Posts Tagged ‘ Unum ’

Happy Thanksgiving Unum

November 24th, 2010. By janem

During more than six years at LawyersandSettlements I have interviewed close to a thousand people who have suffered an injury or injustice, from bad drugs and medical devices to labor law violations. Many people I talked with brought tears to my eyes and sometimes we cried together. Among the saddest cases I heard were  those people whose lives were ruined because they were denied disability benefits from Unum insurance company, also known as First Unum and UnumProvident. Our conversations left me feeling frustrated and angry, and useless. All I could do was tell their story.

As for the name changes, the company now calls itself Unum, in an effort to make the public forget Unum Provident’s past bad faith practices. But the rebranding ain’t working for Unum’s policyholders, although it might be working for Unum: according to the Associated Press, the company’s revenue increased approximately 1 percent from last year to $2.53 billion. So why can’t the biggest insurance provider share some its wealth with those who are entitled to it?

Unum also posted an operating income of $204.7 million, up four percent from last year. To me, that translates to a lot of employees taking home fat paychecks, thanks to the company denying policyholders disability benefits.

One interview I remember that took place about four years ago still upsets me. Gladys was about 60 years old; her husband had recently passed away, the kids were long gone and she had become disabled. Because Unum refused her long term disability benefits, Gladys’s home went into foreclosure and she was counting on social security benefits, but they hadn’t kicked in.  I interviewed her from a Motel 6, where she was living a day-to-day existence, not knowing where she would stay tomorrow.

Sadly, there a lot of victims like Gladys; people who worked hard all their lives, they or their employers paid their insurance premiums for years and when tragedy strikes, they are left out in the cold. More often than not, their former employers have no knowledge of Unum denying them. Certainly Unum isn’t going to tell its clients that they haven’t acted in good faith.  (One man I interviewed actually notified his former employer, Coca-Cola, and he was able to win an appeal, but I think Jimmy’s case is rare. )

It’s ironic that Unum was recently recognized for donating millions of dollars and volunteer hours to schools, food banks, education, the arts, as well as health and wellness projects, while at the same time it is still employing underhanded tactics to deny, deny.

I guess their marketers figure that’s the way to attract more business and sell more policies. It certainly isn’t the way to keep more policy holders. Happy Thanksgiving, Unum. May you choke on your turkey wishbone.

Tags: Insurance, Unum
Posted in Emerging Issues | 2 Comments »

Flip Side of Bad Faith Insurance: Gravy Train Claims

June 17th, 2010. By Hunter West

Everybody likes to beat up on insurance companies for denying legitimate claims. And they should be taken to task for such behavior. Americans buy insurance policies in an effort to do the right thing, so as not to leave their families vulnerable in the event they are injured or incapacitated in some way. They pay their premiums faithfully, according to the tenets outlined in the policy. 

When they get hurt, it is their right by law and contract to receive what they have paid for. Shame on any insurer that attempts to pull the rug out from under honest, law-abiding policyholders. Unum, notably, has in the past been accused of grievous examples of bad faith practices—allegations that in some cases have borne out to become fact. 

But it goes the other way too, ya know. There are those who attempt to take the insurance companies to the cleaners. While a wary eye cast for the n’er-do-well should not result in ill treatment of legitimate claimants, you would be amazed at what some people will do to pull a fast one on the insurers, rather than the other way around. 

Take the case of Wanda Podgurski aka Wanda Lee Ann Plager of Manhattan Beach, California. According to an investigation carried out by the California Department of Insurance (CDI), Podgurski took out no fewer than six insurance policies with six different carriers. 

Long-term care polices were purchased from Prudential Group Insurance, Kanawha Insurance, Unum Life Insurance Co. and Metropolitan Insurance Co. 

She didn’t stop there. Podgurski also took out disability income policies with Balboa Insurance Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Balboa, Kanawha, Metropolitan Insurance, Prudential, Reassure America Life Insurance, Unum
Posted in Emerging Issues, Insurance | 2 Comments »

In View of Past Misdeeds, Unum is Playing it Smart

September 21st, 2009. By Hunter West

It’s time to give credit where credit is due: for a corporation oft-painted as a villain, Unum Provident is one smart company. 

Unum Provident has been dragged through the mud in recent years over various charges and allegations that the company goes out of its way to deny legitimate disability claims. A claim, after all, is a drag on an insurer’s bottom line. The fewer claims an insurer is required to process, the less money it has to pay out while premium revenue remains a constant. 

Thus, there are basically three ways to improve the performance of an insurance company: sell more policies; reduce the number of claims, or any combination of the two. 

All you hear about are the horror stories from policyholders who have allegedly been cut down at the knees by a seemingly uncaring and unfeeling insurer. However, any corporation will tell you that the road to profitability is paved with cost reductions. There isn’t an insurer worth its’ salt that doesn’t cast a wary eye every time a claim is made against a short-term disability (STD), or long-term disability (LTD) policy. Unum Provident is no different. 

If insurers have been cast as villains, so too are a handful of policyholders who really do try to take advantage and pull a fast one on their insurer by making a claim for disability when they are, indeed quite healthy. 

Be that as it may, Unum Provident—easily a global leader in the provision of insurance products—is doing a lot of things right, in spite of what its critics are saying. You can’t have 11 profitable quarters in a row without some degree of savvy. 

Here’s what Unum Provident is doing well…  Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Unum, UnumProvident
Posted in Insurance | 4 Comments »