Sun Life Group Benefits Insurance Reviews

I provide a brief summary, as the various hoops I have had to jump through are many and mundane.

The company I work for transferred from a very solid and professional drug insurance firm to the godawful Sun Life Financial. Even though their presentations promised a smooth transfer, come first trip to the pharmacy after cut over day, find out that medication needs to be pre-approved prior to being filled. My medication is time dependent, so I had no choice but to pay out of pocket for the drugs. Then I had to chase my doctor for them to fill out forms again justifying the use of the drug and send to SLF. Doctor completed, the forms and faxed through. (What a waste of time for the doctor?!) I called SLF to confirm that everything was good and that I could submit my out of pocket claim and also on my next trip to the pharmacy would be without incident. I was promised everything was fine, a letter was received confirming my drug coverage. I arrived at the pharmacy - same thing. Refused by insurer. A call to the SLF resulted in being transferred 3 times over 45 minutes, about half as many times as I was offered to use their website to check my status - an obvious and painful delaying tactic, do they think people will give up and actually try their website? Its BS - does nothing, not customer interaction can be achieved from the site. I was eventually told the drug ID number they had on record was wrong and I would need my doctor to resend the drug approval - also I was told this was my fault? Turns out the drug has a different number in their system and the doctor and I should have known this and provided it. I am now two months out of pocket with my first paper claim rejected and back to square one. A very unsatisfactory company. Medical insurance companies are vampires to the system anyways, but Sun Life Financial are turning it into an art form.

I'm currently on short-term disability: this company is a nightmare. I had cancer and a subsequent mastectomy; recently had to undergo another very complex surgery that took four times longer than the previous. From the time I woke up in the hospital, Sun Life harassed me with requirements (I was literally all cut up in bed on the phone with them) trying to force me to go back to work early. I had to make phone calls (hard to hold a phone when you're all cut up) and drive to the hospital weeks before my doctor said I should trying to find/get doctors to make repeated phone calls to the Sun Life rep--had to make duplicate doctor appointments to met insurance req--I've been through a couple companies since I've been ill and Sun Life is the worst--my incisions reopened in my abdomen because of them--working on getting better--employers are the only entities that benefit. If you can: STAY AWAY.

I found out at the end of January 2016 that I needed surgery. I began the process of starting a claim about a month before I actually stopped working. My case was a bit complicated because I need 2 surgeries, and at the time I submitted the paperwork the second surgery date was unknown. I submitted the paperwork before my surgery on March 23rd, got the forms filled out by my doctors, and thought everything was fine. I called multiple times, was told my claim was approved, and it was fine. When I was supposed to start getting paid, I never got a check. I called them - turns out they were missing a form, that no one had ever told me about. I get the form worked out and submit it, and call them a few days later.... only to find out that there was ANOTHER form missing. They kept telling me that I needed to talk to my claims manager Tanya, but she never seemed to be in the office - we're convinced she doesn't exist. The 6th of 7th time I called, I was informed that I had TWO claims - one for short term disability, which has been approved, and one for state. "State?" I asked them. Turns out they were missing forms for that as well, that no one had decided to tell me about the other SIX OR SEVEN TIMES I HAD CALLED. You would think that if they were missing a form, they would call you to ask about it; nope. Sun Life is deducting $170 from my checks every week for this state disability, and to date I have not received any of that money, even though the state claim has been approved at this point. Back to the short term disability; I have been getting checks the last two weeks, so I was lulled into thinking everything was okay. I still have not gotten my state money... but I thought I was okay on the short term side. My second surgery is tomorrow, so I started the process to extend my leave. After FINALLY getting ahold of Tanya, she assured me that all she needs to do is call my doctors office tomorrow after my surgery to find out how much longer I'll be out. She said that she would just extend my leave to whatever the doctor says - we'll see tomorrow if that happens. I received a check today that showed me 2 things. First, the amount is off by $100. Second, they are showing my leave as suspended. I also was given a claim number for my state disability - I looked up that claim, and it shows a check that I never received, and that I have already returned to work.

Long story short, AVOID THIS COMPANY AT ALL COSTS. They jerk you around and absolutely do not care about your wellbeing. They lie to you and say they have everything they need, just to retract that statement the next time you call. You will never get what you're owed if you go through this company, so save yourself the trouble and STAY AWAY.

This company is the absolute worst company I've ever dealt with in my entire adult life. Their customer service staff is very rude and disrespectful, despite the fact that I've been extremely patient during every encounter. Every time I asked a question or tried to explain why I'm concerned, they would talk over me, practically yelling at me. One rep hung up when I was explaining why the details she was giving me were incorrect. This company will go above and beyond not to pay out on benefits. My doctor and employer have provided all the information this company needed but they continue to look for reasons to prolong accepting my claim. It's been a month and every time I call them for an update, they keep saying the examiner is still processing. Unbelievable.

I have health plan coverage through the Public Service Health Care Plan (Canada) and will say it's the worst customer service I have ever experienced with any professional service company ever. It's as if they deliberatly attempt to frustrate the customer to make you give up. The phone advisors are more often condescending and rude than they are helpful, and the online secure messaging and inability to communicate by email makes the whole system as slow as molasses. I have come to despise Sun Life and will never, ever willingly use them for anything ever again as long as I live.

8 months now on my new job and still don't have life insurance coverage! They keep calling to tell me I'm missing "something" to finish processing my application but they cant' tell me what's missing. The sub-contractor they sent to do my physical lost some of my paperwork so they denied my coverage. Now I'm being denied due to "non-response". When I call to ask what I'm supposed to respond to, and I quote "Sir, we don't know". They denied coverage for my wife for a "medical condition", but they can't tell me what it is. She has only had a couple surgeries on her feet........ HR is trying to help but there is only so much they can do. I give up. I'm just going to tell HR to cancel my application with Sun Life so I can just go get private life insurance. It'll cost the same but I'll have much better service. Not a grain of intelligence can be claimed by any of the agents working at Sun Life! Anyone that rates better than 1 star obviously hasn't had to deal with them in any capacity yet - but you'll soon find out and be back here re-posting a new review.

I have group benefits through my hospital..In Toronto/ Mississauga area. My goodness what a subpar provider Sun Life Insurance is. My wife and I did co-ordinated benefits for a pair of eyeglasses, and (Manulife) which is my wife's provider paid out their portion with no concerns. Not even one question. Sun Life did not pay out a cent.. they keep sending it around in circles to our Human Resources and then them... for eyeglasses.. no paymnet yet after 4 months.. I pay the benefits and they have not paid out one penny ..not one... when you need them.. for eye glasses... I have had Dejardin, Manulife , Equitable life and even Td Insurance.. and have been around 25 years in social services. Sun Life is the bottom of the barrel. If you are a company like a hospital, non profit agency,private or public company.. this should be the last choice you should make.. Do you want your employees to respect you.? Well then, don't choose Sun Life Insurance as your group provider... saving money does not always pay in the long run for your employee loyalty and or lost time for the HR dept in your agency..

Sincerely

Mike

My company use to use Manulife Financial, then they switched to Sun Life, no doubt to save a buck. Sun Life repeatedly seems to find ways to dissuade me from using my benefits. For example, twice now, they have told me that I needed a doctor's note in order to qualify for coverage of certain health services. Not knowing any better, I paid for a prescription. (not covered) I recently found out that my employer's plan with Sun Life does not require me to get a prescription. Now that I'm trying to get Sun Life to compensate me for the costs that I've incurred due to their misinformation, or should I call it "intentional dissuasion", they give me the run around. It's like they're trying to make it harder for me to use my health benefits. Furthermore, everytime I call them, I'm on hold for at least 15 minutes it seems. I'm not exaggerating. You can't email them without sending a "secure message" through their site. In order to see their reply, you have to log in to the site and view it.