Customer service PSHCP
by Public servant on Sep 15, 2023
1 out of 5 stars
Waiting time to talk to someone is more than 45min and this is really frustrating.
Processing time for any clime is very long??
Canada Life should be embarrassed by its dreadful service. I have waited weeks for reimbursement of a simple routine dental appointment. Today I received a letter in the mail saying that they couldn’t proceed with the claim as additional information is required. Such stupidity... Their incompetence is to blame as they have all the correct info but now want a paper claim submitted so it can be ‘promptly’ assessed. What a pathetic joke. Wish I could give zero stars but that doesn’t seem to be an option.
Be careful when they say they will cover something. Because they won't. They will ask you for so much information without explanation of what they actually need to avoid paying for them. It's been 6 months. I've talked to 7 agents. They snail mail everything. Are disorganized with claims and emails. You can't talk to the person who is actually doing the claim and demanding information. Honestly no insurance is better then this company.
I’m on disability insurance with Canada Life and I had to wait 3 months for a decision to be made and it’s been 5 months and I still haven’t gotten paid. I’ve called and emailed them many times in which they keep saying you’ll get your paperwork and you’ll get your pay but still nothing. The worst company I’ve ever encountered with. My work uses Canada Life so unfortunately I can’t change insurance companies.
When you call to inquire about anything, you can be on hold for 1-3 hours. When you complain about how long it takes to get reimbursed for most benefits (which is often) they just pacify you and tell you it will be coming soon. I tell them I have been sending inquiries online and they tell me that is useless because no one checks that. Right now, I have been waiting to be reimbursed for medical supplies for 5 weeks. When I was waiting for reimbursement for my partial dentures, it took 6 weeks. My husband has this company for benefits. It is awful. Needed to get orthopedic shoes, so I got a doctor's note which they would not accept. You have to get a podiatrist to send a full and specific problem you are having and once they accept that, then you have to go through umpteen dozen pairs of orthopedic shoes until they decide to accept a pair. Terrible company!
Requested refund for dental care. It took 2 weeks just to post me some additional papers to fill. It took only 2 days to send the info back via their website. Now, 1 month has passed the request is still pending... Also, nobody answered me for 1 hour.
Why I would NEVER recommend Canada Life extended health... their coverage might sound fine but they are terrible to deal with.
1. Dozens of experiences where they exceeded their standard payment timelines, when inquiries were sent them would reply with their standard timelines - VERY UNHELPFUL
Our average turnaround time for claims is:
- 5 business days - health and dental
- 7 business days - pay direct drugs
- 10 business days - out of the country
Don't be fooled, they are almost always going to exceed these timelines and only pay after multiple emails.
2. You can't actually get anyone to answer the phone (in English, I understand you can get through on the French line). I have spent 2 and 3 hours on the phone waiting to talk to someone, as have others I've spoken to, only to get to the front of the queue and be hung up on. Emails often take up to 5 business days to get a response.
3. Even after my organization got a dedicated contact whose email signature indicated she was a Regional Service Manager my claims remained unpaid after one month. What good is a plan that doesn't reimburse clients for allowed health expenses?
Of course, there are many things to consider, but I would recommend you steer clear of Canada Life at all costs! They aren't a good company and I would give them zero stars if I could.
There aren't enough words or examples to describe how abhorrent Canada Life is as a benefits provider. If there were zero or negative stars available, I would rate them as such.
My company has used Canada Life as our group benefits provider for several years, and I can only assume that it's because they are the cheapest possible option on the market. There are literally no redeeming factors to their service.
A few highlights of my experience include:
-Inordinately Long Wait Times: I've often waited on hold for 1.5 hours, only to be disconnected due to "system issues".
-Segmentation of Expertise: Each customer service rep can only assist you with one type of claim. If you need help with the Drugs vs. Health vs. Healthcare Spending Account, be prepared to talk to three different individuals, with a lengthy wait time in between each. You will also have to provide your identifying credentials every single time.
-Incompetent Staff: 75% of the customer service reps have no idea how to do their job. Asking them a simple question requires them to put you on hold for another 5-10 minutes while they investigate your query. They will rarely have a response on the spot and will claim that they'll call you back after they look into the matter further. Don't hold your breath.
-Processing Times: On average, it will take 4+ weeks for your claim to be processed. Their ongoing excuse is that they are short-staffed due to the pandemic. Cry me a river. Maybe they should hire better staff and pay them adequately. (See "Incompetent Staff" above.)
-Claim Errors: Your claim is finally processed - great! Not so fast, as you will need to review the results with a fine-toothed comb. Their team makes numerous "data entry errors", resulting in you only receiving a fraction of what you're owed. Time to follow up with incompetent reps after long wait times, thus causing the entire cycle to repeat itself.
I have no words of advice, other than to encourage your employer to avoid Canada Life AT ALL COSTS. My husband's company uses a different carrier, and the experience is the complete opposite.
I would rate them less if I could.
Their site experience is garbage. Their pay clarity is not transparent. The site very rarely functions the way it should. They take forever to pay claims. You often have to submit multiple times with the backing of your company's representative just for them to accurately accept the claim.
Trash company.
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Useless company. No way to contact them. They ignore e mails and hang up on calls. ALWAYS have higher than normal call volumes meaning long waits. Phone battery dies before wait time is up. Can not complain about customer service unless you talk to an agent. Cant talk to an agent because they have no customer service agents to talk to. Do not process claims in reasonable timeframe if at all. The most useless company on earth and I am being generous in my description of their service.