Great-West Life Disability Insurance Reviews

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

I had recently been put on a short term leave from my job due to a pregnancy. I work in a highly dangerous environment with violent clients. Shortly after being put on leave I had a miscarriage. My leave was supposed to be 7 weeks according to my doctor's notes. I had been upfront and shared all information regarding every appointment to GWL and was happy to supply them with any further medical notes they needed. I was told by my GWL caseworker that I no longer qualified for a short term leave because my pregnancy being why I was off in the first place. I explained that I was still having complications and that my doctor insisted I needed to take the full 7 weeks. I was also told I didn’t qualify anymore because I was able to return to my job and complete 60% of my work. Which I found laughable because if I’m anything less than 100% at this job I put everybody at risk. I went back to my doctor and explained what was happening and he said I am the physician and the medical professional here and I believe you need the full 7 weeks. At this time I call my caseworker who tells me I’ve been cut off from my benefits as of last week. She said she had tried calling and leaving me a voice mail but there are no records of either on my phone. So glad I won’t be having to deal with this company again

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.

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've been on LTD for just over a year, with a gradual return to work program now. However, it is not going well, and it is very obvious to everyone except GWL that I cannot return to work. I'm working 4 hr x 4 days now, and completely exhausted by the end. I have made a bed in the back seat of my car so I can recover part way through the 4 hours and at the end of the 4 hours...at least recover enough to be able to drive home and then go to bed. A specialist and my GP have requested that I be off 2-3 more months but GWL's medical board in Toronto (who have never seen me!!!!) has denied the request and now I have to continue with the GRTW program with 6hrs x 5 days or they will cut me off. I can't do 4hrs x 4 days let alone bumping it up. I'm talking to a lawyer tomorrow because I simply cannot do this, but I don't know what else to do...and don't have the energy to fight. Very disappointed with GWL. We'll have to see what happens when I repeatedly collapse at work and have to call ambulances...especially since at times I work in the building alone...should be interesting to see the ramifications of the ambulance attendants breaking the building doors down to get to me.

I applied for short term disability in June 2016 through my employer. The 1st case manager Logan M. lied to me over the phone that my claim was approved and just needed to finish the calculations, and I'd likely to see first payout by next Friday. About 2 weeks went by with me chasing her as to what's going on. After complaining to my employer about lack of response, Logan M. told me that my claim was declined because my employer said I shouldn't have stopped my medication years ago. My specialist doctor told me to wean off it and completely stop it, because there's bad long-term side effects. The wait to see the specialist doctor was months long to get my medication refilled. My employer said that they do not influence any claim decisions at all. I escalated at Great West Life and was assigned a 2nd case manager Sara S. After I got in to see the specialist doctor and was on my medication again, my claim was denied again - Sara S. said to me over the phone that I should have been taking Tylenol and working during the long wait for a specialist doctor. They denied my claim again, on basis that I wasn't severe. I told my family doctor that Great West Life was giving me the run around, she wrote a doctor's note and told me to apply for EI sick benefits. She was right, I had no problem getting my claim for EI sick benefits approved. Great West Life case managers will lie and manipulate your words over the phone. I consulted a disability lawyer because they take cases on contingency basis, he said there wasn't much money left for him to chase. EI sick benefits payments are deducted from short-term disability calculatons, so the crooked insurance company Great West Life won by declining you repeatedly until you give up. Unless you have something that's "definite", like surgery or being in the hospital... anything "subjective" or episodic disability will be repeatedly declined so they wear you down by forcing you to provide all kinds of evidence that you're "severe". Be warned, everything they ask you to get to back up your claim, they're actually using all of that to manipulate it so they build a case against you. Also, I'm in Calgary, they assigned Ontario reps that are off work at 1pm my time... adding to the difficulty of getting a hold of them. There's a reason why they only provide their first name and the first initial of their last names, they're unethical... after one phone call with each of the case managers, I refused to talk to them over the them, requiring everything via email... it helped stop some of their lying and manipulation over the phone with you. I wonder how these case managers sleep at night, they're incentized to decline as many cases as they can, it's how their performance bonus works.

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.

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!!

I have been a LPN for a little over 11 years and have currently been off on disability since July 2015. This is due to mental health reasons that symptoms would indicate Caregiver burnout due to watching people I care for die regularly without debriefing, bullying at work, being a single mom with literally no help and being the victim of an abusive relationship. Considering that all of these situations directly relate to being a good nurse and mother, My metal health suffered severely after being bullied and abused mentally by co workers and spouse. Having trust in yourself as a nurse is crucial to be working with clients during the dying process. If a nurse does not trust herself the client and their family will not trust the nurse. This in turn can lead to many problems for the clients and their family's continuity of life as the client transitions into the dying process and finally death. Speaking from my own experience I finally realized I had caregiver burnout because I was forgetting crucial nursing assessment details and followups in turn putting my clients at risk. It is my duty as a nurse to refuse if I do not feel mentally capable of doing my job and ensuring client safely in doing so. My current employer is supportive as well in regards to my mental health and ability to do my job. So I took myself off work and went to my doctor to get his professional opinion. I have had the same doctor for over 12 years and he knows my professional behavior with in regards to the way I conduct my work and life, and he concluded that I was not in sane mind to be doing my job properly and safely ensuring client care. I am currently fighting with great west life as they want to shove me back to work against my doctors advice. My doctor has given GWL all that they have asked for however according to my case manager it is not enough to indicate I can not work. I have enough trouble taking care of my 6 year old atm due to my emotions all over the place and tweaking medications for my brain chemistry regularly to try and stabilize my moods, in order to function to the best of my ability again. I would not be alive today if it were not for having to get up out of bed to take care of my daughter. After all some people can only handle the death of people for so long without snapping and being consumed by death and negativity. Anyway long story short its my duty as a nurse to recognize if I am being safe, and with the support and back up of my doctor this should be suffice for great west life but no, they need more, who knows what but more and more and more every time. My overall rating of GWL is a negative infinity but that was not an option. I take an oath as a nurse to do NO HARM. By not refusing to work as a nurse, I would put patients at risk due to my current mental health and would be violating my oath as a nurse, however according to GWL this doesn't matter. After all who cares if someone dies a bit sooner then they already are faced with right?? Disgusting. I take my work very seriously and am disgusted by GWL inability to recognize a nurses ability to recognize her own mental health even with doctor and employers support. Horrible company!!

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.