Surveillance and Field Visits……Yet Another Post

I’ve noticed the recent comments to Lindanee’s Blog and need to communicate information concerning insurance surveillance and field visits. Please refer to my previous posts on the subject as well. Field Visits – Insureds and claimants need to check their policies to determine if there is a contractual duty to meet with a field representative. [...]

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DMS Plays Dirty And Invades Medical Practice To Speak With Employees

Disability Management Services, Inc. (DMS) is a company I have had mixed experiences with. There are at least two pretty good claims handlers and managers working for DMS I respect, and then again there are others in the company who immediately presume “red flags” and engage in investigations from hell for no reason. I recently spoke to a DMS claims [...]

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Colorado PERA and Unum’s “Cooperation” Interpretation

Another Unum issue which recently came to my attention involved Unum’s management of the  Colorado Public Employee’s Retirement Association as third-party administrator insisting the claimant meet with a field representative. Unum acts as third-party administrator for several public retirement systems including Colorado and Virginia. Upon inspection of our client’s policy we found the following mentions: “Termination of [...]

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Unum Group – Field Visits Include Ethnic And Religious Profiling by Linda Nee

While DCS, Inc. historically describes Unum’s field visits as “surveillance profiling”,  we recently learned just how far Unum’s field reps cross the line by documenting ethnic bias and potential religious discrimination. DCS received several calls this week from insured’s and claimants who are currently litigating denial decisions in the courts. As you may know claimants [...]

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Unum Surveillance and Field Visit Private Trespass

Unfortunately, reports are still being made to DCS of G4S surveillance and field visits which involve what we have termed “private trespass.” Private trespass is when an insurance company arrives, unannounced at your home or place of business, and demands an interview or entrance to your home. You may recall a prior post reporting Unum [...]

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Tale of a Unum Field Visit

(This is an actual account of a Unum field visit. I thought it might be helpful to others and obtained permission from the insured to publish anonymously. This insured’s personal experience is typical of a Unum field visit.) I met with the Unum field agent today.  I think the field agent was a little taken aback by [...]

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Field Rep Visit – Clarification of Contractual Language

Several insureds have asked me this week if the contractual language pertaining to IMEs in a disability policy also includes field visits. Most disability policies state the following with respect to an Independent Medical Evaluation, “We may have you examined at our expense by a physician of our choosing as often as is reasonable while the claim [...]

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Why Is Unum Sending A Field Interviewer to My House?

This question appeared on the search section of Lindanee’s Blog. Based on the number of inquiries I get from claimants about field visits it would appear someone at Unum pushed the “field visit button” and as a result are sending their field reps to do interviews indiscriminately. Bluntly, by definition, Unum’s field representatives are referred to interview you [...]

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Field Reps – Sometimes You Just Have to Chuckle, But Not So Funny

One of my clients sent me an email earlier today talking about one of my prior posts regarding “sedentary work capacity” and how field representatives and insurers interpret what you tell them about hobbies and activities resulting in a denied claim. Let’s call her Pat. Pat described her field investigator as asking her “What do you do? [...]

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