17

The Way they Work

by Whaleoil on May 24, 2010

sent in by  Fidelity Wife

Dirty Tricks Manual Fidelity Life Case Manager guidelines ( part one )

1. Make the liability customer feel at ease. Their claim has been accepted because due to the overwhelming medical evidence from their own doctors there is no way that we (Fidelity Life) can weasel out of it, the medical evidence supports their claim.

2. Arrange for the first monthly payment to be made and immediately go to phase one of the undermine and destroy your liability’s customers self esteem

Phase one: Send a private investigator to wait outside the liability’s customers house every morning. Do not concern yourself with blending in. You want the liability customer to know that they are under surveillance.

Phase two: Follow the liability customer whenever they leave their home. Have the PI follow them on foot into shops etc and stand there behind a newspaper looking like an actor from a bad 70′s T.V series. If the liability customer approaches and makes it clear that they know that they are being followed, instruct the PI to immediately scurry back to their car and then initiate phase three.

Phase three: At every meeting with the liability customer mention how poor insurance companies have to protect themselves from lying cheating liabilities customers but then assure the liability customer that you are sure that they are in fact ill as that is what their doctor reports state after all. However they must understand that the poor insurance company cannot let down their guard even for a second, and that if anything, no matter how small, changes for them they must immediately inform the company as otherwise the consequences will be dire as they will assume the worst.

Phase four: By now the liability customer is scared well aware of the consequences and will inform you when they leave the home and what they do during the day. Once you have established that they are leaving the home most days and have some kind of routine established total how many hours they are spending out of the home. Do not worry if this time is spent at the gym, hanging out with a friend or going for lunch, it all helps with Phase five.

Phase five: This part is fun important and will reward the hard work you have put in thus far. It tunes up makes it clear
to the liability customer that Fidelity Life is not a company to be trifled with. With no warning cut the payment in half. Say that they have established that they can work because they are spending x hours away from home. Explain that X hours subtracted from the monthly amount equals 50%.

Phase six: When the liability customer points out that they are not in fact working or earning for that period of time and that the policy does not reduce until they ACTUALLY have a job make sure that you say nothing and just wait. The goal here is to starve encourage the liability customer so that they will be more attentive to job seeking despite it being clear that they are fucked in the head suffering a mental illness. Once they get a job you can then say if you have a job you must be 100% well, if you are well then you no longer are covered by the policy.

Phase seven: If phase six fails after 3 months reinstate the policy and backdate the missed payments. Apologise and explain that as some liabilities customers are liars you have been forced to test them to see if they are being honest. Ignore any mention they make of Doctors regular reports that state that they are ill. Specifically call them in to the Fidelity Life Offices and explain to the liability customer that it would really be better if they went and got ECT. The short sharp shock will be better for them in the long run. If they react or tell anyone about this just deny it happened, they are loony tunes mentally ill anyway and no one will believe them.

Phase eight: Patience is your friend here. After the tune up education programme the liability customer will be suspicious watching our every move. Wait another year then repeat phases five through seven.

Phase nine: It is now clear that the liability customer isn’t getting the message getting well, we must move now to slashing minimising Fidelity Life’s exposure to the liability customer. implement Phases 5 through s7 except this time make it 100%, and dig in for the long haul. Constantly explain delays in response as “waiting for the re-insurer”. The liability customer will eventually give up suicide seek better cover elsewhere.

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  • dorkusjuice

    Amazing! you no doubt support the privatizing of ACC and the sort of private health insurance model that has been such a miserable failure in the US. However you seem surprised when the private profit driven insurance company decides to give you the Polanski treatment when you make a claim. Get used to it and expect alot more ‘help’from them now that you’ve given them all this lovely free advertising.

  • harpoon

    So let me get this straight.
    Cameron says he deserves to receive income protection insurance payout from FL in perpetuity, based on constantly repeated doctors’ reports saying he is mentally unable to work.
    Fidelity Life say Cameron is mentally able to work, based on observation of Cameron’s daily routines, and (I surmise) observation of Cameron’s prolific blog output.

    Is this correct?

    Cameron, what’s actually happening? Are you taking them to court? If not, why not? You seem to be quite convinced of the worth of your position.

    And why are we hearing absolutely nothing on this from Fidelity? Are they saving their ammo for the court case or are they trying to resolve it privately with you?

    • http://whaleoil.gotcha.co.nz Whaleoil

      harpoon, I expect people to honour their contracts.

      I don’t say I deserve anything, I’m just telling it how it works. Not a single doctor, their included has said anything other than what I have said.

      Fidelity Life do not say I am mentally able to work, they say that I haven’t had a head injury and that my cognitive functions are high. Since I never claimed for a head injury this is of course bullshit. Be that as it may it is their position. It is irrelevant that cognition has NOTHING to do with depression. Except for Fidelity Life, that is their reason.

      Fidelity Life do not communicate. This action of mine is borne out of absolute frustration, of 7 months and no communication, they refuse to meet, they refuse to talk. So I guess I have to talk my self. I have been silent for far too long. They win because of their bully tactics and it is high time some one sat them back on their arse.

      Fidelity Life, through their actions, directly, medically extended my illness. I was getting well, but for their constant tune ups and financial threats. Now after seven months of NO money the time is up on my silence.

  • harpoon

    Fair enough. The whole thing does look very odd. you gotta hate those money-grubbing capitalist bastards, eh? Good onya, comrade, we’ll make a Trotskyite of you yet!

    And congrats, by the way; you’re now half way up the second page of a Google search on “fidelity life” .nz.

    From a campaigning point of view, may I suggest other members of the VRWC might like to help you do a “mistressology” on Fidelity? Wizard wheeze.

  • workingman

    dorkusjuice

    Do you really believe ACC are any better? Do you really believe ACC would be any better if it was even more of a monopoly? Do you know of any government run agency that is efficient and does not abuse its power?

    In general a private company will react to bad publicity, a government agency will not.

  • workingman

    dorkusjuice

    On a slightly off top note, why do you say the private health system in the US has been such a miserable failure? What experience do you personally have of it being so bad?

  • harpoon

    Workingman, what sort of evidence, within the limits of the conventionally short blogosphere comment context, would you regard as sufficient to change your mind on the goodness or badness of the US health system vs. NZ? Age at death? Survivability of newborn infants? Preventable illness. Cost of seeing a doctor? Cost of prescriptions? What?

  • rongowaiata

    So, you are saying that the case manager of Fidelity Life has medical qualifications, and can recommend alternative treatment?
    And if you go to the gym and get fit, which is a good treatment for depression, that is counted as time “out of the house” despite if you stay at home all the time that is not helpful for depression?
    That the medical experts, both theirs and yours say you ARE still in chronic depression and this was exacerbated by Fidelity’s own actions.
    So they decide to say you are well because you are fit [part of your treatment] and because you can still think.
    So they have redefined your illness as being something you have never had, eg brain damage, or a physical illness and pronounced you cured from those things.
    Does the policy say that they can decide which illness you have and redefine it as something else of which you no longer show the symptoms,because you’ve never had it] if it goes on too long?
    And then they take the very actions which prolong the actual illness.
    WO you would have had a chance of being well on the way to full functionality by now if they had shown fidelity to their contract.
    So they seem to be part of preventing your recovery rather than aiding it, which is why one pays a fortune to them in the first place. They need to train their case managers to understand the nature of depression and stop labelling those who are suffering from it as mallingerers. Obviously the case managers medical understanding [as they give medical advice they must have some] was out of a past century]
    Does any insurance company deal well with mental illness?

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1201173949 petal

    The problem for insurance companies is that depression is the new back problem.

    I’m with Fidelity for my Life Insurance. One has to hope that they don’t redefine my death as an extended period of being out of the house with low cognitive function.

    I’m also sorry to hear about WO’s “insurance agent”. Mine WILL go to the wall for his clients – even fly to Auckland to staple their ties to their desks. But then he’s a somebody in the industry. 98% of the “agents” are just treading water.

  • spanishbride

    We thought our agent was a good guy and were even grateful for what appeared to be his intervention the first time we were tuned up for 3 months.
    When they cut us off completely and sent us a form to sign he assured us that if we signed it nothing bad would happen and that it wasn’t going to do what we thought it was going to do. We didn’t sign it and went to a lawyer whose first words were, “You weren’t stupid enough to sign this were you?”
    We realised then that our agent had lied through his teeth and could not be trusted.

  • cadwallader

    What is the definition of “depression” in your policy?

    If your condition matches that definition: End of story.

    The problem is the insurance companies (include ACC in this) do not enjoy perennial pay-outs to policy holders.If you believe you have been short-changed then get them into court. The argument for the other side will possibly be: If he’s resolved enough to start litigation then he’s clearly not a floudering depressed mess.

    You have a contract. Enforce it.

    Other posters who criticise the USA health care system are pig ignorant. The standard of care for all US citizens is superlative compared to NZ’s die while you wait apology for health care.

    The most attractive option for NZers is to disclaim entitlement to state funded health care, arrange their own cover and claim it as a tax loss. The third prong is not presently available but ought to be!

  • naylor

    Fidelity Life could make this all go away but sitting down with WO and being civil and living up to their values. Instead, they are sticking their heads in the sand, hoping this will go away.

    Let’s call for a nationwide boycott of Fidelity Life and stick it to them once and for all. Other insurance companies will be more than happy to have more customers. Fidelity Life just doesn’t seem to get this point.

  • workingman

    harpoon

    Did I talk about about the ‘goodness’ or ‘badness’ of the US health system? dorkusjuice talked about it being a miserable failure, and that is the one thing it is not. There maybe problems, but it is not a failure for the vast majority (probably 95%) of US citizens.

    Having experienced the US, UK, and NZ health systems(plus a number of other countries) and I can tell you the US is streets ahead in the day to day experience of health. Even people that do not have health insurance in the US get better treatment than people here in NZ.

    I was admitted to Wellington hospital 2 years ago, and I spent 15 hours on a trolley in the corridor with every Tom, Dick, and Harry walking past me. My daughter has just had to wait over 18 months for an operation, and she was in agony every month, and having time of work unpaid as she had exceeded her sick limit. My mother in the UK had to wait 13 months to see a specialist about suspected cancer in her back. None of this would be acceptable in the US.

    Any number of stats can be rolled out to say the US system is bad, and any number can be rolled out to justify it. You need to talk to people with real experience.

  • steve

    workingman,

    Yes they are as bad as ACC. First hand experience here. I am just back at work after 15 months off and have had no income from ACC or anyone for the last 6 months.

    WO is being fucked about, just as many claimants are being fucked about. I support him all the way.

    Steve

  • harpoon

    folks — sorry about this long comment.

    Essentially, I’m arguing that if a privatised health system in NZ would be so wonderful, what guarantess do Kiwis with chronic suffering have that they will not get treated just the same as Cameron?

    workingman

    “… it is not a fail­ure for the vast major­ity (prob­a­bly 95%) of US citizens…”

    Ummm … not 95%; 85%. That’s still a majority, but even so. Data released today by the US Census Bureau last year shows that the number of uninsured Americans stood at a record 46.6 million in 2005, with 15.9 percent of Americans lacking health coverage, primarily because of the erosion of employer-based insurance. The 2005 number represented an increase of 1.3 million from the number of uninsured in 2004. The number of children who weren’t covered rose from 7.9 million in 2004 to 8.3 million in 2005.

    A Harvard University study published last year directly linked lack of health insurance to the deaths of 45,000 US citizens per annum. They get no financial help with preventive health care; diagnoses are made too late to be effective; follow up treatment is skipped because unaffordable. Then they die.

    And here’s the thing … Do you think those people who’re insured are not on the receiving end of the sort of private sector denial of service Cameron is complaining about here?

    There was some seminal research done in 1959, looking at empathy in rats. They trained rats to kick a little lever to get food, so the rat’s kicking this lever but it notices in the cage next to it, every time it kicks the lever, the next door rat squeaks in pain and writhes around a bit. That rat’s getting an electric shock each time the first rat gets something nice.

    So the first rat figures out not to kick the lever. It would rather go hungry than shock another rat.

    The research conclusion: rats have empathy.

    So I read about that and ask, if rats can learn this, why can’t Tories?

    “Even peo­ple that do not have health insur­ance in the US get bet­ter treat­ment than peo­ple here in NZ.”

    Yes, perhaps you’re correct. Without health insurance, tens of millions of Americans have to forego medical care until their condition is so bad that an emergency room visit is required. Without health insurance, the uninsured forego preventive tests and procedures designed to catch disease early and enable effective treatment: annual check-ups for children and adults, breast cancer x-rays, colonoscopies, tests for diabetes, etc. Deaths result (see above). Without health insurance, people forego visits to health professionals for lesser ailments. If left professionally untreated, these ailments won’t kill the uninsured, but failing to treat these ailments causes much needless pain and suffering.

    Workingman: “I was admit­ted to Welling­ton hos­pi­tal 2 years ago, and I spent 15 hours on a trol­ley in the cor­ri­dor with every Tom, Dick, and Harry walk­ing past me.”

    Was that the emergency room? The emergency room that private hospitals don’t provide?

    WM: “My daugh­ter has just had to wait over 18 months for an oper­a­tion, and she was in agony every month, …”

    I feel sad for her. Why didn’t you urge her to get medical insurance?

  • cactuskate1

    “The prob­lem for insur­ance com­pa­nies is that depres­sion is the new back problem”. Precisely as depression is over-diagnosed and in many cases just requires people harden the fuck up. The namby-pamby approach by Doctors to depression is ruining it for those few who are actually clinically depressed and immobilised by it.

    I would doubt WO’s policy would be sold today. If I was writing an insurance policy I would now make it an excluded condition so wide-spread and subjective is the definition.

    Having said that WO’s contract is possibly the last in the old style string of contracts that pay out on such. If he is eligible then they should be made to pay it out.

    The most comprehensively terrible thing with his case and what I find borderline negligent is not once does Fidelity seem to have tried to rehabilitate WO with any sort of treatment than the zombie pills. I’ve seen the pills and they are high dose scary. They should have stepped in and tried to rehabilitate him back into the workforce well before this period of just cutting him off to manage on his own.

  • workingman

    Harpoon

    Apologies to others if these comments are going off topic for the issue raised by WO

    As I said statistics can be made anyway you want. The figure of 45m comes from the US Census, so accurate you would say.

    Of that 45m though 21% are not US citizens, e.g. legal and illegal aliens (I love that word). Even here in NZ immigrants who are not permanent residents have to pay for medical care. So that brings as down to 36m.

    Approx. 30% are adults below the age of 30, so probably cannot be bothered to be insured (see comment on my daughter below). So that brings us down to 22m.

    There are also a number of people, obviously hard to quantify, who do not take out insurance, but have the money to pay. They would much rather pay for medical treatment directly.

    The census is obviously a snap shot. That snap shot will include people temporarily out of work who do not have cover, but will go back on cover soon.

    So we are soon back to my figure of 95% of Americans not thinking the American health system is a failure, as they are covered or have made a choice not to have insurance.

    I wish private hospitals would provide emergency rooms, as they do in the US. The problem when you have the state as a competitor is you cannot compete. People complain about queues etc in hospitals, and what do the politicians do about it? If you had private competition, then no one would go where there was a long queue.

    My daughter, your question is the same as mine to her. She just kept on putting it off, “I’m young, healthy, I’ll do it later” and now of course regrets that. She has health insurance now and hates the state system with a passion after her experience.

    I agree the American health system needs reform, but not what is being done to it. I have a ‘Catastrophe’ type policy here in NZ, e.g. a very large deductible and only covers major items. That is what I want, and I pay for the rest out of my pocket. That type of policy is being made ‘illegal’ under the US health law, you have to have a policy that meets minimum requirements as defined by some politician. Of course minimum requirements expand and expand and insurance becomes more and more expensive.

    It all comes down to responsibility and priority. I want to control that, not the state. I think $50 a month for health insurance is good value, some people would rather spend that on something else, and then complain about treatment and queues.