Success Story: Evan Walsh
*Names have been fictionalized to protect the privacy of our clients.
As a 34-year old Collections Specialist in Fredericton, New Brunswick, Evan spent most of his day on the phone with people in tight financial circumstances. That made for a lot of awkward calls. In most cases, he could hear the anxiety in people’s voices as they tried to figure out how they were going to find the money to pay their bills, but he was good at navigating those conversations to find a solution that was agreeable to everyone.
Of course, the regular talks with financially strained account holders still took a toll. Some of their stress inevitably carried over into his own life, but Evan had always been able to brush it off once he left the office.
That started to change when management raised the budget goals for the entire department. Evan now had to generate much more revenue in the same amount of time, and there just didn’t seem to be enough hours in the day. He soon found himself staying late to meet his goals, all while facing more pressure to work overtime and close as many accounts as possible.
It wasn’t long before Evan started to break down. He was having panic attacks in the middle of calls and hyperventilating in the break room during lunch, then going home and grinding his teeth while he was asleep. He always managed to make it to his desk, but Evan could tell that his performance was suffering. It was getting more and more difficult to meet the relentless demands that were creating his anxiety.
Thankfully, Evan’s partner saw what the job was doing to Evan’s health. She advised him to speak to a therapist, who diagnosed Evan with anxiety and depression and encouraged him to file a long term disability claim. He was approved benefits for nearly two years, largely because his condition was directly related to his job and prevented him from carrying out his regular responsibilities.
Evan was grateful to have some time away from work to focus on his mental health, but two years wasn’t enough time to make a full recovery. His anxiety only got worse when his disability claim was cut off at the “change of definition” point. While his condition still made it impossible to return to his previous role, his insurance provider argued that he should be able to move on to another job and was no longer willing to pay his benefits.
That’s when his in-laws recommended Share Lawyers. Evan scheduled a free consultation and Share Lawyers told him that he should still be entitled to disability benefits. Typically this means that to qualify for LTD benefits in the any occupation period, you must be totally or substantially disabled from the duties of any occupation for which you have the requisite education, skills or experience.
Share Lawyers gathered evidence that proved Evan was unable to work. They were then able to negotiate a settlement agreement during mediation that provided Evan with future benefits.
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