Manulife Group Benefits Insurance Reviews

While my experiences with the call centre have not been as bad as some of the other reviews, my overall experience with Manulife has been nothing short of garbage.

Firstly, the time to process claims is a thorough joke. They state 5 - 7 BUSINESS days after they receive the claim (which is bad enough to begin with), but don't kid yourself - you will wait roughly 3 weeks before you see any money back.

Secondly, the coverage is extremely poor - even for "Comprehensive" cover. Manulife pays out "90%" (of the regulatory "norms") - finding a healthcare provider that charges in accordance with the regulatory norms is almost as good as winning the lotto.

I had previously been with Sun Life, but had to change due to moving employers - I experienced NONE of the above issues when dealing with Sun Life whatsoever.

So, if you feel like waiting about 3 weeks to recover a small portion of your medical expenses for "COMPREHENSIVE" cover, then Manulife is your choice.

However, if you actually want any sort of adequate insurance coverage, then you can pretty much GO WITH ANY OTHER SERVICE PROVIDER.

These guys are the worst.

My wife's work recently switched from Great West Life to Manualife. We are planning on doing some eye exams and I just wanted to take a look to make sure it's covered, and how much. I've been trying all day to look up the amount. And each time, the website says it's experiencing technical difficulties and to try again later.
I don't have time for this crap. I have work to do during the day and when I get home I have 3 kids to look after. I can't believe a company of this size can't get their website running properly. And judging by other reviews, this is not a one-time occurrence.
Like seriously. Get your website working. There are tens of thousands of other companies who can get their website running. You should try it too. What a disaster.

We have Manulife as our company's health and benefits insurer. We have only been with Manulife for 1 1/2 years and I have already had two multi-month disputes with them about honouring claims. They make it as difficult as possible to get your money. You have to jump through so many hoops to get your claim that it is obvious that they just hope you eventually give up and leave them your money. We were formerly with Great West Life. What a shame that our company tried to save money by switching insurers. GWL was so nice to deal with.

This has got to be the worst god awful company I have ever had the displeasure of dealing with.

We are offered this company through our company and it is the worst company I have ever had to utilize. I have dealt with Sun Life Insurance before and they are always so quick and friendly.

They have me on an audit for the past 7 months for absolutely no reason so I am not able to do any claims online. Therefore it takes weeks to get any claim reimbursement due to having to send it in the mail. It then takes 5-7 BUSINESS days to get the reimbursement. I am with a company, so to be on ANY sort of audit, makes absolutely no sense.

I WARN COMPANIES, IF YOU ARE LOOKING TO WORK WITH A COMPANY TO OFFER YOUR EMPLOYEES, DO NOT, I REPEAT, DO NOT USE MANULIFE.

They have a bunch of young, talent less, rude employees working there.

Let me tell you, I have never written a review in my life, but after the 3rd time of being told I can't submit online and them losing my claim forms and them not having my husband on file even though the initial forms stated this. They are known to use loopholes to not pay out, which is what they did with me. They are honestly the WORST company in North America! I will be making a complaint to my HR department in regards to this, thankfully for me, I have some pull in my company!

My daughter started a new job with a company whose benefit plan is provided by Manulife. During her first 3-month probation period she visited her doctor and received a prescription for anxiety. Six months after she started her job she required hospital care for a mental health disorder. Since she visited her doctor and received a prescription drug during her first 3 months of employment, Manulife denied her long-term disability benefits due to her having a "pre-existing condition". She lost 9 months of disability benefits. Manulife self-promotes itself as supporting mental health initiatives at the same time that they deny benefits to mental health patients. Public, corporate image is more important to Manulife than supporting its clients with the benefits that their clients' premiums are paying for. It would likely follow that if a cancer patient started a new job with a company whose benefit plan was provided by Manulife, they would have to stop their cancer treatments for their first 3 months of employment or they too would be deemed to have a "pre-existing condition" that would negate long-term disability benefits if the cancer required extensive hospital care. Manulife focuses on their profits first and caring about their clients last.

Through my work group insurance I have dealt with many companies over the years...Blue Cross...you name it...but these guys are the absolute worst. They turn down claims based on a few dollars and expect the client to pay hundreds because they'll save 20. Not good enough when you are paying these people 40 or 50 dollars a week for coverage that you have no say in. It's just so unfair and disheartening to see a big company like this treat their clients like this. I would never recommend this company. Ever.

My employer switched from GWL to Manulife a few months ago for benefits coverage. Apparently Manulife was significantly cheaper for the employer and nothing would change in terms of our benefits. This has not been true. From my perspective and based on my terrible experiences thus far, the reason that they are cheaper is because the employees are now paying for the difference. For example, Manulife has disallowed registered massages because the massage therapist obtained their certification in BC instead of in AB where they practise. This was frustrating because Manulife and my employer did not document this absurd requirement anywhere and now. My employer indicated that they were not aware of this policy so they actually refunded me for the massage. They have told me to get all of the details regarding the Reg Massage Therapist before I book a massage which is such a pain and creates extra stress. In addition, Manulife's website is down on weekends. On Sat, you cannot submit claims after 8pm and Sun, after 5pm. As a parent that works fulltime, it is very difficult to make time to process these claims except on weekends after my young kids have gone to bed. For me, I have actually stopped using my benefits because the thought of trying to process the claim and what Manulife will come back with causes me instant anxiety. Ugh

My fiance has a policy through her work. Last year she had hernia surgery because of her job. Her claim took a long time to process Manulife "didn't receive" the forms that were faxed/emailed to them even though there were confirmations of the forms being sent 2 or 3 times. After her surgery and some healing time, she was forced back to work to early. Her surgeon's and general practitioner's reports stated she was not ready to return to work. Manulife's docotor (who only read reports) overrode these reports stating he saw no reason for her to be off work so Manulife cut her benefits. As a result of all this, not even a year later she is once again off work and looking forward to another surgery for a repeated tare and additional tares to the same spot. As mentioned by others on this site, Manulife is not interested in their customers wellbeing. They are only interested in taking your money and paying out as little as possible. Bottom line: If you have a choice, look elsewhere. The only way you'll be happy with this company is if you never have to file a claim.

They have multiple layers of forms to fill out before they will process a claim.And if you miss any detail it is denied and sent back.
Enough to frustrate the most patient and organized accountants in the world....
I have coverage through my employer and every time I see an ad for them I hope people read these reviews as I would never deal with them if I had the option.
The only reason I continue to go through their processes is that I won't let them win.
I have co-workers who just don't bother anymore.