A Toronto woman is demanding an insurance company reimburse the family after mistakenly cancelling her mother’s medical and dental insurance, thinking the senior had died.
Victoria Hayes says she handles her mother Agnes Hayes’ legal affairs, and was stunned to receive a letter from Great West Life Assurance Company offering their condolences for Agnes' death.
The issue: Agnes is very much alive.
"I said 'How can you cancel someone's insurance policy without a death certificate'?" Victoria told CTV Toronto. "It doesn't make sense to me."
A spokesperson for Great West Life Assurance Company says they have apologized and looking to rectify the situation.
"An administrative error was made resulting in two people of the same name being misidentified," said Tim Oracheski, the company's director of media and public affairs. "The customer's adviser apologized to her. We are awaiting a decision from the customer as to how they wish to resolve this situation."
But Victoria wants more than an apology. She says the family was told the policies would only be reinstated when the premiums that had been missed due to Agnes' "death" and cancellation were paid.
"The issue here is that it should be reinstated as she is clearly living and been treated poorly through the whole process," she said.
Victoria says now four months after receiving the letter, the family is being told they will have to pay almost $1,000 in past premiums to have the policies reinstated.
She says the family wants the company to cover that cost.
With a report from CTV Toronto's Pat Foran Consumer Reporter
