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Topic: Disability Policy Posted: 12/December/2002 at 2:02pm |
Anybody know what the procedure is for applying for disability? I'm being given the run-around....
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markomeara
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Posted: 12/December/2002 at 7:24pm |
Here's what I've gathered their unofficial policy is. I've asked for a copy of it, but was told that it is evolving, but they could write one up for me, but they never did send it to me.
Note that this refers to HRDC's disability policy.
1. You must have been disabled in the first seven months after graduation.
2. Request forms from them. They were denying forms if your loan was in default but it was proven there was no such regulation.
3. Have the forms filled out and send them in. There is a financial form, and a medical form.
4. Disability is defined as a restriction on your ability to participate in the labour force. It has to be with you for your lifetime. They may try to disqualify you if you can work part time. This was challenged too. its a restriction, not a total incapacitation.
5. Next they assess your finances. Unfortunately they dont look at your ability to pay back now that you are disabled . They look at your last one or two years of income.
5a. Once they find that you're not disqualified, they will ask for proof for EVERYTHING. Expect to now prove all your medical expenses, proof of income and any other expenses that you have claimed. If your doctor wrote that something was part of your treatment plan, that will not be enough, as they will ask for a letter from your doctor specifying that it was prescribed. Lots of chasing info to prove to them stuff..
6. Next they will likely ask for more information from your doctor. You will get the bill. But if you protest HRDC will cover the bill once you prove that they ordered the info without you being involved!
7. Now that they've taken six months to assess your claim, they will likely ask for new financial statements.
8. For financial assessment, they are supposed to look at whether paying back the loan will cause hardship. They use net income less medical expenses and a few other allowable expenses and compare it to the superintendent's table of surplus income from the bankruptcy legislation. Funny though, they wont include a loan payment. This is being challenged. $1604 net income per month is the magic number to qualify, regardless of how large your loan payment is. If your loan payment is $25, $1604 is the magic number. If your loan payment is $400, $1604 is still the magic number. But they don't include the loan payment in the calculation.
10. If you can make any payment, they may try to disqualify you.
11. In the end, if you get loan forgiveness and you call it that, you will get a letter saying that its not really forgiveness. They call it forgiveness because they dont want to confuse the average client, they say.
12. They will make incorrect assumptions and write you letters that dont make any sense. For example, one guy at HRDC claimed that the Royal Bank thought I was still an excellent credit risk and believed I had the ability to pay back the loan --- because the bank had not returned the loan to HRDC. Of course he was totally misinformed and his logic was flawed because he was unaware that the bank was not allowed to do any thing on the file until the bankruptcy trustee was discharged... I explained how the law worked to the senior policy analyst.... hmmm shouldn't they know this already!
13. If you do qualify, then its a miracle! Miracles do happen.... be diligent.
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MegaPo
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Posted: 17/December/2002 at 9:40am |
Good points, Mark: especially #2. You must request application forms from them, and you must not take "no" for an answer. In the past, people who enquire about the relief program have been told that they don't qualify, so there was no need for a form. It's idiotic--There should be no such thing as an application process for an application form!
I'm puzzled about #11... "not really forgiveness"? I'm not sure what you mean by that. Can you bring me up to speed on that point?
--Sean
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markomeara
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Posted: 27/December/2002 at 10:30am |
In response to your query... here's a clarification of the "loan forgiveness" issue.
HrDc claims that under the financial admin act, debts to the crown can not be forgiven, therefore the loan is placed in a "non-action" file.
Of course, if HRDC would read the actual wording of the act, it says that debts can not be forgiven unless specified that they can be in another act. The student loans act says they can, therefore HRDC is wrong on this too. (see my new years resolutions for HRDC)
So they say its loan forgiveness but its really not they say because technically its just placed in limbo. The scarey part is that if the loan is not forgiven, it is possible that in 20 years from now, some bureaucrat may decide to reactivate your file, in which you now owe the original loan plus 20 years of interest!
Note that this does not apply to bank loans, only loans held by the govt.
Mark
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Posted: 21/January/2003 at 11:15pm |
what about people who aren't particularly disabled now, but who have an illness that could be fatal, or that could disable them at any time -- do they have to struggle to pay back a loan, only to become very ill and not have any money whatsoever because it's all gone to this horrible government?
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Posted: 22/January/2003 at 11:45am |
I feel so sorry to persons needing disability benefits because we pay for these benefits and then when they are needed all you get is deny deny deny.
My brother has a condition that causes his legs to swell and because of this he is not able to walk very far. His employment was a maintenance worker and disability told him that he should try and get a desk job.
HELLO?????????????????????????????????????????
Get a desk job as a maintenance person....Yeah right!!!!! This may qualify to all the persons who are sitting on their asses at HRDC, but it does not apply to someone who has worked his whole life. My brother is almost 50 and he has 15 years until he can qualify for old age pension. Because of HRDC denying him benefits he has to rely on welfare in which to live. And yet he has worked since he was 16 and welfare is the future that he gets when he paid into disability. And for what so that HRDC can keep what is rightfully his, his doctor and specialists have all stated on the forms that he is permanently disabled and yet HRDC said that he can go back to school and be trained for another job. The guy has a seventh grade education level, then again maybe he can get a job at the local HRDC office. I will have to look into that for him.
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hunter
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Posted: 23/October/2003 at 11:32am |
Does anyone know a disability representative in the Regina area. I am trying to help my brother at an appeal in the coming months, and I am not sure how to get him help.
He has a learning disability and I am representing him, and I do not have a clue as to what to do for him.
Thanks all
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lasergirl
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Posted: 23/October/2003 at 12:22pm |
Hi Hunter. I live in Toronto but I do have a suggestion (hope it helps!). Do you have a legal aid clinic near you? I am currently using the services of a lawyer free of charge and I didn't have to present a legal aid certificate (which is good because they take forever to get!). Also you might want to approach the university and see if the faculty of law has a clinic that can assist you (or perhaps point you in the right direction). Good luck!
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hunter
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Posted: 23/October/2003 at 12:56pm |
Great Idea:
I will look into it...
It is so frustrating fighting for benefits that you have paid for your whole life, and when they are needed, you are denied.
I am told that 90% of the claims are denied, I guess one has to be have dead before they are accepted for disability.
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hunter
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Posted: 29/October/2003 at 10:02am |
Well I am impressed.
I have been helping in the fight with my brother getting disability for the past 18 months, and I have finally gotten results.
He was awaiting an appeal in April 2004.
I wrote a five page nasty letter, I was fuming. I wrote the letter to the Head people in Ottawa, and yesterday He received a letter from them to say that based on new information, their decision was reversed. Now they are back paying him from May 2002, when he should have been paid in the first place.
I am shocked, and so pleased for him.
All I can say is never, ever give up. Write letters, talk to people, threaten legal action. Do whatever it takes.
My brother is virtually illiterate and was being taken advantage of by these government people, and I will not let them intimidate a handicapped person.
My brother is in shock, he could not even understand the letter, as he thought that he would be denied again.
Just wanted to provide some upbeat info for a change.
Now onto my personal fight with student loans.
Wish me luck, I will need it.
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polyhymnia61
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Posted: 29/October/2003 at 10:23am |
Congratulations, Hunter!!
It's nice to hear about the good guys winning for a
change...
Onwards and upwards!
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Home is where you are allowed to prosper.
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hunter
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Posted: 29/October/2003 at 11:20am |
Yes this is true
I just can't understand why we have to fight and fight and fight for what we paid into for years, that was to help us in the event that it was needed.
And then all you get is DENY< DENY< DENY<
But yes I am pleased, I even settled with student loans on a payment plan, just got the great news faxed from Johnny help_is_here... $ 25.00 per month (after fighting with them for over 5 years)
No more fighting on my part....
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hunter
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Posted: 30/October/2003 at 5:23am |
Just another update:
My brother received his disability cheque yesterday that included back pay from May 2002, and it was for a total of $12,551.27
HOLY sh*t!!! is all that I can say.
Never give up on what is rightfully yours.
This should give others here encouragement. Each and every time that he received a DENY letter, all I did was get more angrier at the system.
Lucky, I do not give up easy..
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manitobakid
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Posted: 11/April/2004 at 4:56pm |
About point #8 -- what is taken into consideration for financial resources? I'm married, and I have no income and have had almost none for several years. Will my husband's income be taken into account? How about equity in the primary residence?
Can you recommend any sources for information about this? Thanks,
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SolveStudentDebt
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Posted: 12/April/2004 at 6:13am |
manitobakid,
If youa re not employed, there is no action that can be taken against you - or your spouse. If your spouse is the only income earner in the household, they cannot proceed to enforce against him. Total household income is looked at when determining one's ability to repay, however, you have no income so there is an exception.
As for disposable equity in a property, the government cannot attach this unless there is a judgement awarded and one full year has passed after judgment has been acquired. Even then it is unlikely that there would be any proceeding against real property in your case. I can tell you for sure if I were to see what you are dealing with.
So, the bottom line in your case is that there is really no avenue of execution against you as a result of no income. The collection agancies will tellyou lots of ficticious stories about how they could proceed, however, it would all be mere empty rhetoric.
Johnny
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Solve Student Debt specializes in solutions for students and graduates in student loan default, and those at risk of defaulting. solvestudentdebt.com
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manitobakid
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Posted: 13/April/2004 at 6:45am |
Thanks Johnny, may I contact you at the phone number listed here?
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