What are opinions on Bankers Life and Casualty Company?

Answer 1

My experience has been overwhelmingly BAD!!!

First of all my father sold a house and his Bankers Life agent sold him an annuity with the monthly payout just enough to cover the long term care he also sold him (2 commissions for the agent I'm sure). The agents sell the long term care, and no small part of the pitch is buy it now while your rates are still low. What they don't tell you is the rates can (and most likely will) go up. Just before my parents started to collect on their policy they received yet another rate increase, this time 35%+/- over 2 years. Along with the rate increase and premium notice is an option to reduce the benefits or extend the elimination period (also effectively reduces benefits).

Now that they are collecting benefits, it has become part time job for my lovely wife to try to get the checks. Certainly more times than not a follow up call is needed to get the checks. Both polices have a premium waiver, which means after a certain point of collecting benefits they would no longer need to pay premiums. We paid the premiums up past the point of the waiver, and Bankers Life then acknowledged the waiver period and returned the unused portion of the overpayment, AND THEN CANCELLED THE POLICIES FOR NON-PAYMENT! After missing the first months check we contacted Bankers Life and were told they needed some additional paperwork which we provided AGAIN. Called back and were told it was in review/processing (you will hear that a lot). The second month of non payment occurs and we are told that it is still in review/processing. Heading into the 3rd month I get a call from a Bankers Life agent that he wants to sit down with me and discuss my insurance needs. I invited him over and asked for help with the problem, he used his access code to get through to someone that given the possibility of another sale found out that the policies had been cancelled for non payment of premiums - all this time the help line had been shining us on over review/processing.

Armed with copies of the letters and refund checks from Bankers Life the back payments were collected and the payments have been made.

However it is now 12/28/10 we are still waiting on the November checks - guess what? They are still reviewing/processing that month.

Now my mother is scheduled for some sort of review, Bankers Life has arranged for a nurse to visit the facility and my mother. So far the review was assigned by Bankers Life on 12/20 to a service, the nurse contacted me to set it up on 12/21, the meeting was scheduled for 12/27, the nurse was a no show, I contacted Bankers Life found out how to contact the scheduling company, it has now been rescheduled for 12/29 and it is my guess that this will also be used as a delaying tactic for this months check - we will see.

Additional useful information is my father is 91 and suffering from Moderate to Severe Alzheimer's Dementia, my mother is 93, has difficulty standing, suffers from Arthritis and is entering into early stages Alzheimer's herself. They live in an assisted living facility where all their meals are provided, along with some laundry services, housekeeping assistance and help with bathing as needed. They no longer drive and rarely leave the facility. On the upside they love it where they are.