The Prudential Insurance Company of America

Prudential Insurance Company of America is a company who is concerned about their bottom line and only their bottom line. Today is March 16, 2020, the stock market has tanked so that means that the retirement funds of many people have tanked. I asked to pay my Long Term Care premium with my credit card (THAT ALL THAT I WANTED FROM THEM) but they will not let you do that, nor do they care to work with you until the world has gotten through coronavirus 19. As a retiree from the State of Michigan, (so no, I am not rich but I have an excellent credit rating) I have felt for sometime that Prudential did not want us as clients. Their lack of compassion is enough to make us want to cancel the policies that we have with them but then they would win. I would suggest though that no one purchase policies with this company. They do not care about you!

Review: I submitted a short term disability claim January 7, 2015 for a medical leave I was required to take from work after being sick for over a month and being told by my manager and physician that I needed to take a leave from work for my medical conditions. I did not want to submit a claim, but felt I needed to because I would have a loss of income that would not support my cost of living and the medical bills. I felt this way because of my previous experience with this company in the fall of 2014 when I submitted a claim following an accident that left me with 5 fractured bones, a concussion, a dislocated joint, and multiple abrasions and bruises. During the time that this claim was open I was experiencing a lot of pain, required a lot of assistance to perform activities of daily living due to the limitation on weight lifting restrictions due to my bone fractures and 1 of my arms being in a splint and sling, having twice weekly rehabilitation sessions and weekly doctor appointments for follow up. Each week Prudential representatives would call me and ask the same questions over and over, when was I returning to work?, what prevented me from being able to perform my job?, and once I returned to work part-time in a transitional work program they repeatedly called me and asked me what my return to work date was even though I had already reported it to them. I work as a nurse and am required for my job to be able to lift 50 pounds and per my physician order was restricted to 10 pounds for 3 months and then was able to advance my weight restriction by 2 pounds each week as long as I did not have pain with this. My employer was limited in the amount of transitional work they could provide me with these restrictions, so I returned to work in my nursing role prior to my doctors recommendations because I felt I could no longer put up with the harassment by Prudential regarding my medical conditions. I also struggled to pay my medical bills at times because Prudential did not send my checks at one point for a period of 5 weeks, they are supposed to be paid weekly. When I called to inquire about this the case manager told me that it takes them time to process things. They also once sent me a check that was inaccurate and had overpaid me so they called to ask me not to deposit the check which I had already done. I felt relieved to be done having to work with Prudential as I felt they made the process very stressful and contributed to the stress I was already experiencing due to my accident.

The experience I have had with the claim submitted January 7th 2015 has been even more of a disappointment and more stressful than my previous experience. Prudential initially approved my disability claim and then did not approve it from January 25th on because they required more medical information from the providers I was seeing. I provided them with all of the contact information for my providers multiple times, and confirmed with Prudential representatives that they had all signed documents/forms required from me. Prudential contacted me and stated that 2 of my providers had still not provided them with the information needed. I immediately contacted these providers and requested for them to release the information as well as signed another separate release of information with the provider in addition to the one Prudential requires. I assumed all was taken care of, but Prudential called me the day before the deadline and stated that they had not received information and they would deny my claim if they did not receive it by the next day. I contacted both of my providers and they stated they had still never received a request from Prudential for the records, my provider offices were therefore unable to provide the information Prudential had told me they required by the deadline and my claim was denied. I was provided information on how to appeal this decision and I decided to pursue appeal. The appeal letter stated I was required to submit the following things 1) Name, Control number, and SSN (or claim number) 2) The reasons you disagree with their determination 3) Medical evidence or information to support my positions such as: copies of therapy notes, any additional treatment records from physicians, actual test results (e.g. EMG, MRI). I submitted items 1 & 2 via fax in a letter that I signed and sent February 20th 2015. I called Prudential to confirm they had received this and verify that the medical records they were looking for were from my Neurologist and Psychologist offices as well as my primary physician notes up to the current date. I told the representative I spoke with the my Neurologist office required them to pay for the records before they would send them, I was then told they would not pay for the records because the claim was in an appeal process so I would need to pay for them to be sent and then I would be reimbursed if my appeal was approved. I contacted all of my providers, went to each of their offices and signed new medical records releases for all records through the current date of February 23rd 2015, I paid $35 for my records from my neurologist office to be prepared and mailed to Prudential. I contacted Prudential and confirmed they received all the documentation required for the appeal process. I informed them that I had returned to work part time February 12th 2015 with a plan approved by my physicians and approved by my employer. I was informed by Prudential on February 25th that they would make a determination regarding my claim by April 5th 2015, but they stated they required another authorization form from me to request my medical records from January 7th 2015 through the present, something that had already been done. Also they were now requiring me to complete and submit a 10 pages long form about my activities of daily living, I did this and submitted it to Prudential along with yet another authorization form for release of my medical records. My disability claims manager then called me and stated they needed more records from February 18th to present date for my Neurologist, Primary physician and Psychologist. I stated to them that at that time I had had no further appointments with those providers and therefore had no more information to send them, I also questioned why they needed more information as I had been told they needed everything required for my appeal. They stated it was for continuation of the claim after my part time return to work. I informed them that I did not want to provide further information until they had made their decision about my appeal because if denied then there would be no need for the information to be sent. Prudential continued to request records form my providers, particularly requesting information from my Neurologist office multiple times even though I told them my neurologist had signed off on my care and they therefore had no further records to provide because I have not seen them since February 18th. The case manager called me 2 weeks ago now and informed me that they could not complete my appeal review because they needed medical records from all physicians/providers I have seen in the past year. I informed them that they had all my records from my previous leave in the fall of 2014 from my accident and that I did not understand why they would need all of these records because my annual dermatologist appointment for skin cancer screening and annual gastroenterology appointment to renew my esophagitis medication prescription were not relevant to my leave of absence. I then received a call from Prudential again on April 2nd 2015 in which the representative told me that since I had refused to let my providers release further medical records to them that I was indicating I wished to withdraw my appeal request and they would send me an appeal withdrawl form to sign and return to them so they could close my claim. The form stated that I voluntarily am withdrawing my appeal, and I do not wish to do this. I feel strongly that I provided what they requested of me and that they have changed their requirements as described in the complaint. I feel that several of the representatives that I spoke with were very rude to me and again I felt as though I was being harassed. I pay a monthly premium on time every month from my earned pay to have this service provided when I need it and Prudential has failed to provide the service I pay for and made my illness an even more stressful situation than it already is. I have sold my home to pay my medical bills and am living with family until I am able to afford my own home again. I have worked very hard to follow all the recommended cares from my physicians and have returned to work full time as of April 9th 2015 despite still not feeling fully recovered. The last letter I received from Prudential on April 3rd, 2015 also stated that they had now extended the dated they will make their decision by to May 20th, 2015 so that I have time to receive and return the appeal withdrawl request letter they sent.Desired Settlement: For Prudential to review and make a decision on my appeal based on the information I provided them. To be reimbursed for the money I had to pay for my medical records to be sent to Prudential. For Prudential to apologize to me for they way they provide "customer service".

Consumer

Response:

I received a call from Prudential last week asking my permission to extend my appeal decision review period to July (1st extension deadline was 5/20/15), I informed them I would not approve that. They stated they understood me and that they could not meet that deadline because they had not received my wage verification from my employer. I called my employer and they stated they had not received the request from Prudential, they then sent them the next day. Today I received a letter and a call from Prudential. They called to inform me that they had approved my disablity benefits through March 15th. The letter they sent me was from the complaints manager addressing each of the things I outlined in my complaint, no apology, just stated they regretted I did not have a good experience.

Review: refund of money debited from my account on 01/02/15.my account was debited for the amount of 637.20 for the first quarter of the year.when I received the notice of the amount ,I called customer service on 12/31/14 and informed them that I did not know why the amount was so much, I was told that it was because oh my age of 70 years.The payments went up three times the amount and I told the customer service rep that I wanted to cancel the auto payment,but he said that it was probably to late to cancel because of the new year holiday,but that he could e mail forms and that when I sign them and return them within fourteen days the balance would be returned to me.I filled the forms and returned them and all I have gotten since then is one run around after another.I agreed to reduce the face amount from 60,000.00 to 25,000.00 to reduce the payments to 88.00 per month with the paymatic to stop.I received a notice showing that they had charged 88.50 for the first month.on 01/02/15 I checked my account and they had debited my account for 637.20 ,I became very upset and called for them to cancel the account and to return all of my money except the agreed amount of 88.50.since then I have spoken to more than ten different customer service reps and faxed three sets of signed forms and mailed three sets of signed forms and they still refuse to refund my money. on 03/28/15 I recieved a notice for the next payment for the next quarter.I only want my money and not this insurance which I have had for more than 37 years .Desired Settlement: as soon as possible

Review: My father passed away Aug. 4, 2012, a couple of weeks later I called Prudential to claim his life insurance, they told me on that day that [redacted] was the Beneficiary to the policies, I expressed concerns, even told them it was a very bitter divorce, and informed them I would be contacting a lawyer, My father said she was not listed as the beneficiary.

When legally allowed to do so I submitted paper work dated 12/17/12 to Prudential and asked for a copy of the polices to check his signature.

Dated 1/8/13 Prudential replied that [redacted] M. [redacted] was the beneficiary and the amount was paid to her, Her address being [redacted]. They also claimed they were notified of my fathers death on a Saturday, the day he died, which is even stranger since his body didn’t leave his house till 8:30pm that night and it states the “claim date” was Oct 12, 2012. and on 3/11/2013 the letter stated the name now is [redacted] and she had been the beneficiary since 1999, and went on to say “but due to the age of the policies and the length of time that has passed since the last change, copies of the original policies and the beneficiary change forms are not available”.

3/25/13 in my reply I question Prudential claiming that [redacted] notified them of my father’s death “on that date”, and how she claimed it without the policeys and I wanted to know why the account wasn’t flagged when I raised concerns.

April 9, 2013 Prudential wrote “that the policies were not needed to put in a claim and when the claim was field the marital status was reviewed”. It doesn’t matter to me if they were married or not, people are deceitful as [redacted] has proven to be and I just want to verify the signature.

I have the police’s in my possession and it states “any change of Beneficiary shall take effect only upon endorsement on this policy by the company at the home office”.

There are no endorsement on the policy.

Policy also says “the amount of insurance herein provided to the beneficiary under this policy immediately upon receipt of due proof of the death of the insured and the surrender of this policy”

And it says “If the Beneficiary under this policy does not make claim and surrender this policy with due proof of the death of the insured within 60 days after such death, or if the Beneficiary is the estate of the insured, or is a minor, or dies before the insured, or is not legally competent to give a valid release the company will upon surrender of this policy

with due proof of the death of the insured, make any payment due hereunder to the insured’s executor or administrator….

Prudential states the claim date was Oct. 12, 2012 which is 69 which is 9 days past the day of claim. You also have to list the “relationship” and I do not believe that my father listed his “ex-wife” [redacted] M. [redacted] as his beneficiary, nor do I believe at any time he did he list [redacted] or [redacted] or [redacted] or [redacted] as beneficiary to these policies at all and it’s incomprehensible that a company would not keep the documents on file for a period of time after a death. How can they say “the necessary documents were retained for the appropriate length of time”.

Since the day his father, my grandfather took these policy’s out they were meant to go to his estate. Prudential was aware there was a problem, they were told of the divorce, Prudential paid out after the time period and it’s hard for me to believe they were notified of his death on the date claimed. Even tho Prudential knew of all this and that I was contacting a lawyer they choose to pay out those polices and claim they made it in good faith.

Those polices are # [redacted] for $5,670.98 and #[redacted] for $5,650.86.Desired Settlement: This money was meant for my father's estate and I would like for Prudential to honor it.

Business

Response:

This is in response to your June 28 and July 8, 2013 correspondence regarding the above referenced insured. Thank you for your patience while we completed our review of these concerns.In accordance with our Privacy Policy, and to protect our clients’ confidential information, we are unable to release any specific, confidential policy information to anyone other than the Owner of the policy without the express authorization from the owner. As the owner of the policy is deceased, we are unable to release any specific information to anyone other than the court appointed Executor or Administrator of the insured’s Estate. Therefore we will be responding directly to [redacted] regarding our position in this matter. Unfortunately, the HIPAA authorization you provided does not allow us to release information to you.You are welcome to call us at ###-###-#### should you have any further questions or concerns regarding this matter. Our hours are Monday through Friday between 9:00 ant. and 6:00 pm. Eastern time. Hearing and speech-impaired policyholders with TDD/T TY equipment can contact us at ###-###-####.

Consumer

Response:

Review: [redacted]

I am rejecting this response because:

I received a letter from them. I do not except that my

father’s signature was disposed of prior to his death. The polices were paid out at 69 days when the

dead line was 60. I believe this companies

paperwork/record keeping is shotty and they knew there were issues concerning the legit

of my father naming [redacted] as a beneficiary to the policy’s and I want to know exactly what procedure this

company took to make sure that my father actually signed his name and the papers

were not forged and the only way to do that is by me verifying the signature. I believe life insurance companies should

keep those signatures and papers on file for at least 7 years after a person’s

death and this is what I will continue to fight for.

Regards,