This article was written by Steven Muller, Vice President Litigation at Share Lawyers.

At the time of its liquidation in August 1994, Confederation Life was the fourth largest insurer in Canada. It had over 250,000 individual policyholders and 1.5 million eligible members of group policies in Canada. A major factor in the company’s demise was its heavy investments in commercial real estate and high-end properties throughout Canada. Fortunately, policyholders were largely protected under CompCorp (now Assuris), which is a fund that was put in place and funded by Canadian insurers to essentially protect all policyholders. All policyholders were ultimately able to retain their benefits. Various parts of Confederation Life’s business were eventually assumed by other insurers, including Manufacturers’ Life.

Fake disability insurance provides fake protection for consumers. Companies who are self-insured have no protection for their eligible members’ disability or health benefits in case of dissolution. There is no obligation on our governments or the insurance industry to bail out self-insured disability plans. As of 2022, one in 13 Canadian employees are covered by self-insured plans and many of these employees have no idea that they have fake disability insurance.

Disabled employees need legislative protections from hard economic times. As we all know, “the times they are a-changin”. So, it’s time to face the changes.