Advisors are holding up the case of a former soldier seeking a mortgage disability payout as yet more indication of the product’s apparent shortcomings.
An Alberta man with PTSD who served in Afghanistan with the Princess Pats is back home more than a decade later fighting a battle of another sort – and there might not be anything he can do about it.
“Life & disability mortgage insurance is underwritten at the time of claim. In other words, they'll take your money... but it doesn't mean they'll pay,” said BC certified health specialist Ken MacCoy. “It is criminal! Why the banks [and group insurers] are allowed to sell that junk product is beyond me.”
Shaun Arnsten’s PTSD came back to haunt him this past April when the former soldier suffered a concussion in a motorcycle accident that’s prevented him from returning to work as a heavy equipment operator.
With serious concerns about whether he’d ever be able to return to this type of work given his medical history, Arnsten applied for mortgage disability insurance with a major carrier. In July the insurer sent the veteran a letter stating he was ineligible for coverage due to his PTSD.
"I was about 150 metres from the point of impact where the bomb was," Arnsten told CTV News. "I'm a young guy – a soldier – I went to war, I saw horrible things, I came back (and) I had a reaction to it.”
While the Department of Veteran Affairs is getting involved in this particular case, it recognizes that it can do a better job with third-party insurers.
“We have a lot of control over what we can [do to help] … in terms of benefits and programs,” Veteran Affairs Minister Erin O’Toole told CTV recently. With “some of the third-party insurers … we’ve got to look at how we can address those if we can.”
“Life & disability mortgage insurance is underwritten at the time of claim. In other words, they'll take your money... but it doesn't mean they'll pay,” said BC certified health specialist Ken MacCoy. “It is criminal! Why the banks [and group insurers] are allowed to sell that junk product is beyond me.”
Shaun Arnsten’s PTSD came back to haunt him this past April when the former soldier suffered a concussion in a motorcycle accident that’s prevented him from returning to work as a heavy equipment operator.
With serious concerns about whether he’d ever be able to return to this type of work given his medical history, Arnsten applied for mortgage disability insurance with a major carrier. In July the insurer sent the veteran a letter stating he was ineligible for coverage due to his PTSD.
"I was about 150 metres from the point of impact where the bomb was," Arnsten told CTV News. "I'm a young guy – a soldier – I went to war, I saw horrible things, I came back (and) I had a reaction to it.”
While the Department of Veteran Affairs is getting involved in this particular case, it recognizes that it can do a better job with third-party insurers.
“We have a lot of control over what we can [do to help] … in terms of benefits and programs,” Veteran Affairs Minister Erin O’Toole told CTV recently. With “some of the third-party insurers … we’ve got to look at how we can address those if we can.”
