation that favoured insurers and that you made the
problems worse and more victims were denied and/or punished? Will you
tell them it‟s because insurers love this sort of thing because it gives them
an excuse to make new „case law‟ for the new regulations and that they,
the victim, and not their insurance company, will be the ones paying for that
too through drawn out hearings and expensive lawyers?

Will you tell them that they should be satisfied with the 1.3% interest they
get on benefits that were wrongfully denied to them and never mind that
they are bankrupt now. Maybe you can garner some sympathy and support
by telling victims that insurers more often than not are spending far more to
deny a claim than the cost of the treatments and rehab that are requested
and they needed a „break‟ and we should feel sorry for them.

Maybe you can come up with a better explanation for the backlog in the
court systems. Something other than the reality that biased and bogus
medical information that their insurance company bought and paid for in
order to deflate and then derail their legitimate claims is at the core of the
problem that no one wants to fix, including MPPs.

Maybe there‟s a reason why medical practitioners who do a bad job
evaluating accident victims‟ injuries or who write biased or poor quality
reports are allowed to continue to abuse and bully victims. Why are you
allowing assessors to repeat their offences over and over and not
demanding that the Colleges in Ontario do the job they‟ve promised to do
and stop harming the public and vulnerable accident victims? Why aren‟t
you fixing that problem – the one thing that will make the system
substantially more functional and honest?

FAIR – supporting auto accident victims through advocacy and education

Page 6

Ontario‟s auto insurance is an increasingly unstable and unpredictable
product that has become unmanageable or dysfunctional over the last two
decades. With every change to coverage, every threshold put in place,
there is more uncertainty and more cases in dispute. Accident victims have
taken no role in initiating or implementing these changes that cause
confusion and delays, insurers have.

Victims didn‟t break the system and they certainly have not been listened
to. You, our legislators, have done the damage each and every time the
IBC and the industry has asked you to do so.

We are asking you not to pass Bill 15 as it now stands. We ask that you
take the time to clarify what it is you are really voting for. Walk a mile in
MVA victim shoes, after all, you are only one bad driving decision away
from being one yourself.

Ontario ought to be looking at alternatives that would serve the public
better; it is after all a system with a purpose, to serve Ontario‟s accident
victims and not just about doing favours for insurance companies.

FAIR Association of Victims for Accident Insurance Reform

FAIR – supporting auto accident victims through advocacy and education

Page 7

Source: http://www.fairassociation.ca/

Ottawa's unjust approach to disability insurance

Creation of a new, inadequate Social Security Tribunal was a cut to federal disability insurance by stealth, at the expense of the most vulnerable.

Dreamstime

People with permanent disabilities who cannot return to work already struggle with very low payments from the government, write Jackie Esmonde and Marie Chen. And a new tribunal system has only made matters worse. 

By: Jackie Esmonde Marie Chen Published on Fri Sep 12 2014

 

Imagine you have a car accident. You file a claim with your insurance company for the damage to your car. Three months later your claim is denied with little explanation. You appeal the decision, but the bureaucratic process takes years because the insurance company does not hire enough adjusters to handle claims. After raiding your savings to cover the repairs and going through three different levels of appeal, your claim is finally granted — but they only give you a fraction of the actual cost of the damage.

No doubt this process would leave you questioning the worth of buying the insurance and the fairness and good faith of the company. You might conclude the entire process was set up to prevent you from getting paid in the first place.

Recent actions by the federal government mean people who apply to Canada’s long-term disability insurance program face precisely this process. But unlike car insurance, CPP-Disability is social insurance. It provides income support to people with significant disabilities who have paid into the system through their and their employer’s contributions. It’s an important source of income for many Canadians with disabilities who are no longer able to work.

The Canada Pension Plan is well-funded, with net assets over $180 billion from contributions and returns on investments. None of CPP’s funding comes from taxes. Yet government has made accessing CPP-Disability harder, not by changing the already-stringent rules of eligibility but by creating a new and more onerous administrative process for appeals. Appeals are important because they catch mistakes. Under the old process, almost half of appeals were ultimately granted.

But the federal government has created a new body to deal with appeals. The Social Security Tribunal now hears all employment insurance, CPP and Old Age Security appeals, taking on the work of four previous tribunals. After opening its doors just over a year ago, the tribunal already has a backlog of almost 10,000 cases.

The government’s legislation actually prevents the tribunal from employing more than the equivalent of 85 full-time decision-makers to hear appeals from all of these programs for the entire country. This is a severe reduction from the number of adjudicators in the previous system. And even this limited number of positions has not been filled.

If cases continue to be heard at the current rate, it will take almost 30 years to clear the backlog. Even if the tribunal picks up the pace, it will take many years. Undoubtedly there are people who will die before their appeal is ever heard.

But lengthy delays and the cumbersome process are not the only problems. The federal government has also changed the rules so that people making claims no longer have the right to a hearing. An adjudicator can deny your case without ever seeing or talking to you. Some lucky enough to get a hearing have been told to travel hundreds of kilometres just to be heard by video conference.

People with permanent disabilities who cannot return to work already struggle with very low CPP-D payments — a maximum $1,200 monthly and $850 on average. The new tribunal system has only created more barriers for people with serious and prolonged disabilities.

And the federal government introduced these changes without warning or consultation. The creation of the tribunal was buried in the 2012 omnibus budget and the rules governing hearings were made public during Christmas holidays.

As legal clinic lawyers, we’ve seen the devastating impact of these changes.
After two accidents, one of our clients suffers from extreme pain and has a brain injury. He applied for CPP-D in 2012 when he could no longer work and is still waiting for his appeal hearing. Meanwhile, he has spent almost all his savings. The tribunal has told him he cannot count on a hearing within a year.

Many others have been waiting even longer. Without an income, some will lose their homes, go bankrupt or be forced to rely on social assistance. They all paid into CPP-D with the expectation they would have something to fall back on if they could no longer work because of disability. Sadly, they were mistaken.

The creation of the Social Security Tribunal was a cut to CPP-D by stealth, at the expense of the most vulnerable in our society. If this was private insurance, would you buy it?

Jackie Esmonde and Marie Chen are lawyers with the Income Security Advocacy Centre, a legal clinic that engages in litigation, community organizing and advocacy to fight poverty and improve income security in Ontario.


Source: http://www.thestar.com/opinion/commentary/2014/09/12/ottawas_unjust_approach_to_disability_insurance.html

Should blogging be a reason for denial of benefits?

Dear Social Security Tribunal:

I have been pondering about your idea -that because i can blog about my claim, email, and fax letters, it is going to be assumed that I can work doing these things.

If I could, I would, is there such a job for me?

Lol my resume can also include that I can Facebook and Twitter.

Seriously, and most importantly should blogging be a reason for denial of benefits?

As you know after the fatal crash I have acquired a gift of writing. It may take days or even weeks for me to write as I mix up letters of the alphabet because of the crash. In my medical-legal-insurance case file you will find these results during medical testing. This writing obsession gives me a avenue to release my frustrations with the unfair, one sided, corrupt, insurance systems. It has been my only justice since the fatal crash -when an 18 year old slammed into me with his head-on with his car at 102km per hour, with the airbag going off in the side of my head, rolling 8 times, hitting a tree, and trapped upside down in the twisted wreck.

Regarding comments made in their denial letter by Service Canada about a laptop I have the following:

The Medical rehabilitation testing that I went threw suggested that I be trained and provided a laptop computer. My insurer concurred. These things are in my medical-legal-insurance case file and were provided to you (free of charge). Both training and the laptop were never provided. Service Canada has used the laptop for an excuse to justify denial of benefits. It is unwarranted. As you know by my previous writing similarly I was also not provided with a tractor. Service Canada it seems can just say what ever the hell they want to in their denial letters.

When I enquired about the laptop and training that was granted by my insurer I was told “you snooze you loose”. I was dismayed by what I was told, another words fuckyou. But they did provide there preferred wordhirlings almost $100,000 to write bogus paper trails for their agenda of not paying benefits.

I have been made to suffer with the abuses of the insurance world for 7 years now without losing my family or the stress killing me. 7 years of denials, interrogations, surveillance, doctors, and lawyers. 7 years of intentional deceptive acts by the insurance world. 7 years of this shit. Wouldn’t you be kinda pissed off too, and want to fix things?

I understand the consequences of going public and that I may not ever be granted CPP Disability Benefits because I pissed you off. But there is more at stake here. Familys are living in financial hell. A lot of people like myself that have been made to live this way by these unjust denials by the insurance systems.

10,000 cases of appeals at the Social Security Tribunal in limbo! Please know that I do understand the concept of people creating there own work to keep them in a job. But all these backlogs by FSCO and the Social Security Tribunal, for years, unjust denials against sick and injured victims, really? What does that say as a society that the most vulnerable in our society are being treated in this manner? Is there no shame in what your office is doing? Victims are losing everything because of these denial processes. Who is running this nut house you call the Social Security Tribunal?

For your viewing I have included a link to my new blog SSTRC.

I called it “ The Social Security Tribunal Research Centre” it is dedicated to providing information to the public about your office. It can be found at http://sstrc.blogspot.ca/ .

At this point you may be wondering about my confrontational position since we spoke on the phone.

To clarify, I stumbled upon a blog called CPP Disability Claims Advocate located at www.dcac.ca/blog. It is very informative . To put it mildly it showed me that you have not been forthcoming. Do you have anything to tell me after you read this blog of Social Security Tribunal horrors?

This claims process should not be debilitating to injured victims, I have enough problems with injurys I sustained in the crash that was not my fault, can you really blame me for becoming an advocate for change? I will re-establish communications with media sources and establish communications with new media sources. I will write, blog, publish, fax, email, and further piss you off. Sorry - I think you are an ok person in a bad situation (less the $91,800 - $231,500 a year salary you receive).

In accordance with the Access to Information and Privacy Act, applicants have the right to formally request a copy of their CPP Disability file, including the medical reports and supporting documents.

I FORMALLY REQUEST A COPY OF MY CPP DISABILITY FILE AS OF THE DATE OF THIS DOCUMENT

I FORMALLY REQUEST a PRE-HEARING prior to a Ministerial Enquiry.

I kindly ask you to please not allow Service Canada to continue treating my claim for benefit maliciously. Have they still not sent my file to you? Please poll them for their intentions and expedite this scripted fiasco. My list of important documents should be everything that I have sent you so far, including faxes and emails. I still require your office to acknowledge receipt. Everything I sent you is relevant.

You have enough medical evidence I sent you to make a reasonable decision in my claim and anyone with any common sense just looking at the newspaper articles and crash pictures should give you some inclination as to how fatal the crash was that caused my disabilitys. Service Canada refused to look or acknowledge the newspaper articles and crash pictures I sent them, and your office has done the same. What kind of investigation is it not to even look at the pictures of the crash that cause my disabilitys?

Please put an end to these bullshit denials I am bitter, fedup, pissed off, and now feel that my claim is hopeless. Does this government want all the disabled on welfare? Evidence so far suggests that it wont matter if I stop advocating right now anyway, it won't change what is going to happen to my claim at the end of the day. But I will get louder and louder the longer this takes in hopes that someone fix this process for the victims. We deserve better than victim abuse limbo and financial hardship.

I feel that I survived the crash and have been given this gift of writing for a reason. That reason is to expose my journey threw the insurance system and go public with my findings. Perhaps My writing can help others to endure the abuses of the insurance systems for we are the people that pay into these mandatory systems for many decades and deserve to be acknowledged, helped, and properly without delay given the tools to try to recover as best we can.

Looking forward to hearing from you in this regard as soon as possible. Thank you.

Sincerely,

Mr. xxxx xxxxxx

Crash Victim 2007 -

Insurance Victim – 2014

Cc: undisclosed

Appeal process for CPP disability benefits is a 'David and Goliath' battle, Sask. advocate says

Federal appeals tribunal has backlog of 7,000 cases

CBC News Posted: Jun 18, 2014 5:30 AM CT Last Updated: Jun 18, 2014 5:30 AM CT

A Saskatchewan woman who helps people apply for benefits under the Canada Pension Plan says the federal government's appeal process is a "David and Goliath" battle.

'The CPP, or the federal government, has all of the resources and the person making the application — who has the disability — has probably minimal.'- Disability claims advocate Allison Schmidt

Allison Schmidt, a Regina-based disability advocate with about 200 clients, is currently working with Suzanne Fincaryk, who has been waiting nearly two years for her appeal to be heard.
"They really make you run through a lot of hoops, which I can understand because they don't want to make it easy for everybody," Fincaryk told CBC News in a recent interview. "But it's ridiculous. It's gone beyond making it difficult."
Fincaryk lives in Preeceville, Sask., having moved there to be closer to family after suffering a serious heart attack, her second in ten years,  that left her with some cognitive impairment. Unable to work, she applied for disability benefits through the Canada Pension Plan.

Allison Schmidt, who provides an advocacy service for disability claims, has about 200 clients. (CBC)

When that was refused she appealed, but her case is stalled in federal bureaucracy.
Schmidt says the situation facing Fincaryk, and many other clients, is not fair.
"It's almost like David and Goliath," Schmidt said. "The CPP, or the federal government, has all of the resources and the person making the application — who has the disability — has probably minimal [resources]."
Schmidt says few people have the money to produce medical reports or finance independent assessments to support their claims.

Backlog of 7,000 cases

What's more, according to information Schmidt received by filing an Access to Information request, there is a major backlog facing the Social Security Tribunal, which reviews denied claims.
She learned there are about 7,000 cases waiting to be heard by a tribunal. And, according to Schmidt, the tribunal has only 35 adjudicators assigned to disability files.

No immediate response from Social Security Tribunal

CBC News contacted the tribunal who said they would not be able to respond to an interview request right away.
Schmidt says she has had one client die while waiting on an appeal. Others exhaust all their savings.
"While they're waiting sometimes they have to go on to social services and that is very difficult for them," Schmidt said. "But people can't sustain themselves financially for years at a time. They end up using all their retirement savings or using all their personal savings just to make the bills."
While Fincaryk waits, and hopes, she is getting by with support from her parents and a provincial benefit program.
Schmidt says, in her experience, officials routinely turn down about 60 per cent of cases at every stage — from the initial application through to an appeal before the Social Security Tribunal.
Her advice, for people seeking a disability benefit, is to pay close attention to the initial application to ensure it has all the information the government wants and all the documents needed to support a claim.

source:  http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatchewan/appeal-process-for-cpp-disability-benefits-is-a-david-and-goliath-battle-sask-advocate-says-1.2679174

Freedom Of Information request reveals .......

by Admin2

 

On February 27, 2014 I requested information under the Freedom of Information Act regarding the Social Security Tribunal appeal statistics.

9027 Income Security Appeals are waiting to be heard (these are CPP appeals)

The SST heard 21 CPP appeals in 2013 and 155 appeals in 2014 in the General Division.

The SST heard 38 CPP appeals in 2013 and 40 appeals in 2014 in the Appeals Division.

As of February 2014 a total of 2,802 appeals were received at the Income Security Division of the SST which includes CPP and OAS appeals.

There are 292 Income Security Appeals waiting to be heard at the Appeal Division of the SST.

67 Appeals were heard in person, 82 appeals were by teleconference, 26 were by videoconference, 3 were by way of question and answers.

There were 592 appeals allowed and 134 appeals dismissed at the General Division (interesting because the SST only heard 176 appeals so most of these were CPP driven). http://www.dcac.ca/blog/?page=1


 Source: http://www.fairassociation.ca/category/news/

Has Service Canada work to rule affected my claim for CPP Disability Benefits?

Minister accuses EI union of working to rule

The number of jobless Canadians who managed to connect with an agent when they called Service Canada looking for their employment insurance cheques reached its lowest level in six years this fall.

Service Canada employees say the decline in staff size is the cause of the jammed phone lines – and the problems that many unemployed people are having in getting their benefits applications processed.

The number of jobless Canadians who managed to connect with an agent when they called Service Canada looking for their employment insurance cheques reached its lowest level in six years this fall.
Service Canada employees say the decline in staff size is the cause of the jammed phone lines – and the problems that many unemployed people are having in getting their benefits applications processed.

More related to this story

• Tory minister banks on automation to ease EI backlog
  
• Service Canada employees told to keep mum on complaints office
  
• Unforgiving computer system causes long waits for EI payments
  

But Human Resources Minister Diane Finley suggests the workers in her agency are deliberately cutting back on service as part of a backlash against the changes being made by the Conservative government to automate the EI process.

In a letter to the Charlottetown Guardian dated Nov. 21, Ms. Finley says it is most interesting that “in the month that we announced we will be overhauling and improving EI processing to better serve Canadians – before any changes were introduced – productivity and performance went from being on par with last year's performance at this time, to the worst in five years.”

More than 1,000 processing agents have been let go since the spring. Ms. Finley says they were temporary employees hired specifically to deal with a balloon in EI claims during the recent recession.

But the Canada Employment and Immigration Union says the number of processing agents is now well below prerecession levels. And the union is furious that Ms. Finley would suggest there is a work-to-rule campaign going on.
“If service levels are the worst that they’ve been in five years, I can assure you, it is entirely because Service Canada was far too quick to cut positions on the premise that automation would compensate,” said Steve McCuaig, the union’s national executive vice-president.

Alyson Queen, a spokeswoman for Ms. Finley, said the Human Resources Department is engaged in a process of modernizing its systems that will ultimately allow for better, faster and more cost-effective service to Canadians.
But Mr. McCuaig said “there isn’t an automated system in the world that can process applications that are as complex as EI legislation is and as unique to the applicants and their circumstances.”

Meanwhile, statistics supplied by Ms. Finley to Rodger Cuzner, the Liberal human resources critics, show the decline in service at the department’s call centres has been going on for at least six years.

In 2005-06, 58 per cent of the calls about EI from across Canada actually made it through to an agent. By September of this year, that had dropped to 32 per cent.

And, in some regions, the drop was much more pronounced. In Edmonton, for instance, the successful calls fell from 91 per cent to 31 per cent over the six-year span. In Regina, they fell from 84 per cent to 26 per cent.
The department denies that it has failed to renew the contracts of temporary employees in the Service Canada call centres.

“Through normal attrition, 84 people have left the call centres since July of this year and we have not replaced those positions,” Ms. Queen said. “However, for the record, there have been no non-renewals of term contracts or terminations within the EI or [Canada Pension Plan]call centres as a result of financial pressures.”

The union representatives, however, says that is patently untrue and that hundreds of temporary call centre employees across the country have been told they are no longer needed. They point to grievances that have been filed by their members who were let go in September, and memos from managers telling employees that staff is being reduced as a result of monetary cutbacks.

source: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/minister-accuses-ei-union-of-working-to-rule/article542818/?from=549462 

NDP blasts dismal response rate as Tories cut EI call centres

With the Conservative government planning to downsize call centres that handle employment insurance claims, the New Democrats have obtained data to show that one in every four calls is being abandoned because callers can’t reach a representative.
Internal government documents released by the NDP at an Ottawa news conference Wednesday show that in larger cities like Winnipeg and Vancouver, nearly a third of the people who called Service Canada about EI last month eventually hung up because they could not speak to someone in a timely manner.

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And in the final week of September, more than half of the people who called about the Canada Pension Plan and Old Age Security reached nothing but a busy signal.

“Folks on the other end of the line who depend on the service couldn’t even get through nearly 25 per cent of the time,” human resources critic Jean Crowder said. “So one out of every four people who call can’t talk to anyone about the problem they are having.”

Service Canada employees have received e-mails telling them that call centres in Vancouver, Montague, PEI, and the Nova Scotia communities of Glace Bay and Sydney will be reduced in size over the next three years.

Human Resources Minister Diane Finley has explained that the government hired extra employees on a temporary basis during the recession to handle the high volume of EI claims.

“Fortunately, thanks to our economic action plan, more Canadians are at work now than ever before, so there is not the same need to hire people to process the claims,” the minister said last month when asked about the downsizing at the call centres.

“The individuals knew that they were temporary jobs, but service standards have improved compared to the 10 weeks it took when the Liberals were in power,” Ms. Finley said.

She has also said Service Canada is moving away from a paper system to automated processes that will give workers more time to deal directly with the people they serve.

But Ms. Crowder said the automated system has been in place for five years and most people already try to file their claims on line.

“Less than 50 per cent of claims can be handled without an employee involved,” she said. “Even a tiny anomaly in a claim will be rejected by the automated system.”

Unemployed workers who need help but cannot get help by telephone will have to wait longer for the money they need to pay their bills, Ms. Crowder said.
The government, she added, “should reverse the decision to cut the staff at EI processing centres so Canadians are not left waiting for the benefits they deserve and need in these tough economic times.”

source:  http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/ottawa-notebook/ndp-blasts-dismal-response-rate-as-tories-cut-ei-call-centres/article619007/

EI queue has ballooned since Service Canada staff cuts

Hundreds of thousands of unemployed Canadians are waiting for the federal government to process their claims for employment insurance – a queue that newly released documents show has doubled since 2007 as Services Canada reduces its staff.

In October of 2007, there were 181,931 people waiting for their claims to be processed, according to documents obtained by The Globe and Mail using federal Access to Information legislation. By October of this year, that number had climbed to 360,481 – and according to past seasonal trends, is likely to be higher now.

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Growth in the waiting list for benefits parallels a decline in temporary and permanent staff in the processing centres, with numbers 13 per cent lower than in October, 2007. Hundreds of additional processing agents were hired during the economic downturn of 2008 and 2009 but those people, and others, have since been let go or left without being replaced.

The result has been a system in turmoil, as documented in a series of Globe stories over the past two months. Unemployed people are unable to get through by telephone to find out what is delaying their benefits. The newly released documents reveal wild fluctuations in temporary staff at Service Canada’s call centres where the phone lines as so jammed that just one in three calls is answered.

Many of the unemployed are turning up at Service Canada centres instead and are extremely frustrated. Service Canada workers in a number of cities are reporting receiving threats of violence.

One woman who waited for months for an answer is Lorena Delim, a health-care aide who went on maternity leave a year ago when her son was born. The baby died in August – a tragedy Ms. Delim cannot bring herself to discuss even four months later.

She immediately told Service Canada that the boy had passed away. Because of her fragile emotional state, she was advised to convert some of the remaining months of her maternity leave to disability leave.
Weeks later, she had received no cheque for the period after the baby’s death but she did get a letter from Service Canada telling her she had to pay back more than $500 in benefits.

Ms. Delim tried repeatedly to telephone a government agent to set things straight but could not get past the message machines. More than once she went into the local Service Canada centre in an attempt to resolve the issue. “They e-mailed for the processing centre to call me back but I never heard from them again,” she said in a telephone interview.

Ms. Delim eventually turned to Winnipeg’s Unemployed Help Centre to see if the staff there could get through to Service Canada on her behalf. In the week before Christmas – three weeks after she had returned to her job – she was finally told she would be getting benefits for September and October.
Although the number of people who, like Ms. Delim, are waiting has spiked in 2011, the 248,659 EI claims filed in October were about the same as in Octobers past, the documents obtained by The Globe show.

The documents did not give figures for November and December of 2011. But the records show that the number of Canadians waiting for their first benefits cheque annually jumps by as much as 100,000 during those months as a result of seasonal fluctuations. So the real number of unemployed Canadians currently waiting for their first EI payment could be approaching 500,000.

In response to questions from The Globe, the Human Resources Department said it works to “maintain a flexible and sustainable workforce capacity comprising both permanent and temporary employees, working on a full- or part-time basis.”

Human Resources Minister Diane Finley says fewer people are needed because her department is moving to a more automated system.
But Service Canada workers point out that the system became automated four years ago. And they say the depletion of their ranks means any claim that requires human intervention is taking additional weeks and even months to process.

“I liken this to a ticking time bomb,” says Neil Cohen, the executive director of the Community Unemployed Help Centre in Winnipeg.
“We have clients who are dealing with depression issues who have talked about suicide and those threats have to be taken seriously [as do]threats of violence against Service Canada workers,” Mr. Cohen said. “The federal government has just ignored the problem.”

 source: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/ei-queue-has-ballooned-since-service-canada-staff-cuts/article4247846/

Service Canada employees told to keep mum on complaints office

There is an office within Service Canada where jobless people who have waited undue lengths of time for their first employment-insurance cheque can complain about the delay – but Service Canada employees are not permitted to tell them about it.
It’s called the Office of Client Satisfaction, and it promises to work to “resolve any issues brought to its attention.” But call centre agents who field questions about EI claims say they have been warned by their bosses not to mention its existence to the frustrated people on the other end of the line.

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“The only way they are allowed to give information about it is if the client specifically says, ‘Do you have information about the Office of Client Satisfaction,’ ” said Steve McCuaig, the national vice-president of the Canada Employment and Immigration Union. “So how are they supposed to ask for something they don’t even know exists?”

It’s a bind that the agents find themselves in more often as the work force assigned to process claims shrinks to meet federal budget restraints, and the number of EI claims that take more than the maximum 28 days to be decided increases correspondingly.

Even though the jobless rate went up last month, Service Canada's work force is expected to decline even further as Human Resources and Skills Development Canada trims costs to meet deficit reduction targets. So the lines at Service Canada which are already jammed with anxious EI claimants are likely to get even busier.

Many of the angry claimants are turning to their local MP for help.
“Why should they have to call an MP when they've got me on the phone?” said one Service Canada call-centre agent. “I tell them we are late, but can’t take their complaint? Crazy. Who wouldn't go nuts at that? We deliver bad news but aren't accountable to it.”

Another agent, however, said there would be little point in directing someone whose benefits have been delayed to the Office of Client Satisfaction because that office can only turn to the same overworked processing agents who are fielding complaints forwarded by the call-centre staff.

Until July, those processing agents were required to return calls to people who had complaints about their claims within two days. That has been increased to five days because the agents could not keep up with the volume of calls. And Service Canada staff say even the five-day deadline is not being met.
The Human Resources Department was asked for basic information about the Office of Client Satisfaction on Tuesday, and to explain why call-centre agents could not divulge its existence to clients – but no responses were provided.
Jamus Dorey of Nova Scotia applied for employment insurance on July 24. His claim was not processed until Sept. 24, and he received his first EI cheque on Sept. 28.
“It went on and on and on,” he said. “I would call almost every second day for the full eight weeks and not one person from Service Canada actually called me back.”

Mr. Dorey found a job in October. But as the single father of a young son, he says he is very glad he had his own savings to get through two months with no income.

Throughout the days and weeks that he was trying to get answers out of Service Canada, no one told him about the Office of Client Satisfaction. It was the staff working for Rodger Cuzner, his Liberal MP who also happens to be the party’s critic for Human Resources, who told him there was an office within Service Canada where he could make a complaint.

Mr. Dorey said he called the Office of Client Satisfaction and was told someone would get back to him in a week. The claim was approved shortly thereafter, but he attributes the resolution to Mr. Cuzner’s intervention.

source: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/service-canada-employees-told-to-keep-mum-on-complaints-office/article542838/

Calls to EI complaints office skyrocket

The secretive Office for Client Satisfaction where jobless Canadians can launch complaints about the handling of their employment insurance claims is not so secret any more.

New documents released this week by the Conservative government show that the office received 9,488 “comments” between April 1 and Dec. 7 of last year.

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That is a considerable increase from the period between 2007 and 2010 when the office averaged a little more than 3,000 comments a year. The number jumped to about 6,000 in fiscal year 2010-11 – an increase that Service Canada attributes to a higher volume of EI claims.
But, in the current fiscal year that ends on March 31, the office is on track to hear from more than 12,000 Canadians.

The volume of comments ballooned in November when The Globe and Mail published a story quoting Service Canada call-centre agents who said they have been warned by their bosses not to mention the office’s existence to jobless clients who are frustrated with the time it is taking to process their EI claims.
“Since November 2011, the extremely high volumes of client feedback have led to delays in processing some of the more complex files,” say the documents, which were provided in response to questions from Jean Crowder, the NDP human resources critic.

Ms. Crowder said she believes the increase in calls to the Office for Client Satisfaction (OCS) can be attributed to the fact that people are becoming aware of it. “And cuts to services are forcing people into looking for alternatives,” she said.

In response to questions about the recent spike, Service Canada said additional resources have been added to the OCS, and the department’s website “has been updated to encourage clients to direct their request to the appropriate program.”

Service Canada staff say they have been unable to keep up with the workload after hundreds of workers were cut last year.

Human Resources Minister Diane Finley recently authorized the temporary rehiring of more than 100 employees who had been laid off from the EI processing centres, as well as the reassignment of workers from other divisions within Service Canada, to deal with a rising mountain of claims.

In October, more than 360,000 people were waiting for their EI benefits to be processed, a backlog that has since grown, and some unemployed people are waiting months for their first cheque.

Frustrated claimants have jammed the phone lines at Service Canada call centres. But many of the agents who deal with those callers say they have been told not to tell them about the Office for Client Satisfaction.

Don Rogers, the national president of the Canadian Employment and Immigration Union, which represents call-centre agents and claims processors, said Service Canada workers in some parts of the country are allowed to give out the number for the OCS while workers in other regions are strongly dissuaded from doing so.

“But we have been encouraging folks, if they are not happy with the wait times, that the best thing to do is to register your unhappiness with the Office for Client Satisfaction,” he said. “That’s why it’s there.”

The documents provided to Ms. Crowder also show high levels of absenteeism among Service Canada staff, especially at the processing centres. While the average Canadian worker takes between seven and eight sick days a year, EI processing agents take an average of nearly 12.

Mr. Rogers said his members are experiencing high levels of stress and anxiety. “You can imagine when it takes a member of the public days to get through [on the telephone]with a query that they may be unhappy when they finally get through and speak with someone,” he said.

Ms. Crowder said she is hearing anecdotally from Service Canada employees about the difficult environment in which they work. “They are hearing people threatening suicide,” she said, “they are hearing threats of violence and all that kind of thing.”

source: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/calls-to-ei-complaints-office-skyrocket/article549462/