Which LTD provider are you with ?
Well, thatās what Iām saying. Thatās what I requested andā¦ they said no. Lol
I donāt have enough time to go into details about the reasons Iām not comfortable with Claim Lab having, storing, and keeping my sensitive, personal medical information right nowā¦
But Iām wondering what you mean by them being fairly reasonable with me? Do you mean in the past? If so, yes I agree. I mean, maybe not the first 8 months of denying my claim and being very unfair and uncooperative. But after that, yes, as I mentioned, they were very reasonable.
However, if you were referring to the present situation, Iād be interested to hear how they have been fairly reasonable because I strongly disagree. And if you are indeed referring to the present situation, Iād like to encourage you to ask yourself if itās actually possible to know what would be reasonable for someone other than yourself without knowing what their specific needs and limitations are.
Exactly. You are fine. That doesnāt mean every one else is. Phone is and has always been a limitation for me. So if phone is a reasonable option, I really donāt understand why written answers arenāt. To me, thatās the opposite of reasonable. 
Iām asking to either fill out a form or submit written answers but they refused both.
- Collecting Personal Information
āPersonal informationā is any factual or subjective information, recorded or not, about an identifiable individual. This includes your name, contact information, birthdate, and any identifiable on-line activity. It also includes information such as details about your current health and wellness, which is sensitive personal information that we treat with extra care.
Aggregate and de-identified information that cannot be associated with a specific individual is not personal information.
Personal information will be collected using TCLās on-line questionnaires completed by you or your employer as well as other information that may be provided by other third parties such as your insurance company. We collect only the personal information needed to offer and deliver our services and do so with your consent or as otherwise authorized by law.
Most of the personal information TCL gathers comes directly from you. In those instances where information is collected from your employer, or other organizations such as your insurance company, your personal information will be respected in exactly the same way as if we collected it from you personally.
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We obtain your consent when you commence the completion of a questionnaire. We always obtain your express consent when you provide information to TCL. Your consent is only implied for non-sensitive information when we can reasonably conclude that youāve given consent by your actions, or when it is obvious that you would consent if directly asked.
Note that there may be instances where the law permits the collection, use or disclosure of your personal information without your consent, for example in the context of fraud investigations, and where necessary to protect our legal interests or the safety of others. In other contexts, your consent can be withdrawn at any time, subject to legal or contractual restrictions, by providing us with written notice. Upon receipt of notice of withdrawal of consent, we will inform you of the likely consequences of withdrawing your consent before we process your request, which may include the inability of TCL to provide you or your insurer with particular services.
- Using Your Information
We collect and use personal information, on behalf of your insurance provider, to help understand your needs and requirements, the impact of your symptoms on your ability to function, and to help identify if there is anything they can do to assist with your return to work.
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- Sharing Your Information
Your personal information is shared with your insurance provider in accordance with our contractual relationship with them. Only authorized persons have access to your data as required by your insurance provider.
TCL will only release your personal information when we believe such release is appropriate in order to comply with the law, for example, if we receive a subpoena, court order or request from government authorities. Unless otherwise required by law, such disclosure would only take place in consultation with your insurance provider. If anyone else requests information in your file, we will only provide it if you have authorized us to release it to them.
This is my first year having to do the update. No, I received no information about anything. Just an email requesting I complete the online questionnaire.
SunLife
Wow, that looks bad.
Are their servers located in Canada?
I only want my personal information shared between the insurance company and my employer.
I wonder what @David_Brannen thinks of The Claim Lab.
Yep I would be saying no to this based on the long history of tech companies acting shady with data, reselling it without authorization, failing to secure it properly and effectively deleting their privacy policies upon bankruptcy.
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Exactly. 
Theyāre located in Massachusetts but Iām not sure if the servers are as well.
FYI I emailed the client advocacy office for my insurance company and received a reply that they would be reaching out to their partners and get back to me by Friday. No idea what that means but Iām hopeful.
Given that it sounds like they are trying to do a universal implementation I might go one further and send them a registered letter explicitly refusing consent to the transfer of your personal information to TCL and revoking any consent that may have been previously given.
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Yes but I was given a deadline thatās now about a week away. If I donāt provide my update by then, they are threatening to terminate benefits and close my claim.
So unless the client advocacy person can get them to agree to my request to provide written update, itās TCL or the phone interview. Iād have to choose between 2 bad options.
If I categorically refuse to go through TCL, that leave the phone interview as my only option, which I donāt think I can do even if I wanted to.
Do you have your form from last time? Could always update it sign date and send in with proof of delivery while this gets sorted out.
Is the phone interview with SunLife or TCL?
I wonder if TCL already has your file.
I would just do it online to get it over with.
Iāve never done this before. This is the first year. The last update I provided was when I had a case manager like early 2022.
The call is with SunLife.
Iād probably still do it online, it is less stress and there is no time limit.
I can do phone but I donāt like it and there is a good chance they wonāt hear me correctly.
Still not an acceptable solution for me personally.
I got an email from the client advocate letting me know they were still waiting to hear back from whoever they contacted about this and said they would be getting back to me by a specific day this coming week.
The thing is, the day they told me theyād be getting back to me is exactly one day before the deadline I was given to have the update submitted to the company (otherwise my benefit ācould beā terminated and my claim closed).
Whether itās just normal delay or pressure tactic, I donāt know and I donāt really care at this point. Technically, an advocate should be acting on my behalf but this is an insurance company so I donāt know how much advocating for clients they are actually doing, so I am unsure how much help they will truly be.
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I found the questionnaire on the page for my specific group plan on the insurerās website. Itās the page where I downloaded all the forms for the initial claim application as well as the plan brochure and policy document in the very beginning.
It turns out they also have the questionnaire that is typically mailed every year for long duration claims. Yes, the same one that Iām being told is (has been/will be?) discontinued. There is no mention of this discontinuation anywhere on this page and the form is available for download like the other ones.
I have downloaded it. I will be completing it, mailing it to the insurer before the deadline and keeping a copy in case the advocate does not get back to me with a resolution before the deadline. If this happens, Iāll send an electronic version of the mailed paper form update and they cannot claim that I did not provide an update before the deadline.
They can argue it was not the format they wanted, but the bottom line is that I will have provided the requested update and they will have the information. I can then pursue the process without the threat of benefits termination. That is my plan of action on this particular issue.
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As for the other ongoing/outstanding and new issues regarding specific needs that were identified by my gp at my latest appointment a few days ago, I will try with a phone agent because the general email inbox is useless. If this is a dead end, Iāll be reaching out to the ombudsmanās office, unless I find another way to deal with conflict resolution. Whatever is not addressed or resolved by then will be brought up in my complaint.
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Iām feeling like Iām being left without support or proper answers. Iāve been through this with them before and giving them time then did not help me in any way. If I do nothing, neither will they - experience has shown that it does not result in an outcome in my favour. So once Iāve given them a chance and appropriate delay to resolve all of these issues, and they fail to do so, itās time to take action. Iām not doing this stressful game with them for months on end like last time.
I learned so much about sticking up for myself, being my own advocate and pushing back when I know Iām not receiving the services and the consideration that a reasonable person should expect. Winning my case and the insane amount of time and effort I poured into it when I was so unwell, still and probably always will remain the accomplishment Iām most proud of. This is nothing in comparison, so Iāve got this. Iām 100% within my rights to expect adequate treatment by the insurer.
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I appreciate all the input and suggestions, as well as the support I always get on this forum. It means a lot because thereās no one else to discuss these issues with. Will keep you posted.
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That is exactly the approach that I would take too. I would carry you around on our shoulders if we could!
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Just a quick update. I havenāt heard from the advocate himself but I know he had a meeting about this scheduled.
I have received confirmation that going forward I do not need to do the online Claim Lab survey for my updates and I can submit the paper version of the form.
Yay!
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Awesome news, well done!
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Hi
I am in similar situation (received email from Claim Lab for annual Updates).
I have never received any mail or email advising about changes. Was given 5 days to complete Questionnaire. I did not complete this Questionnaire and was sent reminder in email to complete it, otherwise benefits will be terminated.
I wanted to explore the route with Client Advocacy. I also have many reasons not to go Claims Lab route but was never offered phone interview nor other forms of communication.
You are saying you got confirmation that physical form is OK . Did you get this confirmation from Sunlife or from Client Advocacy.
Also if anybody else had this situation- how did you resolve it? Did you fill the Claims Lab questionnaire, did you have to do phone interview or did you simply filled the physical Form and send it to Sunlife?
Thanks
The client advocacy person and the agent (I believe from the payment department) both confirmed that I written updates/form would be accepted for that time and going forward.
Thank you very much for your reply. I will try to get this sorted out somehow with whatever little time I have. Hopefully my reasons will be sufficient enough to grant me ability to do manual Form Updates.