Disability Insurance Reviews

Great-West Life Disability Insurance Reviews

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(70 reviews)
Great-West Life
1.4 out of 5 stars:
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Evil entity

by mentally unfit 5 on Dec 7, 2016
1 out of 5 stars

Suffered a major mental breakdown, two stays on a psych ward for suicidal, murderous thoughts...and they denied my claim. Psychiatrist i was seeing got on the phone and yelled at them that i was ill and needed long-term disability (i was in the room and heard the yelling)....long story short, they accepted me.

Yes, there is a reason that any correspondence you receive from them that case workers only use first names and initials when they deal with you.

All about making money and those that need it are rejected garbage.

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unethical

by rheumy on Nov 15, 2016
1 out of 5 stars

I have rhuematoid arthritis, have been on LTD almost a month. The claims adjuster I have has the personality of a door knob. She calls and bugs me every 4 to 6 weeks. Even though I have anemia and elevated inflammation levels she still asks me why I cant go back to work? Maybe its because I can't stay awake and have deformed joints etc etc. She scolds me as if I am a child. I feel harassed and not sure what to do. The amount I get is a complete joke each month, too bad my employer chose this joke of a company.

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Bad Experiences all around

by BigLeader on Sep 6, 2016
1 out of 5 stars

I have been off work now for nearly a year and a half, shorted here, delayed there, given the run around, even told that basically even though they made the mistakes it was still my problem.
Now on LTD and getting more run around. They are deduction a third, of what was already just over half of what I made when I could work, for CPPD.
Sent me the forms well in to the LTD portion of my claim and even with that Service Canada has had my paperwork for 9 weeks and nothing from them or GWL seems to be getting resolved. Both parties know that I am struggling and both parties delays are causing a great hardship.
But I cant blame Service Canada. GWL sent forms to me so they could contact SC regarding my claim for both LTD and CPPD. According to GWL they have not received these forms, yet when I speak to CPPD at Service Canada they have the forms from GWL that I signed so these parties could communicate directly with one another.
My case manager at GWL said the only way to resolve the issue was for her to send me another form to sign and send back to her. This will be the third time this has been done. That was on August 23rd. I received the forms as well as a letter, dated August 23, stating that I must have the form filled out and returned to them by Sept 1. I got the letter from her in my mailbox on the morning of August 31. IT TOOK 8 DAYS TO ARRIVE AND I WAS SUPPOSED TO HAVE BACK TO HER IN UNDER 24 HOURS!!
Did I mention that I live in the Edmonton area and my case manager is in Winnipeg???!! And did I mention that there is an office in Edmonton that I could pick up these forms from and hand deliver them back to them, or even fill out in person and hand right back to them??!! It doesn't matter at any rate because they don't allow that.

Any and every excuse to short pay, late pay, not pay and make it your fault and your problem.

I am still on LTD and have two different doctors that have to sign off for me to return to work and both of them say I'm not ready, if I'm ever able to return. So I am stuck at the mercy of GWL and their BS ways.
I'm grateful for my partner and that she has been able to help cover some of the shortfall caused by GWL. If it wasn't for her I would be homeless. Even telling GWL this was met with 'Maybe you need to consider your other options..' WHAT OTHER OPTIONS GWL??
I cannot currently work, if I do work while I'm told I can't GWL will deduct from or completely cancel my LTD.

The worst part of it is, they do this every day to many of their clients, and some of them have no supports and end up losing everything, thanks to an insurance company who supposedly has their 'clients' best interest in mind.

WORST EXPERIENCE EVER!!

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Short Term Disability

by Mark on Apr 6, 2017
1 out of 5 stars

Do not talk to these crooks on the phone! Do everything through email so you have records. Read all the fine print of your contract and keep perfect records that you are complying. I had complaints about the medical treatment I was getting, they put me in touch with their "specialist" and he said everything was ok, then a month later my case was closed for doing what he told me. Can also never get a response, had multiple breaks in pay because they were sick, or on holidays, or switched case managers. I don't honestly know how they sleep at night.

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GWL horrible to deal with

by Jellybean on Feb 3, 2017
1 out of 5 stars

I am on short term disability . This company is horrible to deal with when you are trying to get answers from them. They charge you a overpayment on your very first cheque and when you ask what this is for you never get a answer back. They never return your calls. They will send letters saying they have sent forms to your doctor and they have not received the form back from the doctor. When I call my doctor they said we never got the form and we asked them to send it to them so that they can fill it out but they never do send it. I had to send them a copy of their statement that shows the overpayment that they took off of my first cheque because apparently on there statement it doesn't show that. I send it twice both times I got a reply saying thank you for your email we have received it. But when you talk to someone there they say they didnt get it.. so I get someone higher than me to send it themselves they finally get it but still waiting weeks later for the reason why for the overpayment taken off my first cheques and what it is for. I have other co workers going through the same issues and hundreds of dollars owed to them.

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Don’t ever use this company

by Overwhelmed on Nov 5, 2019
1 out of 5 stars

I feel like they scam people I’ve paid into this company for years through my work. I never had to use them until just recently. I had to have surgery and was going to be off work for 1 month to 6 weeks. All the papers were filled out by both myself and the surgeon. It has been a month and I have not seen any money from them... In fact, they are asking for all the forms to be filled out again by me and my surgeon. My surgeon has faxed them three times now..now no one is responding to my calls and messages that I have left. I had to pay my bills and rent with my credit card. I’m running out of money and I feel helpless. I’m not sure what to do anymore. This company needs to be Investigated.

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Absolutely no compassion

by Mary on May 27, 2019
1 out of 5 stars

I've been off work for 5 months, my EI ran out in April, it is now the end of May. They told me complete lies about waiting for my employer to respond about my income to find out they didn't actually reach out until May 23rd. I've called a few times a week and they kept giving me the same excuse while talking down to me as if I'm bothering them to do their job. Now the person who handled my claim is away and will call me next week. I've been told next week for 4 weeks. This is completely unprofessional, you can't seem to get through to anyone in charge. I'm a single mother, having health issues, no other income. This is insurance I pay for and they treat me like I'm working for them. I have not been able to speak to one person who has been polite or understanding during this whole process. This is completely unprofessional...

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Long Term Disability

by spencer on May 22, 2019
1 out of 5 stars

Great West Life needs to have a class action suit filed against them. They fully know that you will never get through on their one fax number for all claims for all of Canada. They prey on the insured a game of non-customer service. You need to record and file a complaint to the different insurance regulators government and non-government. They need to be exposed for the harm they are doing to their customers. They are ruining lives. They fail to be honest and show a willing nature to frustrate and delay and deny claims. They fail to collect all information on claims and blame the client. We need to get together to take collective action against them. I faxed them a dozen times and got busy signals today every time. They fully know this is the best way to frustrate and eliminate your timely claims. This cancer must be removed and penalize and removed from the insurance business. Will give some direction in how to deal with this company that has taken advantage of hundreds of people. They prey on your lack of knowledge on what to do. They have been at this for years and have schooled themselves in how to handle the Art Of The Claim To their advantage

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Hugh Disappointment

by Johnathan on Mar 7, 2019
1 out of 5 stars

If you have an option, stay away from their service. I tried to call a general helpline and find out more info regarding disability claims. They gave me another to call for disability claim info. I called that number, and the lady on the phone told me I should call another office in Scarborough, so I called Scarborough disability claim office. They said they only help with existing claims. With all this passing around, I still couldn't find out if they will accept my situation, where to submit claims, and how to get claim form etc. Useless, rude, slow, ineffective customer services. Lastly, I found out I should contact my account rep-M.D. She never answers her phones or returns phone calls. Every time I call, she is out of the office or away from the desk. If your company is short of staffing, hire more people, and hire smarter people. Super Disappointed

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fraud

by Ben on Nov 29, 2018
1 out of 5 stars

If you have a choice, stay away from this company. They will do anything to not pay your claims. i.e. multiple short-term disability claims of my colleagues have been delayed in payment for months after their disability period. Cancer medication claims have been ignored over and over again. One of my colleague's husband passed away more than 6 months ago and there are still no payments. You can imagine the financial stress this creates. For myself, basically, every claim in the region of 100 $ + (over one hundred) is "randomly" selected for audit half the time then ignored after successful completion of the audit. The customer support line phone always has a busy tone. You simply cannot reach them. The online written requests get no answer. If you escalate to your company administrator, they will make statements that they tried to call you three times to clarify. They will state that you as a customer ignored them and therefore they do not pay. I can go on and on with these stories... Overall, this is a full-on fraud company.

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