Your Disability Claim Was Denied. Now What?
You paid your premiums faithfully for years. You trusted that if something serious happened — an accident, an illness, a condition that made it impossible to work — your disability insurance would be there. Then the letter arrived. Claim denied. Or maybe your benefits were approved and then abruptly cut off. Or the insurer keeps asking for more documentation, delaying your file month after month while your savings disappear.
If any of that sounds familiar, you are not alone — and you are not out of options.
At Shiv Ganesh Professional Corporation, we are a disability insurance lawyer team with an advantage that most firms cannot offer: before fighting for policyholders, we spent more than a decade working inside the insurance industry. We know exactly how disability claims are evaluated, where insurers look for reasons to deny, and how to build the legal case that forces a fair outcome. That insider knowledge is now entirely in your corner.
Why Disability Insurance Claims Get Denied in Alberta
Insurance companies are for-profit businesses. Denying or terminating a disability claim saves them money — and they have entire departments dedicated to finding reasons to do exactly that. The most common grounds insurers use to deny long-term or short-term disability claims in Alberta include determinations that the claimant does not meet the policy’s definition of “total disability,” allegations that the condition is a pre-existing one excluded under the policy terms, claims that medical documentation is insufficient or inconsistent, surveillance evidence purporting to show the claimant is more functional than reported, and termination of benefits after an “own occupation” period ends and the harder “any occupation” standard kicks in.
These denials are often not the final word — they are negotiating positions. With the right disability insurance lawyer, many denials that appear definitive can be successfully challenged, appealed, or litigated.
Short-Term vs. Long-Term Disability: Understanding What You’re Owed
Disability insurance in Canada typically comes in two forms, and the legal issues around each are distinct.
Short-term disability (STD) benefits generally replace a portion of your income for a limited period — often 15 to 52 weeks — while you recover from an illness or injury. These claims are frequently denied on the basis that the medical evidence doesn’t support a complete inability to work, or that the condition doesn’t meet the policy’s specific definition of disability.
Long-term disability (LTD) benefits take over when short-term coverage ends. LTD denials are often more aggressive because the financial stakes are higher — these benefits can run for years or even until age 65. Insurers investing in surveillance, independent medical examinations, and file reviews by in-house medical consultants are all standard tactics at the LTD stage.
Whether your claim is short-term or long-term, group or individual, employer-sponsored or privately purchased, our team has the experience to evaluate your policy, identify where the insurer overreached, and build a case for the compensation you are owed.
The Insurance Industry Advantage — Now Fighting for You
What separates Shiv Ganesh Professional Corporation from a general litigation practice is the depth of insurance-specific knowledge applied to every disability file. Principal lawyer Shiv Ganesh spent nearly a decade on the insurer’s side of these exact disputes before making a deliberate choice to represent the policyholders insurers push back against. He is a member of the Canadian Bar Association, the Alberta Civil Trial Lawyers Association (ACTLA), and the Law Society of Alberta.
That experience means he understands how disability files are built internally, what documentation an insurer’s medical consultants are actually looking for, which policy language is routinely misapplied against claimants, and when an insurer’s conduct crosses the line into bad faith — which carries its own additional legal consequences.
Supporting every client is a dedicated and coordinated team. Case manager Candace Dahl oversees serious files from intake through to resolution. Senior paralegal and intake coordinator Zandrhea de Guzman ensures new clients are onboarded efficiently and with clear communication from day one. Senior paralegal Caelin Robinson handles the ongoing demands of insurance litigation across hundreds of active Alberta files simultaneously.
Together, this team manages every element of your disability claim — reviewing your policy, gathering medical and specialist evidence, responding to insurer requests, preparing demand packages, and building trial-ready cases when the insurer refuses to settle fairly.
Bad Faith: When an Insurer Crosses the Line
Not every difficult claim is simply a dispute over medical evidence. Sometimes an insurer’s conduct in handling a disability claim is itself unlawful. Under Alberta law, insurers owe policyholders a duty of good faith — meaning they must handle claims honestly, promptly, and fairly.
When an insurer unreasonably delays a decision, misrepresents policy terms, ignores clear medical evidence, conducts intrusive and disproportionate surveillance, or terminates benefits without genuine justification, that conduct may constitute bad faith. A successful bad faith claim can result in compensation beyond the policy benefits themselves, including aggravated and punitive damages.
If your insurer’s behavior has felt less like a claims process and more like a campaign to wear you down, it is worth discussing with a disability insurance lawyer who knows exactly where those lines are drawn.
Serving Calgary, Medicine Hat, and All of Alberta
Our firm serves disability insurance clients across the full province of Alberta — from Calgary and Medicine Hat to Lethbridge, Red Deer, Edmonton, and every community in between. Distance is not a barrier. We handle consultations by phone and video, manage files remotely, and come to you when circumstances require it.
No Fee Unless We Win. Free Consultation to Start.
Every client begins with a completely free, no-pressure consultation. We review your policy, your denial letter, and your circumstances, and give you an honest assessment of your options. We work on full contingency — no upfront legal fees, and you pay nothing unless we recover your benefits.
Call 403-527-7736, email sganesh@wilcraft.com, or book your free consultation at abinsurancelawyer.ca. Available Monday to Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Your insurer had a team working against your claim from the beginning. It’s time you had one working just as hard for it.
Straight talk. Strong advocacy. No fee unless we win.
