@Bad2DaBone

What is the total monthly payment that you receive from Canada Pension Disability? Does this include an amount for your rent or do you own your home? If you own your home, is there an outstanding mortgage? If so, what is your monthly mortgage payment and the monthly cost of your utilities? If you rent, what is your monthly rent payment and does this payment include all utilities? If utilities are not included in your rent, how much would you pay for utilities? Also, are you a single person or are you supporting any dependents? Are you totally blind or "legally blind" and carry a wallet card issued by the CNIB?

If you can answer these questions, I may have some suggestions for you.

I still don't see how they can expect me to pay this back when I don't have any money and they would have been giving me ODSP since 2006 anyway? Where can I read up on this act and do you have any suggestion on who might help me? Would claiming bankruptcy have any effect?

The maximum allowed by CPP disabilty pension is about $200 more than ODSP. However, that's for a single person. But most people won't qualify for the CPP max. The average monthly CPP benefit rate is probably around $850 to $900. As well, they don't cover drugs and some other medical costs which ODSP does.

Anyhow, the official Stats Can poverty line for a single person living in a large metropolitan area is around $22K for 2010. But if you're older or have special medical needs it will be higher. Therefore, without family or savings, friends or other income sources, the recipient of either one of these programs is going to be in a heap of trouble, despite what outfits like disabilty-tax-credit.ca say.

There are usually clawback provisions with these government support programs to recoup funds given in lieu of pending insurance settlements,
legacies etc. Generally, notification is in the small print clauses of their 27 page application forms. They don't need you to agree as it's already contained in the legislation and expanded upon in their internal poilicy documents. I don't know all the relevant dates and amounts as you didn't answer Footloose's questions for further elaboration. However, it would be wise to, at least, go through the formality of getting some legal help to see if anything was missed. Failing that, you can spend time reading up on the Acts and get a pretty good idea of whether you are entitled to get anything back.

Unfortunately, this is the period when many, after being hit with a disability are no longer able to meet their bills. Having enjoyed prosperity previously, they've usually established good credit and own a number of credit cards. Soon they need to start lapping payments before finally exhausting their last card and "maxing out." This is the point at which firms like Natale Law Offices step in and make a terrible situation even worse. Accident and illness cases generally comprises the bulk off their business.

The amount received was 110k but by the time the lawyers were paid and The City Of Toronto there wasn't much left. This was received in May of 2006 and I was cut off by ODSP in the same month. I am currently on Canada Pension which makes it very tough to survive. I do not recall having ever signed an agreement with ODSP to pay anything back to them. Does anyone have any suggestions as my life is in a very depressing state and I am not sure how much longer I can live this way?

@Bad2DaBone

Just had a second thought. How much was your settlement that you received from your former employer and insurance company in total?
When did you receive it and when did ODSP terminate your pension?
What is your income support now?

Good point about the website
http://www.isthatlegal.ca/index.php?name=overview.odsp_law

He doesn't mention that in addition to pulling your credit bureau reports,
they'll go through all the items on any credit card or bank statement to see how much money you're spending on toilet paper.

I dunno about the legal aid thing. If the guy has any money they won't help him. And they may well exclude it even he doesn't for budgetary triage. The ODSP lwayers they used to have were pathetic money grabbers (they want $400 to $600 per hour) and/or incompetent.

How the hell can somone who is destitute enough to qualify for ODSP afford $400 to $600 an hour? When you don't have money, they'll just refer you to the free legal clinics which are a sad joke as Nmorete4 found out.

Nevertheless, almost everything thing except fraud should be appealed in the tribunals, lawyer or no lawyer.

Anyhow, when you get on any government program, without money to back you up, you're going to get so mired in so much red tape, you'll never escape.

Sorry about the $500 asset limit thing. I guess that's for welfare and it's $5000.00 for ODSP.

You are in a financial bind at the present time and you are going to need the services of a lawyer, one who specializes in and knows his/her way around ODSP legislation, particularly practice, procedure and an excellent working knowledge of tribunals. Unfortunately, lawyers cost money, but unless you pursue this matter, you will wind up on welfare ( Ontario Works ). The amount of money that ODSP is claiming appears to represent all the monies that have been paid to you. My understanding of how ODSP works is that if you have either been overpaid or in receipt of monies unbeknown to ODSP or have received a settlement as a result of your disability, these monies will be deducted from your monthly ODSP payments, perhaps at 20%. I am certainly not aware that ODSP payments cease because you are in receipt of a lump sum settlement. I have to believe that this situation is not an uncommon occurrence and I think that somebody at ODSP has screwed up.

I would suggest that you contact Legal Aid Ontario at your nearest office and request an interview. Arrange to meet with a representative and explain your situation in detail. The purpose of this meeting would be to see if you qualify for legal assistance. Legal Aid Ontario's mandate is to assist low income individuals by providing funds to Legal Aid lawyers who choose to take on your case. Not all legal matters are covered by Legal Aid Ontario but ODSP certainly is.

My recommendation would be to contact a lawyer of your choice, that is a Legal Aid lawyer, who specializes in ODSP matters, outline your problem to him/her and ask if he/she is willing to take on your case.. If so, contact Legal Aid Ontario and request an interview. If Legal Aid Ontario is willing to assist you, they will contact your lawyer to get an estimate of the legal fees that will be incurred to pursue your case. If Legal Aid Ontario agrees, you will be given an authorization for that amount. For example, if the lawyer estimates that he/she will bill Legal Aid Ontario a maximum of $3000, then that becomes the approved amount. When the lawyer submits his bills to Legal Aid Ontario, they will pay him/her up to a maximum of $3000.

Please remember, this is NOT a freebie. Any monies paid by Legal Aid Ontario on your behalf to your lawyer will have to be repaid by you to Legal Aid Ontario. You have 5 years to repay these payments after the last payment is made.

Unless there was a fraudulent statement made at the time of your ODSP application, or a fraudulent activity made since you started receiving ODSP, I can't see why ODSP would terminate your meager monthly payments. In fact, I have never heard of such action by ODSP.

However, to give you some more information and background, please visit the following website. The lawyer who wrote all the articles on this site is also very knowledgeable about ODSP. For a flat fee, he will give you a complete analysis of your situation and suggestions as to how to proceed.

http://www.isthatlegal.ca/index.php?name=homepage

Good Luck and have a GREAT DAY.

Now you can see why I was so ticked off with those characters, ostensibly from Oakville and Georgetown, spamming their disability-tax-credit.com website on the forum last week.

Yes, ODSP only allows a single person to have - I dunno what - $500 in money (including Canadian Tire currency), TTC tokens and refundable plastic milk jugs before they're considered over the limit. Then you have to live on [I think it was] $930 or $965 a month if there are no children.

Not sure why the clawback was for $40K. If you multply $965 by the number of months until your settlement came through 5 or 6 years later, you get more than $40K. Maybe ODSP only retro-recovers 3 or 4 years max. Or maybe you didn't aply for ODSP right away after your injury. Anyway, I'm sure you would be well aware already of the clawback details.

As you know, when you apply for ODSP, you agree to pay back any moneys you receive in the future that are attributable to this period.
because you're expected to live on $965 a month by people who have 6 digit pensions themselves.

Be careful though - ODSP pulls tax returns, T4's, T5's, credit reports and PPSA records, all without any record being made of it. They can bypass reporting rules since they act under the authority of a provincial government minister's certicate which is equivalent to a judgment order. If you have any money in a bank account, they will know where to come looking in order to seize it without notice to you. Don't keep all your eggs in one basket.

I'm not saying they will, but the fact remains: some people they come after with a vengance; others only have their tax refunds siezed; and still others, many of whom could now pay, are ignored completely. Impossible to say why. Perhaps it's depends on whose desk it lands on. In your case, they may well restrict their collection activities to having the CRA withold your tax refunds for the next 150 years.

Hi I lost my sight in 2000 and was on Ontario disability a few years later. I received a settlement in 2006 from my former employer and insurance company. ODSP cut off my financial support shortly after. ODSP claims I owe them $40,000.00 and have made a application to Canada Revenue and are collecting my tax returns and GST credit. The amount of settlement was pathetic in the least and I would have been much better off if I had not received any and continued receiving ODSP. Is there anything that I can do to fight this or anyone who can help me? I am very depressed over this issue and feel like I am being punished for having a disability. I was entitled to the support so why should I have to pay it back? Please help me. Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you.