Unum Insurance

SunnySurrey

Hi
I wanted to share my experience so far with UNUM: my employer has an income protection policy with them. My application for income protection was sent to them in December last year and their decision was only made on May 27th, despite overwhelming medical evidence from hospital consultants and my gp they rejected the claim on the basis that the severity of my condition does not warrant absence from work. No further explanation was provided. For those people who know what it is like to suffer from a massive colitis flare, obstructive sleep apnoea, rheumatological spine and joint pain, migraines and depression must know that each hour of each day is a constant struggle.
Unum took longer and longer to decide my claim, asking for more evidence all the time and keeping me in the dark all the while. Once the decision was made they refused to talk to me. They were happy just a fortnight before that to ask me detailed questions about how I was, my daily activities and so on. Their unscrupulous and unprofessional practice has caused me serious financial hardship, which their advisor curtly dismissed when I phoned repeatedly to ask about the progress of my claim.
I am in the process of asking them to review their decision and would like to know whether I should contact the Financial Ombudsman Service now or wait until they reply to my request to reconsider? I believe from their track record that it might be many months before I have a response to my request to reconsider and they are very likely as before to provide scant reason for their decision.
Thanking you for any guidance/suggestions.
S

rs65

If you have made a complaint then they have up to 8 weeks to provide a response. Their response will detail if the FOS is an option to you. The reason I say 'if' is because I am not sure whether you or your employer is the policyholder.