Sunlife
I have been in the military for 18 years and contributing to the health plan that the military has for dependants for 14 years. I have 80% coverage and always paid on time (not much choice as the DND takes the money out of your account before you even see it).
After 18 years I was offered a job at a major bank so I accepted and they have a pretty good benefits package so I figured I would take what they paid for which was 30% (nothing out of pocket). This insurance company SUNLIFE is the same as the military goes with and I must say that they are ignorant baffoons.
The first problem I ran into was when I tried to get my daughter some medication at the pharmacy. I went to pay the pharmacist and I informed her that I have two insurance plans and they are both from the same company SUNLIFE for which I should have 100% coverage, she asked who my present employer is as they must be the first to claim and guess what it comes back that the military has to be the first as SUNLIFE has input the wrong employer as the first one to make the claim, so she tries to input the same medication on my military plan first.
Well you can guess what happened – SUNLIFE has this one set up as the second one to claim so I pay out of pocket for this plan and tell her I will sort it out on by a phone call in the morning.
I call sunlife the next morning and they ask which plan I am trying to call about so I tell them both the bank and the military. They proceed to tell me that they can only handle the bank plan as the military is 2 or 3 doors down from them (2 or 3 doors not blocks or buildings but doors 100 feet away) so I ask her to make sure that the bank is my primary benefits provider so when the pharmacist inputs the medication that it will always go to the banks plan first then what every is left owing the military plan will pick up.
I thought this would have sorted everything out but guess what – nothing changed. The next time I had some medication at the pharmacy, I had to pay again but this time the pharmacist called and they told her that everything would be set up for the next time and that I should send in the receipts again and they will process it.
Well guess what, it happened again but this time they sent back a nice letter stating that I had to send it to the other door down the hall (can they not walk 100feet) and they did not send back the receipts so I had to call yet again. This time, they told me they need to get a manager as the receipts got put into another area (I suspect they moved 200 feet away to another department) well finally after I got sent the receipts (4weeks) I sent them into my other provider which is still the same company SUNLIFE and guess what – they tell me I am not covered for that part of my claim but that the other department (100feet away) will cover me for upto 30%. I ask if they can just walk the 100 feet and hand it to the department but they inform me they cant (why is 100 feet too far? You would think that working for an insurance company they would be somewhat physically fit or at least able to walk 100 feet). So I get them back in the mail and send it in again this time to the right department and low and behold they actually pay me for my claim 30%.
So, even though I have coverage for 100% I am only covered for 30%. Ok. I know what you are thinking. The military has set up their own contract with them and the bank set up their own with the same company SUNLIFE so they cover different medication and prescriptions and I agree, but I have set it up with my employer that I have dual coverage with SUNLIFE and I filled out all the proper paperwork so I would not have to go thru this but I am still fighting with them today. If they are the exact same company (listed on the TSX) why can they not punch it into their big computers and figure out that I have two coverages with them. I sent a nice letter to the company stating that it is nearly impossible to make a claim thru them (I was very diplomatic and did not swear or anything) they would not even send me a reply. I actually talked to someone who works for the company in the claims department and he mentioned they try to make it confusing so poor shmucks like me just give up. I am almost to the point where I am giving up, I can fight the Taliban, or in Croatia and never give up but try to fight the insurance companies for money that is rightfully mine will take a coalition of all allies to beat that one.
thanks
Disclaimer
This article was submitted by one of our readers. Penciltrick cannot make any claims as to its authenticity but the article was accepted on a good faith belief that it is an accurate and truthful account of the events listed.
June 10th, 2010 at 9:00 am
I am considering Sun Life but this complaint is a wake up call. Thanks for letting us know!
July 14th, 2010 at 5:02 pm
Well here is another one for your blog.
This is an email complaint to Sunlife that there call center in Toronto will not respond to as they are not sure as to what to do. I will post there response if I ever get one.
My son started out on a monthly plan for braces one
month. We have been clients of Sunlifes for 4
years. We found a way to pay the whole dental
off the next month but were denied full
reimbursement as we were told “the systems
cannot change the option after the initial
entrance”. We challenged this as Sunlifes
systems are not our responsibility and were told
that if we can prove the appointments are
ongoing we would be reimbursed the full amount
at once. We did this with appointment cards and
again denied as the system could not be
changed. My wife is currently working against
the doctors orders and will eventually have to
take a leave of absence. The reason she has not
taken the leave thus far is because of Sunlife
screwing us around with this dental claim.
Sunlife is currently working against my wifes
health and I have gone to the media with regards
to this, withholding of course for the time
being the Sunlife name. We called again tonight
with regards to this claim and apparently the
systems have lost the previous 4 calls that we
have made regarding this. Now according to Christine a senior representative at this call center she guarentees no calls are lost in her system. My wife works at a call center and if the employee does not hit save or the note taking program times out then nothing about your call is saved. Wow, Christine has perfect employees and perfect systems, maybe she should work for Bill Gates as there is not a computer in the world or employee that works at 100% efficiency, her employees and systems do though. Whatever. Christine says oh no her employees wouldn’t do that. Again tonight we were
told that the payments are made monthly as that
was our original option and the fact that we did
not pay it in full on day one is the reason for
the claim not being paid out in full. We
escalated to a senior agent and were given the
treat of talking to Melanie. Melanie was the
one who informed us that we never called on this
claim according to there system and that the call center agents are providing false information by saying that “we have supplied all the correct
information and the reason the claim is not
being paid out in full is because there is a
glitch in the system that will not allow the change to occur”. Melanie consistently states a different
story. The agents are incorrect, she has
nothing on file for anyone saying anything and
if my wife takes her leave then the claim will
not be paid even though she has paid for the
last 4 years and currently paying. Interesting
new twist Melanie has added. I asked Melanie if
she has all the information in front of her with
regards to what we sent in, she said yes. When
I asked her to read the dates on the cards that
were sent in to prove that the treatment is
ongoing, she then said did not have the
information in front of her but could get it if
she needed it. Again more lies on behalf of
Sunlife. I asked why would we have bothered
sending all of this numerous times if your
agents did not tell us this. Melanie stated it
does not matter what we were told as it was
incorrect, what matters is what is written on
the claim return. I pushed the fact that we were
told by numerous agents not what she was saying
and we have been callng since January so we
could make a decision before we had the
orthodontics put on. Melanie then asked in a
condescending way if I can read. I said no I
cannot. She then went on to her agents wouldn’t
say that. Again I said why would we send all
this in if we did not call and were told to if
your agents said anything different. She just
kept saying if I could read I would see on the
statement. I am visually impaired, I am sorry
that I cannot read what you have typed in small
letters. According to Melanie that is not her
problem and agents can say whatever to get them off the phone fast and take another call as they are paid on a per call basis.
This is one call that will be escalated directly to Sunlife as I rely on these agents due to my impairment and trying to get a variable number of calls in to get raises or bonuses is not an option when dealing with someone like myslef. I need to
talk to an agent of Sunlife who has an education
to be a little more than robotic and understands
the limits of those of us visually challenged.
The dealings I am having is unacceptable and I
will be calling back the radio show with regards
to how Sunlife is dealing with this and
including there name if not handled with
satisfaction. Numerous callers have responded
to this and we would all like to know the
following. Others have had the claim paid out
in full when they paid upfront and others even
when paid off so what is the difference with our
claim, has the system software been changed?. The monthly option is only if you pay monthly and once you stop paying monthly the claim is paid out in order to get the event case closed. An orthodontist who apparently deals with Sunlife regularly said he is willing to give me receipts stating the treatments have already been done. So is this acceptable?. Who
is the company that is scamming us on our claims after 4 years of paying in so others know who to be
weary of? I can answer that one very easily for
them, so no need to respond. How does Sunlife
feel that visual impairment in todays society is
no concern when they know I cannot read as I
made it clear an they just keep saying read my
statements as that is what matters? Why are we told one thing by numerous agents but yet none of these calls can be traced when we state that we were told
differently on the phone? Also, I now know this
is a contracted company paid to give runarounds
to clients but I am told to ask for a
representatives number at Sunlife so this can be
clarified and made public to all who may be
contemplating Sunlife benefits in the future.
August 24th, 2010 at 5:07 pm
Sun Life has totally screwed me over, they are evil horrible people accusing me of fabricating my illness when I had two Doctors medically verify my condition. They instead used their “own” Doctor (Medical Consultant) – they were rude and ugly throughout my experience with them.
September 13th, 2010 at 2:30 pm
I went on medical leave 2-1-10. I went thru hell and back dealing with SunLife. I was diagnosed finally with Fybromialgia. Dealing with Sunlife, I did not get my first check till after I cam back to work on June 1st!!. Now they are denying final claim because of what my doctor “supposebly” said. Well my doctor said has never spoken to Sunlife and they are slandering his good name and thinking about suing them. So meanwhile no one is calling me back. I received another letter dated with same date but without what my doctor had said.
September 14th, 2010 at 2:45 pm
As Rosina wrote (13 Sep 2010), I also have severe pain and fatigue due to Fibromyalgia and have been off work for 6 months. This is the second time a severe FM flare-up has occurred in the last 6 years. The previous time, I worked for a different company and was off work for 4 months. Both times, however, Sun Life has been the long term disability insurer. The first time, they requested a tremendous amount of documentation from my family doctor and my specialist (provided), then took months to make the decision not to pay any benefits! This time they have proceeded in the same manner thus far: asked for lots of documentation (which was provided already by the Short Term Disability insurer, but which has been provided again), are not responding to ANY emails or phone calls, and are taking months to make their decision. I have not received any LTD benefits and have needed to use up my savings. Not that this is any concern to the insurer to which I pay monthly dues and counted on to assist me in the event of an emergency. I realize insurance companies need to check the veracity of claims submitted to them, but there are MUCH better ways to deal with their customers. Sun Life needs to be more courteous, more humane and much quicker. I have brought my HR Director into the loop, as she is the one who recommends which insurer to go with when changes are to be made. Here’s hoping!
September 15th, 2010 at 5:00 pm
Sunlife is my benefits provider and I’ve had nothing but trouble from them.
They’ve apparently scooped up a bunch of the Canadian market by low-balling their prices, and it would seem that they’re trying to pay for this strategy by denying benefits at every turn.
They’ve looked south to the US and realized that if they deny claims a certain percent of their customers won’t pursue it with every step, thus allowing them to pocket the money.
As I told one of their representatives, I don’t know how they can sleep at night, knowing that their business strategy is to take advantage of sick and injured people. It’s an absolute disgrace and we need better insurance regulation in this country.
October 9th, 2010 at 7:26 pm
sun life is like dealing with the devil. i continue to fight them for my benefits. it has been two and a half years of hell. sun life will fabricate lies, and string you out , so you will give in , and quit. do all you can, keep fighting the monsters. a special place in hell awaits the sun life thugs
November 9th, 2010 at 7:44 pm
Thank you all for posting your stories about Sun Life. We are currently prosecuting a class action against this company for unfair practices for policyholders in Michigan. I was the attorney against Sun Life in DeLisle v. Sun Life, U.S. Sixth Circuit of Appeals (2009) and I have been troubled by their treatment of the occupationally disabled. Good work on your forum. JJC
January 25th, 2011 at 11:09 pm
Sun Life Financial is the worst company ever to deal with. I had an experience with them where they knowingly gave my personal and financial information to a third party. It took me a year to get an applogy letter but that is not the point. NEVER DEAL with Sun Life Financial, they have no respect for the Privacy Laws of Canada.
March 10th, 2011 at 1:54 am
Sunlife is the most unfair arrogant company that anyone will ever deal with. Even though a person is 200% correct in what they desurve Sunlife will never see anything your way if it means they have to give out that selfish cent of their’s.I would never ever recommend dealing with this company if it was the last one available.
March 10th, 2011 at 9:23 pm
We had no choice but to deal with Sun Life when my husband’s employer switched to them to save a few pennies. I HATE this company and would never willingly deal with them. They are so much worse than our previous Pacific Blue Cross. I had no idea how miserable they could make us. Every dealing with them causes my blood pressure to rise. Perhaps their intention is just to kill us all off. IF you have a choice do not deal with this company.
March 16th, 2011 at 11:02 pm
My recently deceased mother went to great lengths to have me named as her life insurance beneficiary and left me responsible for my severely disabled niece. (Formerly she had named my niece as beneficiary when she was still a child) Upon my mother’s death, Sun Life informed us my niece was an “irrevocable beneficiary” so my mother’s changes could not be honoured. My mother never knew this and noone told us even after multiple forms, online and hard copies, as well as multiple original phone conversations, were implemented by my mother to make the changes. Also, to add insult to injury, Sun Life would not even let me sign for my niece as POA and requested we transport her to a lawyer to have her (or rather someone hold her hand to make an x) to claim the insurance. I am out of pocket major money from this ordeal as my mother had no money in her estate. I can be reimbursed with receipts I have very few)for some of my expenses. I am revoking my POA now because the financial toll in to much for me to carry. It has now been 5 months since my mother died. Through a lawyer I have been told the insurance should come to my niece in a few weeks – In the meantime caring for mmy niece financially has led me deeper into debt. Why did Sun Life not notify us? Why did they keep sending more change of beneficiary supplementary forms over a period of months and not a letter to explain they were not honouring the changes so we could address it? Why have they refused to even acknowledge my legal Power of Attorney when I call on behalf of my niece (who cannot speak coherently) by telling me I need to contact a lawyer to conduct any further correspondence or conversations. Why is it taking so long to get the insurance to my niece even when I have not contested their position that I am not the beneficiary? I cannot help but feel they are covering up their mistakes and are making me pay for it – the bottom line is my mother’s insurance was her insurance – little did she know it was not her money with which to decide after all. I am switching out of my company plan with Sun Life and I would suggest others do the same. At the very least people should know assigning a beneficiary is automatically irrevocable and if you change a beneficiary the original beneficiary needs to made aware and sign off of the policy. I wish someone had told us! I only wish I had the money to sue them for damages.
March 30th, 2011 at 12:41 pm
Sunlife has made me feel like I am a non-person with no rights. They push and push and push, and I feel like giving up, but I have no way to support myself if I tell them to bugger off. How can we all band together and demand better treatment from this company? There seems to be a gag order (you would think more people would be on line discussing this issue, but there is a lack of documentation – seems suspicious.). We need publicity to ensure our voices are heard. Sunlife is a bully – or at least that is my experience.
May 2nd, 2011 at 1:45 pm
I have been on short term disability for the past 5 months. I have been having my payments from Sun Life deposited into my bank account. I phoned them the middle of April to see if they could issue one payment only in cheque form. I was advised they could and due to their payment cycles, the cheque was going to be processed and mailed on the same day.
I’ve yet to receive the payment……they will not process a stop pymt and reissue. No. I have to wait 10 days for them to ensure it’s lost.
My payments are only $325/wk and this loss of income has put me behind in rent, food and money for my presciptions. SunLife don’t really care, even their ombudsman has stopped returning my calls.
Maybe they figure a homeless person won’t be able to keep at them.
Where’s Michael Moore when you need some help?
June 4th, 2011 at 9:27 am
My husband passed away on April 1, 2011, and we had Sun Life Insurance through his employer, he had been on disability for 2 years, and Sun Life had been paying that regularly, we also had a group life insurance policy with them, after my husband died I filed a life insurance claim, Sun Life denied my claim, stating that his company had not filed the conversion papers properly, but yet they have been taking our premiums all this time, and never once told us that the papers were improperly filed.
Now I am sitting here with no money to pay any of his final expenses and cannot get them to respond to me.
I have sent letters to the corporate office, now I do not know what I will do!
I did some research and found out that Sun Life has had several Class Action Law Suits filed against them, it is sad how these big Insurance companies can get by with this. But yet expect the tax payers to bail them out when they get in to financial trouble, what about our financial trouble!
September 29th, 2011 at 5:25 pm
Deny ,deny deny, that’s all Ive gotten from Sunlife.Im at the verge of a nervous breakdown and have considered suicide as Im nearly homeless at this stage.My employers are cut from the same cloth as Sunlife so I have had nothing but grief from them too.Im going to hand in my notice and hope something comes through for me or my family will be living in our car.Trying to fight them has taken a huge toll on me and my family and Ive been put on strong antidepressants but its just a bandaid for the misery this company has put us through.If I didn’t have kids I would have ended it rather than go through this torture.For the record. if they know you are in a low income job with no real chance of fighting them….they will crush you.I was too easy for them to crush as I had been reduced to a shell from workplace bullying-I suppose if everyone else is doing it why shouldn’t they?The time wasting bull is the worst killer, the will they wont they agony as the final notices pile up to the day when you realize that you are so far gone that you cant get out.If there’s a hell ,i can guarantee that its run by former Sunlife employees.
November 30th, 2011 at 4:02 pm
It’s really interesting to see the views from the other side of the table. I work for Sunlife on the sales force team both as a financial advisor and before that as a Sales Manager. I completely agree with all of you. This company, although they try to appear as they are ethical, they are a wolf in sheep’s clothing. They will lie about anything in order to decieve people into joing their offices. I have stayed quiet all too long and really need to get this off my chest. They are one of the cheapest companies I have ever experienced and even though they claim to pay high commissions, they only pay on their system that keeps an advisor in the highest productivity while drawing away from any type of social and family life in order to maintain this productivity. They even train you to incorporate business talk into all of you social networks. I don’t think they understand that sometimes you want to talk to your friends over drinks without bringing up sunlife! Another reason why this company is so unethical is that they make the advisor pay rent for the office, internet use, telephone use, and for any type of office supply. They even make you pay for your benefits. How sick is this! That a group coverage provider makes their own advisor pay for a group plan that you can not opt out off which generally cost 400+ depending whether your single or with a family. The last straw for myself was the fact that I had to pay $200 in order to go to the company christmas party. What kind of legit organization makes you pay for a company christmas party! I don’t even celebrate christmas! When I first joined Sunlife, they keep reminding you that the high turnover rate is because people are lazy and do not have good work ethic, however now I know why individuals tend to leave. You can only allow yourself to get screwed for so long. I have done extremely well when I first started as a Advisor, attending their conventions, making all the campaigns, but now I look back and realize how much money I have hemerged out into this business in terms of prospecting and business expenses. I would have done things very differently many years ago and would have never joined this immoral, unethical company who lies, cheats, and steals from the people who place faith in them.
December 29th, 2011 at 6:40 pm
I totally agree with all of the comments here. I used to work at Sunlife – Group Benefits Department. Every week, the higher ups will constantly change the procedure, pay this one week, deny the same the next week. I don’t know who makes all this stupid decision. All I can say is they’re all stupid. All they think about is the money that is coming in their pockets. The company is borderline illegal, I remember there was a complaint from one of the employees about desk space and working conditions. The labour board came in and investigated, checked and measured the desks, the walk space everything. And the office is only a couple of centimetres within the limit of what is required as a ergonomical work space and legal. They constantly & continually cheat the employees and the public. Worst company I’ve ever worked for.