Great-West Life Disability Insurance Reviews

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 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

Paid into the LTD program for over a year. Drunk driver hits me on my way to work. I am now suffering from chronic headaches and migraines and vision problems. Submitted a request for LTD in October 2018 and it's half-way in January 2019 and it's still "pending medical approval from our consultants"? If you send ANY document to your claims adjuster, you are now in a mandatory two-week queue prior to your claims adjuster even looking at it. This includes an attached document that is REQUIRED to be sent. GWL is so reluctant on giving out money but so easy to take your monthly LTD payments by you and your coworkers. They don't care about your financial situation or even remotely show compassion towards your disability. They treat you like criminals. With 20-20 Hindsight, I would strongly discourage any company from joining GWL's poor service. Scroll up, Scroll down. The same thing I wrote has been mentioned over a hundred times and nothing has changed.

Great-West Life does not care if you are ill. My experience with them has been horrible. There is no credibility nor transparency. Their customer service is absolutely horrid.

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.

I've been off of work on short/long term disability with GWL since Oct. 2012. It has been a challenge at best. I'll be utilizing their ombudsman for the 4th time. They have stopped payment without explanation yet again. There is no credibility nor transparency. Global News here I come. I hope everyone speaks up.

I’ve been on WSIB for 18 months. GWL is my Ltd carrier. I am being paid 100% WSIB, and GWL has not paid me one cent, however, they are threatening to cut my Ltd off even though they aren’t paying it if I don’t apply for CPP. I’ve called 4 times and have left messages but no one returns your calls. WSIB even wrote them a letter saying basically “ buzz off “, she’s on our payroll. I have spoken with a lawyer and they agreed that GWL should not be insisting I apply as they don’t pay me. This so-called worker of mine also calls at night or in the middle of the day on weekends. What a bunch of jokers. Never ever use this company.

The story is the same at all insurance companies. You get what you pay for; know what you bought. Read both employee and customer reviews; both parallel each other. Had to request supervisor assistance. Caseworker never returned emails or calls. I have a new caseworker. Hope things pick up and I get the help and care I need to get better so I can do what I love, my job.

Great-West-Life is a horrible company. They denied my application for LTD benefits despite the fact that my doctors supported my claim. I’m suffering from extreme anxiety, and stress at work on top of that chronic pain from work-related injuries and yet they told me there’s no reason for me to go on disability and I should go back to work. Hope this company will shut down. They really try their best not to pay you from what I can see. Of course, their workers do their best to deny you. That’s their bread and butter. Their workers’ mission is to take advantage of somebody’s misfortune. Who cares if you are suffering. All they care for is taking money from you. They are not there when you need them. Like so many people say here, they are lying thieves!

Applied for LTD end of August, gave all the information they required, of course, they required more information from the Doctor, Doctor submitted it. After a couple months of no income, what do you think happened with my claim - you guessed it...denied. I spoke with my Doctor after receiving the denial letter, he was shocked. He told me that I am unfit to work at my current job or any other job at this time. So now what??? Thank you Great-West Life, I am so glad I paid into LTD only to be denied. Will never deal with this company again.