Report: Unum Insurance Among the Worst

Portland, ORIf you went only by television commercials, you’d think most insurance customers were satisfied with their insurance experience, happy with the service they received and the claims process. Of course, it’s in their best interests for insurance companies to make themselves look good: customers won’t buy their policies if reports of bad faith insurance and unfairly denied claims are rampant. So how does Unum stack up compared with other insurance companies? Not well, according to at least one organization.

In 2008, the American Association for Justice (AAJ) issued a report called The Ten Worst Insurance Companies In America. Although it didn’t come in as worst - that honor was reserved for Allstate - Unum came in second worst.

“Unum’s behavior was epitomized when it denied the claim of a woman with multiple sclerosis for three years, stating her conditions were ‘self-reported,’ contrary to doctors’ evaluations,” the AAJ writes in a press release that accompanied the report. That woman was actually Debra Potter, who sold Unum’s own disability policies until her multiple sclerosis made work impossible. Despite repeated communications from physicians stating Potter’s condition was legitimate and the Social Security Administration finding Potter totally disabled, Unum continued denying her claims until she hired an attorney.

“Unum, one of the nation’s leading disability insurers, has long had a reputation for unfairly denying and delaying claims," the AAJ writes in its report. An investigation by the California Department of Insurance into Unum reportedly found the company “systematically violated state insurance regulations,” including fraudulently denying claims through fake medical reports. The situation was bad enough that then-California Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi called Unum an “outlaw company.”

And if you think denying the claim of a woman with multiple sclerosis is bad, Unum also allegedly denied a disability claim made by a 43-year-old man who underwent quintuple bypass surgery and had stents put in his arteries. Unum, apparently, felt the man could still work.

Not all insurance claims are unfairly denied, and insurance companies have an obligation to ensure claims are legitimate before they are paid. But too often, claims are denied not because they are not legitimate, but because insurance companies are protecting profits or pushing employees to meet quotas for denials. In such cases, where legitimate claims are denied without being properly investigated - or worse, denied based on fraudulent paperwork - policyholders can file appeals or lawsuits to have the decision reviewed.