Many hardworking Australians purchased life or trauma insurance from CommInsure, a division of Commonwealth Bank. These people, including some of the company’s loyal employees, trusted this well-known company to take care of them if they became terminally ill, suffered life-threatening trauma like a heart attack, stroke or were unable to work due to injury or illness.
Most CommInsure life insurance policies allow terminally ill policy owners to collect the death benefit payout before death. Yet, the company often failed to honor the terms of its policies and act in good faith. It refused to pay a majority of insurance claims on these policies.
CommInsure Refuses To Pay Benefits To Policyholders
CommInsure collected millions of dollars in policy premiums in just one year from its customers yet refused to pay out legitimate claims for benefits in many cases. The company is now under investigation by government agencies responsible for regulating the industry.
Mistreated Australians File Lawsuits
The company is also trying to defend itself in lawsuits filed by its insureds over insurance disputes. Internal company records show that CommInsure used outdated medical standards and “doctor-shopped” for physicians who would evaluate medical records favourably to CommInsure and deny claims. The unethical culture within the company was designed to deny benefits to claimants under Life, TPD or Income Replacement policies.
Now, CommInsure is accused of not acting in the best interests of its policyholders. Several have hired compensation lawyers and allege that it treated already-traumatized and terminally-ill Australians with the utmost disregard for their lives by failing to pay full insurance compensation.
A Media Investigation Exposes The Scandal
Recently, several media outlets have reported that CommInsure’s own chief medical officer brought his concerns to upper management about how insurance claims were handled within the company. CommInsure later terminated him for holding on to evidence of unethical behavior among the management.
He discovered that management looked the other way, permitting the claims adjustors to:
- Change independent medical records to fit their denial decisions
- Delete treating physician’s reports and medical records completely
- Use severely outdated medical definitions of terminal illnesses, despite internal recommendations to update them
- Search for doctors who would write opinions to support denying a claim
- Consider how paying a full, or even partial payment, would affect company profits.
As a result, insurance claims by Australians with terminal illnesses, such as cancer, or those who are heart attack survivors and stroke victims - or who possess other life threatening diseases - have been denied the payouts they are entitled to.
CommInsure Denied Early Payout Insurance Claims
The early payout clauses allow policyholders to obtain the death benefit in advance of death so that they can:
- Pay for ongoing, burdensome medical expenses
- Have an acceptable quality of life in their last days with their families
- Arrange for the future support and wellbeing of their spouse, children and other family members
- Spare the spouse and family of the financial hardship associated with caring for a terminally-ill family member.
Currently, CommInsure is fighting the lawsuits against it, defending its unconscionable claim-evaluation practices and its poor treatment of their Chief Medical Officer who tried to do the right thing.
All Insurance Policyholders Risk Denial Of Their Insurance Claims
If you’ve filed a claim in the past for Life, TPD or Income Replacement and have been denied, or a family member has passed away while waiting for a decision, consider working with our specialist insurance compensation lawyers.
Several lawsuits have already been filed on behalf of people who have been wrongfully denied life insurance, trauma insurance claims or TPD claims.
It continues to deny insurance claims based on outdated medical criteria and it is alleged they manipulated or erased medical records and reports.
Our Compensation Lawyers Will Evaluate Your Case Quickly
Over the last hundred years, we have helped thousands of people, whose claims have been denied or disputed by insurance companies, recover the compensation they deserve. Contact us for a no-obligation consultation about your case.
Contact us for the most recent developments regarding Life, TPD or income replacement insurance claims disputes.
At Taylor & Scott, we are Sydney’s leading and most experienced compensation lawyers. We have been been helping our clients win difficult insurance disputes since 1905.
