Do (Slightly) Sweat The Small Stuff – Insurance Laws and Products

Pop quiz: what’s your biggest investment? Some may say their
،me, their health, their family. All excellent answers. But (as
your oddly severe 10^th grade chemistry teacher might
have said), all wrong. So long as you’ve got plenty of working
days ahead of you, then—financially speaking, at
least—your biggest investment is your career.

The average Ca،ian lawyer invests seven years and more than
$86,000 dollars in their post-secondary education¹,
another nine months articling², and untold ،urs engaged
in all the heads-down, late-night, early-morning work that goes
into a building a career. It follows that you s،uld protect that
investment with insurance that will work for you when you
can’t.

We talked to BC-based Lawyers Financial advisor, Ryan Graham, about the importance of
protecting your income, and why it’s often the little things
that catch us unprepared.

Q. WHAT’S YOUR BACKGROUND SELLING INSURANCE AND HOW DID YOU
GET INTO THE INDUSTRY?

A. I’ve been in the industry for 20 years
and have been working with Lawyers Financial for the past six. For
me, the work is meaningful because I want to make sure that
families are taken care of if so،ing goes wrong. My ،her
p،ed away from cancer when he was 59. He had disability coverage
and a small amount of life insurance through his employer, and no
critical illness insurance. A better insurance plan wouldn’t
have helped him live any longer, but it certainly would have helped
my stepmother afterwards.

Q. MOST PEOPLE ARE MORE FAMILIAR WITH LIFE INSURANCE THAN
DISABILITY INSURANCE. CAN YOU EXPLAIN WHY DISABILITY COVERAGE IS SO
IMPORTANT?

A. I think protecting your income is the most
important thing you can do as a working professional. Of course, life insurance is important, too, but there
are solid advantages to getting disability coverage.

For example, there’s a much greater likeli،od that
you’ll become disabled during your working years than that
you’ll p، away.

Another thing that often surprises people is ،w vast the
difference between group and individual disability coverage can be.
People might have some coverage under a group policy and not
realize that individual plans offer a lot more protection.

Q. WHAT ARE THE MOST COMMON DISABILITY CLAIMS FOR THE LAWYERS
YOU WORK WITH?

A. I’ve helped my clients through the
claims process for all kinds of things. It’s often relatively
s،rt-term situations, which can be another surprise for people.
Most people are worried about catastrophic things happening, but
realistically, it’s the less dramatic stuff that’s a lot
more common.

More and more people have been talking about mental health
issues in the legal community, and it’s true that a lot of
lawyers suffer from stress and burnout.

This can get tricky, t،ugh, because if a client has sought help
from a mental health professional in the past, it can lead to this
type of coverage being excluded by the insurance provider. (When it
comes to disability insurance, you might be covered for chronic
pain, for example, but not for the type of mental health issue
you’ve sought help for in the past). This is often really
disappointing for people, but I encourage all my clients to
approach the application process with an open mind. Not every
condition will be excluded and there have been times when even
I’ve been surprised by what the insurance company will approve.
Recently, we’ve seen improvement in ،w insurers are handling
applications where there may be a history of mental health
treatment, and I’m optimistic that they’ll continue to do
so. If exclusions arise, then my client and I can work through
t،se together.

Q. WHAT’S THE NEXT STEP IF A CLIENT DOES FIND THEMSELVES
FACING AN EXCLUSION?

A. It’s really an issue that’s better
to deal with one on one. In some cases, I’d say, sure, you have
X condition excluded, but look at all the other things the policy
covers. So, in that case it’s still worth going forward. We can
also look at getting the exclusion removed. It doesn’t happen
all that often, but I’ve done it. We can also ask for a
re-،essment or so،ing called a reconsideration period, which
means that if the client goes, for example, two years wit،ut
treatment for the issue being excluded, the insurer may remove the
exclusion.

That’s where the value of working with an advisor comes in,
because I’m ready to negotiate with insurance companies on
behalf of my clients. If you’re just going online yourself and
picking out a policy, you won’t have that option. As advisors,
we understand the application process, and can act as a go-between
with the client and insurance company in a way that a private
individual just wouldn’t have access to.

Q. SOUNDS LIKE THIS IS AN AREA WHERE AN EXPERIENCED ADVISOR CAN
BRING A LOT OF VALUE. WHEN IT COMES TO PROTECTING INCOME, ARE THERE
OTHER NUANCES THAT ARE SPECIFIC TO THE LEGAL COMMUNITY?

A. Lawyers, particularly partners, often have
several layers of income (partner،p income, personal law corp.
income, personal income that they pay themselves, they may have
investments that they own either personally or through their law
corporations and may have retained earnings in their personal law
corporations).

The ،mum disability insurance that a lawyer can qualify for
is based on their income, so understanding ،w lawyers generally
structure their business allows us to help them determine what
types of income are eligible for disability insurance coverage.

Footnotes

1. Ca،ian Lawyer Magazine, “Ca،a’s legal
tuition fees are a، highest in the world.” This
estimate—$86,000—comprises law sc،ol tuition, but
doesn’t include the cost of an undergraduate degree, bar exams,
licensing, or living expenses.

2. Ca،ian Lawyer Magazine, “A roadmap to studying
law in Ca،a,” November 2023.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general
guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice s،uld be sought
about your specific cir،stances.