Scott Bijowski (52 year old, male, Salesperson)

Over the years, business had its ups and downs. When business was good Scott was fine, but on occasions when business was down, Scott suffered from some bouts of depression. These episodes did not usually last very long and Scott was able to carry on with a fully productive life.

He was married with three kids, and after the kids moved out his wife also decided to leave.

Scott plunged into a deep depression and started seeing a psychiatrist. The psychiatrist suggested that a career change would help. He got a new job as a sales manager with a competitor, and this required less travel.

Over the next few months Scott felt better. He thanked the psychiatrist for his advice and was discharged from all treatment.

Within a year of starting the new job Scott started to feel something different, which he could not explain, and he found that he could not handle work anymore. He returned to his psychiatrist who diagnosed the new symptoms as evidence of a Bi-Polar disorder and prescribed medication, and told him to stay off work.

Scott had group Short Term and Long Term Disability benefits with Manulife, and submitted a claim. Manulife paid the Short Term benefits, for 3 months and told him to apply for Long Term Disability. When he finally got a response from the LTD claim, it was a denial.

Manulife said under the LTD policy, they were not obligated to pay for a pre-existing condition. Scott and his doctor appealed this decision as they claimed that the Bi-Polar diagnosis was not a pre-existing condition.

Without any income, and bills piling up, Scott tried to return to work, but after 3 days he was hospitalized. A few weeks later, after getting out of the hospital, Scott's brother found David Share Associates on the internet and booked an appointment for them to see how Scott could get his benefits.

Scott felt so relieved to find some hope, even though he understood that it would take time, knowing that no money was required up front convinced Scott to go ahead with legal action.

David Share Associates sued Manulife for his benefits. We went to work on gathering the necessary background information. Once Manulife's lawyers responded to the lawsuit, they agreed to attend a mediation to see if settlement could be reached, but only after they had a chance to question Scott during an examination for discovery and sending him to a doctor of their choice.

At mediation, Manulife continued to strongly argue that they did not have to pay because of a pre-existing condition; and that depression and bi-polar were the same thing. David Share Associates argued that the Bi-Polar was very different from the depression Scott suffered from in the past as documented by all of Scott's doctors.

A settlement was reached to pay Scott a lump sum amount of $213,500.00 which represented 3 years of benefits. With his settlement, Scott was able to see some way out of his debt; to concentrate on getting the treatment he needed; and to hink about a new career in the future.

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