It has been almost a year since the
CBC Marketplace report ‘You’re not covered’ featured clients who were frustrated by denied claims – so we asked brokers: what needs to change to make the system work better?
According to the last
Insurance Business poll, brokers were evenly split between the need for ‘Simplified forms’ and ‘Mandatory broker explanations’ to make for a happier client.
The remaining two options – ‘Standardized forms’ and ‘Nothing. It is up to the client’ – only received one vote apiece from readers.
The December 6, 2013
Marketplace episode ‘
You’re not covered’ featured one B.C. couple that were rejected on a
Manulife claim, when the husband suffered a heart attack and required extensive surgery while travelling abroad.
Instead of having those hospitalization costs covered under their $340 policy, they were left with a $340,000 hospital bill (later reduced to $160,000) when Manulife discovered that the man should have answered ‘yes’ to two questions in the online questionnaire, rendering the policy null and void.
The B.C. couple told
Marketplace that “there is something wrong with the industry” when people plan a trip and think they have all their ‘T’s crossed and ‘I’s dotted and they come home to financial ruin.
Our
next poll question takes a look at the broker-insurer relationship. Do you feel it is an equal partnership, or is it something different? You tell us.
