'It's time to heal': Montreal writer wins battle to get insurer to recognize his depression

Samuel Archibald says he can finallyrelax after he spoke out about being denied disability insurance last fall, even though his doctor had ordered him to take medical leave for major depression.

The Montreal novelist and literature professor received a call from UQAM's group insurance company, Desjardins, on Thursday morning informing him that they had reviewed his file again and and his claim was now accepted.

"Now, of course, is the time to heal for me,"he said.

"Because all of these problems, obviously, I wasn'thealing very well in the last few months because I was just trying to survive without almost any money."

When he was denied coverage last October, Archibald said he struggled to get a straight answerfrom Desjardins.

• 'I felt bullied and harassed': A Montrealer's fight to get insurer to recognize his depression

However, an agent told him that they had Googled him and found out he had given a short radio interview while he was on medical leave andeventually learned they had been tracking his social media.

"They could see that I was pretty active and didn't look sick enough I guess,"he said.

Unable to work, and as the family's main breadwinner, Archibald said he became increasinglyanxious about money and his depression worsened.

Feeling desperate, Archibald decided he needed to fight back andpublished a letter about his situation in La Presse earlier this month.That's whenDesjardinscontacted him.

"By writing this letter, and it turned out quite all right, I think I was trying to save my life in some way," he said.

The insurance company's doctor reviewed his file, he said, and asked to have a phone conversation with his doctor at the beginning of this week.

Desjardins then informed Archibald Thursday that his insurance claim was accepted and that he would also be receiving retroactive payments totalling $20,000.

"That's a lot of money and that was dearly missed in the last few months," he said.

• Why disability claims for mental illness can be difficult to navigate

Better practices needed

While Archibald said he is relieved that Desjardinschanged its tune in his case,he hopes that insurance companies will be more transparent andundertake major changes when it comes to how they handle claims related to mental health.

In the days that followed his public letter, Archibald said hewas inundated with thousands of messagesof support from strangers and many shared similar"nightmare stories" of how they were also denied coverage.

People seeking help shouldn't be made to feel like they did something wrong, he said,which only fuels the stigma surrounding mental illness.

Samuel Archibald on why it's important to fight back if an insurance company denies a disability claim

7 years ago

Duration 0:59

After he won his battle for his insurer to recognize his depression, a Montreal writer tells others in the same situation they need to fight back.

"Stop acting like the [insured person]has become an antagonist, an enemy once he or she makes a claim," he said."I think that's the biggest problem."

Until those changes happen, Archibald strongly recommends to anyone in the same situation to push back and demand answers as to why their claims were rejected.

As for his own health, he said he hopes he will be able to return to work by the summer.

"I feel better than I havein a long time, so now it's time to heal."