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Deloitte refusal to confirm employment termination – impact on income protection insurance claim
neilio
Posts: 286 Forumite
My husband worked for Deloitte as a senior manager from April 2016 until August 2017. He worked on four separate assignments, all of them successfully with good feedback from clients, except for one assignment on which he was placed which didn’t suit his skillset which he raised at the time of placement. As expected, that assignment did not go smoothly and he ultimately transitioned out of post while providing a smooth handover to someone more suitable and nothing more was said at the time. He was also put in a situation of usurping the role of one of his colleagues whose child had recently passed away and he refused to do that to his friend. It was not his last assignment as he moved on to the next which was much more successful. In fact, two of his assignments heaped praise onto him in abundance.
At the end of August 2017, he’d been on the bench for 2 months and was invited by HR to a meeting with a senior partner at which his performance and suitability for continued employment would be reviewed. His line manager at the time never said anything to him that his job was in danger and denied all knowledge of the meeting. He attended and was dismissed from his job with immediate effect with no opportunity to speak to his line manager or any of his colleagues. The feedback from the one assignment mentioned above was given as reason for termination while his other successful assignments were not mentioned at all. Nor was that he’d been on the bench for 2 months raised but it is likely this was the real reason. He had not been aware that there was any reason to be concerned about his job. Following the meeting, he did not receive any copy of the meeting minutes nor did he ever receive a letter confirming that Deloitte had terminated his employment but he was told he had no right to appeal. He was not formally made redundant.
For years, he had been paying into an income protection insurance policy with Cigna. He was unemployed for eight months so he is entitled to claim for five months’ unemployment due to being paid in lieu of three months’ notice. In order to make the claim, the former employer is required to confirm in writing his termination of employment by providing details on an application form, less than a single A4 side, specifying that he worked there and that he was terminated, not exactly onerous. Deloitte spent months passing the form around internally before confirming that they would not be able to complete the form. He attempted again but it was the same result. Cigna advised that if he could provide a letter from Deloitte confirming termination of employment that would suffice. Alas, as he never received any such letter from Deloitte at the time, he requested this from them, but they have refused to provide anything. The only thing they can provide is a standard reference that he had worked there.
He has no evidence from Deloitte that he was terminated. He did not resign from his job, he did not commit gross misconduct and he was not made redundant, yet Deloitte refuses to provide any written evidence whatsoever of the circumstances under which he became unemployed by them. The only things he has from them is the original letter inviting him to the performance review meeting (the tone and language strongly implies he may lose his job) and his payment in lieu of notice letter which he received one week after the meeting. One of his colleagues was terminated under the same circumstances at the same time as him, they never received anything in writing either.
This has caused him a huge amount of stress. He is back at work, but it is nearly a year since he left Deloitte and they are still causing him problems by not providing anything to support his insurance claim. He never sought to claim jobseekers’ allowance but one wonders if Deloitte’s refusal to provide a letter could have impacted that as well. Why wouldn’t a business like Deloitte confirm such termination of employment in writing? They have nothing to lose, but he has several thousands of pounds to lose. How can this be resolved?
At the end of August 2017, he’d been on the bench for 2 months and was invited by HR to a meeting with a senior partner at which his performance and suitability for continued employment would be reviewed. His line manager at the time never said anything to him that his job was in danger and denied all knowledge of the meeting. He attended and was dismissed from his job with immediate effect with no opportunity to speak to his line manager or any of his colleagues. The feedback from the one assignment mentioned above was given as reason for termination while his other successful assignments were not mentioned at all. Nor was that he’d been on the bench for 2 months raised but it is likely this was the real reason. He had not been aware that there was any reason to be concerned about his job. Following the meeting, he did not receive any copy of the meeting minutes nor did he ever receive a letter confirming that Deloitte had terminated his employment but he was told he had no right to appeal. He was not formally made redundant.
For years, he had been paying into an income protection insurance policy with Cigna. He was unemployed for eight months so he is entitled to claim for five months’ unemployment due to being paid in lieu of three months’ notice. In order to make the claim, the former employer is required to confirm in writing his termination of employment by providing details on an application form, less than a single A4 side, specifying that he worked there and that he was terminated, not exactly onerous. Deloitte spent months passing the form around internally before confirming that they would not be able to complete the form. He attempted again but it was the same result. Cigna advised that if he could provide a letter from Deloitte confirming termination of employment that would suffice. Alas, as he never received any such letter from Deloitte at the time, he requested this from them, but they have refused to provide anything. The only thing they can provide is a standard reference that he had worked there.
He has no evidence from Deloitte that he was terminated. He did not resign from his job, he did not commit gross misconduct and he was not made redundant, yet Deloitte refuses to provide any written evidence whatsoever of the circumstances under which he became unemployed by them. The only things he has from them is the original letter inviting him to the performance review meeting (the tone and language strongly implies he may lose his job) and his payment in lieu of notice letter which he received one week after the meeting. One of his colleagues was terminated under the same circumstances at the same time as him, they never received anything in writing either.
This has caused him a huge amount of stress. He is back at work, but it is nearly a year since he left Deloitte and they are still causing him problems by not providing anything to support his insurance claim. He never sought to claim jobseekers’ allowance but one wonders if Deloitte’s refusal to provide a letter could have impacted that as well. Why wouldn’t a business like Deloitte confirm such termination of employment in writing? They have nothing to lose, but he has several thousands of pounds to lose. How can this be resolved?
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Comments
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Uhm surely a P45 would show this?
Sorry if that sounds stupid; it seems so obvious0 -
The P45 doesn’t say how or why he stopped working for them.0
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Sorry mustve missed that bit, I read this and thought, that's what a P45 doesThe P45 doesn’t say how or why he stopped working for them.
In order to make the claim, the former employer is required to confirm in writing his termination of employment by providing details on an application form, less than a single A4 side, specifying that he worked there and that he was terminated0 -
The only things he has from them is the original letter inviting him to the performance review meeting (the tone and language strongly implies he may lose his job) and his payment in lieu of notice letter which he received one week after the meeting.
The "payment in lieu of notice" refers to the notice period which must given to terminate a contract of employment. I would argue that this "proves" the fact that he was terminated (although it does not state why) and should be sufficient.
Whilst Deloitte may be being unhelpful, the greater villain in this story appears to be the insurance company who are doing their level best to deny or delay the claim, having happily collected his premiums for months and years beforehand. Hardly any surprise that policies like this are largely a worthless scam.0 -
A P45 does not specify that the employment was terminated or why. He could have walked out, or been fired for gross misconduct. Either would probably stop the protection insurance paying out.0
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ReadingTim wrote: »The "payment in lieu of notice" refers to the notice period which must given to terminate a contract of employment. I would argue that this "proves" the fact that he was terminated (although it does not state why) and should be sufficient.
Whilst Deloitte may be being unhelpful, the greater villain in this story appears to be the insurance company who are doing their level best to deny or delay the claim, having happily collected his premiums for months and years beforehand. Hardly any surprise that policies like this are largely a worthless scam.
Based on what OP said, it doesn't sound as if he was made redundant and his unemployment/lack of income doesn't result from illness or injury. Very few income protection policies provide cover where someone is dismissed for other reasons.
OP, has your husband read the terms of his policy with Cigna to check exactly what it covers? All this kerfuffle about Deloitte (which seems extraordinary) may be a total red herring if the policy doesn't provide cover of this situation. That isn't a scam - it's down to the policyholder not being crystal clear about the cover provided by the policy they chose.0 -
Thats Deloitte for you0
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xapprenticex wrote: »Thats Deloitte for you
Or pretty much any of the big consulting firms. I was released by one of the Big Boys (I won't say which) earlier this year after 3 months on the bench. Frankly I was delighted to come out of my termination meeting with a decent settlement (one month TOIL and another month redundancy) as I had already arranged another job to go to.
Stories like this are also why I never take out income protection policies as they can be so hard to claim on. It's far better to self-insurance by building up a emergency pot of few months living expenses0 -
It's probably irrelevant whether he walked or was pushed. The company are not legally obliged to fill in the form. So there is no way of forcing them to. Some companies refuse to provide statements, references, the whole lot. It would appear this is one of them.0
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