Canada Life Life Insurance Reviews

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 had a large medical expense upcoming. It took hours to figure out whether my plan even covered it. It took nearly a month to complete a pre-assessment because they wanted extra documentation and didn't let me know they wanted it; I had to call (and wait 2 hours on the line) and ask why it was taking so long. The pre-assessment was approved. The claim took 3 weeks to process and was denied for reasons I wasn't, at any point, told would be an issue, even when I asked an agent over the phone if it would be an issue. I appealed and it was still denied. I'm considering talking to a lawyer.

Non-existent.
Waited at least 35 min for a customer service representative then the call was dropped.
A disgraceful way to run a company.
The next general board meeting should be interesting!

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.

My wife is on long-term disability with Canada Life. She gets her payment on or after the 4th of the month. If, for example, the 3rd is a Friday, she will not get paid until Monday. These guys are the only provider we deal with that does this. I myself am on two private pensions and, if the beginning of the month is on a weekend, I will have my payments by Friday. A couple of times my wife has waited until the 6th or 8th of the month to get paid. When contacted, Canada Life more or less says that we’ll pay you when we want, no matter any bills or other payments one has to deal with in regular life. On another note, my wife has gone through at least 9 or 10 “case managers” in the past two years. Her employer opted to contract this company for benefits, etc. Before retiring I was with another insurer from my employer and they never, ever refused or questioned a claim.

I have never seen such incompetent agents in my life. After we or, the service provider submit a claim, they will ask for documents, which we send and then nothing happens. We call and after a few calls, they will say that they need the documents which we sent already. After a long hold, they will suddenly find that some documents have arrived, but will not be able to see what those are. Then they will process only one claim for a month, but will not process another one and next month they will again ask for the same initial documents that were sent a few times and used for processing. When asked about how the previous month's claim was processed if they do not have the documents in the first place, they will again not answer but process the claim. This goes on every month. I have never dealt with such incompetent agents and inefficient work processes in my life. Compared to Canada Life, dealing with another company is a breeze. We just submit required documents online and it is processed within 2 to 3 business days. If we had the option to leave Canada Life (my wife's insurance) and switch to my insurance, we would do it without hesitation.

Today alone I have called Canada Life a total of six (6) times. Twice after waiting on hold for an hour and a half (1.5 hours) I was disconnected without ever speaking to someone. Their wait times and customer service are absolutely ridiculous. I have never experienced anything quite like it.

Had a claim from my dentist. It took 4 months just to answer. My dentist had sent 5 different letters as per request for Canada Life to get more information. Until I had reached out to a Canada Life manager nothing was done
After 3 days the manager calls back. Told me that there is a clause in the policy that prior dentist work with another company does not qualify to use there's. My work company had changed insurance companies.
So really all this is out of my control. And when you call you need to set aside 40 to 1 hour for waiting on hold. Then make sure you ask for a manager. The call center is 3rd party so you're talking to India. Have fun!

Everything I have endured with this company has been horrible. I'm a customer with a group benefits plan with my employer, and I would never select this company or recommend them.

They only take phone calls, and no emails, their claims system is old and glitchy. Once you finally speak to someone after waiting up to 1+ hours, they are poorly trained. Processing time takes weeks, they lose your information. Find somewhere else!

Although claiming to process refunds in 2-5 business days, I'm still awaiting one from 2 weeks ago. I also have tried to follow up with no return information to me. This is a common complaint.
If they did at least say process times are 5-14 days, I believe people would be less upset about the wait, as it would have been specified from the beginning.