Great-West Life Disability Insurance Reviews

The case manager of my short term disability stopped my benefits claim by changing my original injury claim of a dislocated shoulder to a strain/sprained shoulder muscle. Then the case manager took what a consulting physician said in a report and twisted it, omitting other medical facts of my file, facts that would keep me in the system. The manager only used those utterances to justify her argument. Basically lied to cut me off. Right now I'm in the second appeal stage, appealing to the very people that are causing me the problems. This is borderline criminal behaviour. And I'm still off work.

I started getting dizzy and sick spells at work, so went to hospital! The first diagnosis was vertigo, so they put me off for 2 weeks until I could see my family physician! His first diagnosis was vertigo and he referred me to ear Dr and sent me for tests and put me off for a month until my next appt! All this being sent to my work and Great-West Life! Dr appts blood tests, ear specialist - ear tests, CT scan etc. Went on for next several months with everything being sent to Great-West Life and they kept making excuses why they couldn't approve my claim! It wasn't until my CT scan came back with a spot showing up that they decided to review my claim which was 12 weeks from the time I started feeling ill! They had 3 Drs' letters telling them I was sick but yet they said they had to send to their in-house Dr who denied the claim! I had to appeal 2 times and finally it went to upper management for review and they approved my short term after 13 weeks! I was so far behind on my bills and my house had gone to mortgage holders' lawyers to foreclose on my house! To total amount owing to save my house because I missed some payments due to Great-West Life giving me the runaround was 8500 dollars and needed to be paid in full! 3200 for mortgage and 5300 thrown out the window for lawyers' fees! Not to mention my credit ruined also! Totally ridiculous. People pay into this insurance company for security just in case something happens that they are unable to work but yet when the person needs help, they do everything they can not to pay! I'm still ill and had an MRI and something has shown up, so need to go back for more head scans yet Great-West Life is saying I have to wait for all the results for them to even consider my claim! It's been another 12 weeks with no money and now bills are slipping again and I had to ask the Dr to write a note saying I can work when I'm still very ill! I can only make it to work for a few hours on some days and have to go home to lay down and some days I can't even function to drive there! I'm not sure how other group insurance companies are but if your employer is using Great-West Life, they should change companies for their employees' sake! I'm wondering how many lawsuits they have had to deal with over the years because as soon as I find out there is something seriously wrong with me, if there is, I will def be going to a lawyer for the hardship they have caused me! I wish there was a zero or - rating for this terrible company because it's def the worst company I've ever dealt with!

I am on short term disability, they treat you like you are nothing they ask to complete a lot of paperworks and then ask for the doctor details... Always by post office!!! Wake up faxes and email exist!!! Weeks and months have passed and still awaiting to be paid. They rejected doctor notes saying to be incomplete. Then they said their specialist rejected the doctor diagnostic... How can you do that without seeying a patients. They just want you to discourage and to let go. Not a chance, when I am going to be better, I am going to bring them to justice and I am going to make sure it goes in the newspaper.

After paying decades of contribution to GWL, I was short term disabled. They requested documents from the doctor, then they needed signed documents from the doctor, then they needed the notes of the doctor. I waited for the payment to be told that I was not more than 60% disabled! On what ground?!
They just don't want to pay...
I have a good doctor and my condition is real. I am going to bring them to justice these thieves and make an example out of them...

Paid my dues for over 7 years for employee benefits. There rep came to our company and assured us and I quote "Don't worry, if anything happens we'll take care of you! No problems."

Over this 7 year period they recieved over 16, 800.00 dollars on my behalf.

In 2016 I was in a bad car accident and ended up with severe post concussion syndrome. They did everything they could to deny me and left me in the dust.

So I lost my 26 dollar an hour job because of my condition and couldn't drive a truck anymore. Now I survive on a meager provincial disability stipend as I can't work yet.

Don't do business with these people, they are your typical greedy self-centered corporation. They lie and don't deliver what they promise.

I hope you spent my 16K on something nice for yourselves...

I purchased Disability Insurance with GWL during the last few years of my training as a physician. In the last 3 years, I have suffered from a chronic illness that forced me to take a leave of absence from my practice. As many other posters have shared, the claims process was long, arduous, and I had to fight tooth and nail to even get partial disability for an illness I help my own patients achieve coverage for. I also returned to part-time practice and they decided that that eliminates my partial disability, even with an own occupation rider on my policy. I'm a medical professional, and I navigate these systems all the time. I cannot even imagine how it is for non-medical clients who have to face a claim's process. I have since cancelled my policy with GWL. I am extremely disheartened by this company's practices. I would highly caution anyone taking out disability insurance with GWL or any insurance company for that matter. Do your research, talk to other people who have had claims with the company and read these sorts of message boards.

So I had a short term disability claim. I will be honest I had waited quite a while before I submitted it for personal reasons. This however does not justify the following.

1st, I submitted my claim as a short term claim. I was told it would take approx one week for it to get processed and to a claim manager. 19 days later I noticed the women I was dealing with kept typing "long term claim" and it took an additional week to convince her otherwise.

So a manager calls me to apologize for the error and tells me my claim will now be rushed. Great right?

A week later I still hear nothing so I call in and email some more.

They deny my claim because "I had waited longer then the 10 limit to submit my claim" No where on any paper work did I read there was a 10 window.

So back to the grind, luckily I write contracts for a living. I am good at what I do. So after describing to her in very small words just how wrong she was I was told her manager would double check her work. At this point I demanded her managers FULL name and email. They will fight you on this but it is important to know in case you end up taking legal action.

Eventually she realized I was right and would not give up my fight. (I am Irish I will spend any money to not be taken advantage of)

My claim is now approved. She informs me accounting will take 2-3 days to deposit my funds.

2 weeks I wait. So back to the phone. I am repeatedly told to just give it another day or two. Turns out they mailed me a check, to an address I rarely use.

The whole process is a nightmare. They will automatically deny your claim to save money and pad their bonus account. You will have to dig in and fight. Be polite, and angry. Do not give up your fight. Make them know you have every intention of winning. Or even better, choose ANY other insurance company. This was not my first issue with GWL but it certainly will be my last.

Good luck.

We bought GWL competitor disability insurance for my husband 12 years ago, it was the biggest waste of money we have ever made. A year ago at age 56 he had a severe pain caused by a cervical disc herniation and found out that he had severe deterioration of several discs in his neck and upper back that would not allow him to work as he can't lift, climb a ladder or scaffolding or extend his neck. We were shocked when we were told this is not covered, is this not the reason you buy disability insurance in the first place. Do not buy this insurance it is a huge waste of money, this policy should not be sold to anyone. I guess this is why insurance companies are so rich. DO NOT BUY GWL INSURANCE

My experience with GWL has been nothing but awful. I'm currently out on disability (have been since Nov.), and all they have done is give me the run around. They paid my claim up to Dec. 2 and refused to pay further. I started the appeal process right away and have still gotten no where with them.
The customer services is a joke. The person that I deal with doesn't even pretend to care. On multiple occasions, she's said "I'll look over your information or whatever and get back to you." Whatever? Really? Talk about lack of professionalism. She has also flat out lied about faxing out important documents to my doctor to fill out.
Ex. She said she had faxed a questionnaire for my doctor to fill out to move the appeal process along. I then found out that she didn't fax it until 6 days after my conversation with her. She misspelled my name on part of the questionnaire and put on it symptoms that I never said I had.
As of today, I left her a message informing her that I knew she was lying and that if my claim is not approved by the end of next week, I'll be going above her.
My advice: Avoid GWL like the plague and spread the word that they are a company that doesn't care about helping people. If you are unfortunate enough to have to deal with them at some point, just remember: They want to wait you out and force you back to work. Don't let them. Stay on top of your claim and call them daily.

I have the worst experience in my life with GWL! My doctor gave me a document according to which I need to stay in bed rest because there is a risk for my unborn baby. GWL made me wait for nearly two months without an income and then called me to tell me that my claim has been declined. They said that my condition wasn`t as severe as my doctor suggests!!! I am still waiting for the refusal letter so that I could appeal and eventually apply for sickness benefits through EI. I feel terrible and really depressed from the way they treated me. On top of everything I owe them $246 every month in order to keep my health benefits active. Where will I find this money if I haven`t had any income for two months now? I used to use Sun Life and was very happy with them but unfortunately the company I work for has a contract with this terrible GWL and I`m outraged.