Hello everyone, I just wanted to start by saying that I am so sorry to only just have discovered this amazing resource and the kind, intelligent people who use it, and then ruin my 'wow' moment by having to immediately BEG for your help... The story is too long to type at this hour, and the clock's ticking away very quickly until I have to have written the document about which I desperately need guidance/examples of similar/a miracle... So the short version goes like this: UNUM provide group PHI cpver for my employer. I was signed off sick in 2012 and then in july 2013 UNUM ceased my claim owing to lack of medical evidence proving that i continued to suffer from the (permanent) diagnosed condition for which i was signed off sick. There are only 3 months where GP notes were unavailable as i had moved house and not registerd with a new GP - consequently i was unable to get prescriptions for my long-term medication (a fact that UNUM are using to prove that i no longer suffered from the condition). My employer supported me in appealing the decision as, sadly, there was a reason for that 3 month gap in GP notes and medication: I was suffering from extreme domestic abuse and had been repeatedly, against my will, put at great risk of contracting HIV. I was virtually under house arrest and that is why i never made it to register with a new GP. Alongside all the medical evidence both (a few months)before and quite soon after the date that unum ceased to uphold my claim, i also submitted my own account of the events that had led to the no-gp-notes-scenario. which i reckon was pretty brave, and very, very tough to do. Every single medical professional that i have seen since August 2013 has written a report that not only states that i am clearly still unfit for work currrently, but ALSO that, in thier professional opinion, the account i have given of the missing 3 months is 100% plausible and that they are in no doubt whatsoever about my integrity. Appeal was submitted in december 2013, rejected in feb 2014, re-appealed in april and finally rejected again in july. There are 2 steps left now. first, i must write a letter of complaint to UNUM about their decision. Ultimately this will be disregarded immmediately but it is the stepping stone in order to take them to the financial ombudsman service - which is something that both my employer and I feel we simply MUST do. Finally, here is the problem and the cause of my plea for help: I literally cannot write this complaint letter. Not because i don;t know what to say or how to write or anything, but because i am exhausted by evrything to do with unum and life and people demanding and expecting me to do things that are easy yet impossible when i am going to pieces as i am now. PLEASE, i beg of you, if anybody has an example of a similar complaint letter in terms of its function within the entire process of appealing claims that have been terminated, i would be beyond grateful for your help. my brain feels like it's dissolving and i simply cannot write one single stupid word of this letter - and if it's not at least drafted out by midday tomorrow then my only chance to get it right (with my wonderful father's help - who is currently beyond despair at my inability to have sent him a basic draft by 7pm this evening, despite repeated promises that of course i would) will be over. as in, game over. Please can anybody help me with an example/sample or something that i canjust about craft enough into a basic draft in time for tomorrow midday - cos then at least i'm in with a fighting chance. and, my god, i really need one cos i can't cope with anymore sadness, not now, not again, please. Sorry, but thank you for taking the time to read this and help if you're at all able to. Thank you xx

Hi all I have read quite a lot of posts on this forum but either can't find the answer or don't understand, so I am hoping someone might be able to help or point me in the right direction I have been unable to work for quite some time (due to severe nerve damage caused by spinal cord tumour, extreme back pain , part of my spine was removed during tumour sugery, bladder issues, osteoperosis, pituitary failure, depression and I have to use crutches to walk and require a lot of help to do day to day tasks) and I was approved for PHI starting 24 july through work. I dont pay any premiums for this and my pay slip is still through work, so I guess unum pay them and they pay me. any benefits I may he entitled to are deducted from my phi payment, so I was advised I would have to claim esa seperately. now here is where I struggle, I was advised that I would not be eligible for the income related esa, even though I have no savings, and that I may be eligible for contribution based. I had an interview at the job centre earlier this week to look at steps to get me to return to work (which when I explained my situation he said that I should not have been called in for this interview and thanked me for attending as it was clearly very difficult for me to. He then checked and asked me if I had received any esa payments so far and I said no and he said I should write a letter and call the job centre to speak with people that would deal with my claim. lookihg at the paperwork from when I first applied, I believe that something somewhere along the line was wrong, as when I alled to make the claim initially the person I spoke with didnt know what phi was and I explained it. so on my claim form it says in the following: Personal or occupational pension received or waiting to receive any income from pension, permanent health insurance or compensation payment - YES Your pension income details income type - private health insurance then in the next field in permanent health insurance, it says 'contributed more than half the premiums toward any permanent heakth insurance payment' and NO next to that when I received this I called to query it ahd they said it was correct, but then after my meeting at the jobcentre I now believe the paperwork is incorrect and this is why I havent been paid anything so far is there anyone who could give me any advice on this or know what I would need to write in the letter? Just it seems no one can advise when I call the esa people, as they have always not understood what I meant when I said I am on PHI any help would be hugely appreciated thanks in advance Rachel

Hi, I hope someone can advise me. I've been off sick for over 6 months and I'm still very unwell. My employer has taken compulsory sickness benefit from my pay from when I started employment (many years ago). I know I was paid for the 1st 3 months in full sick pay from when I went sick but was unaware (until recently) I also got sick pay at 50% thereafter for up to 5 years from when my sickness commenced. I was advised I was entitled to nothing after my initial 12 weeks sick pay finished (which left me confused) although why my employer were taking mandatory (50% 5 year sick/disability) was never clarified. I feel my employer is forcing me to fill the forms unum have sent me (including confirmation from my GP to unum) since apparently they keep getting prompts from HR, unum etc. The impression given that this compulsory. If I recall correctly, this was optional as per the documents/ including phone call from unum personal - briefly skimmed through these many months ago so don't recollect if they need to be completed (mandatory). I was never advised my details were going to be passed on to unum until I received paper work out of the blue, which left me confused since up to that point I had never heard of them. Naturally, I don't want my employers to know my full condition other than what has been described by my GP on my sick notes. Is it mandatory for me to fill these forms in to continue to receive sick pay &/or fill them in? As far as I'm aware they are there to possibly help me back to work etc but I did not think I was compelled to fill them in and give them. Please advise.

I'm in the same boat as you with Unum, been told that I have to deal with foc myself, never received a formal rejection letter and had to phone my supervisor before I found out that Unum had turned down my final appeal with them. I have been waiting 10 months for that decision with only my partners wage coming in. Seems the larger company has no idea how it works with Unum as they have just passed the buck on to me. Told me either I come back to work or I will have to leave or be sacked. They are just giving me a week before I have a recorded meeting with them to decide if I'm going back. can they just sack me?, force me back into work? even though it's still with them going to the foc. Where do I stand if lost job and foc rules that Unum should be paying me employers income protection money? Nightmare

While searching for a relationship between "Income Protection Insurance" and claiming DWP benefits I came across this link. http://www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/dmgch28.pdf It shows what income is taken into consideration when applying for benefits. However I can not find anything regarding "Income Protection Insurance" payments being taken into consideration when making a claim for benefits. UNUM are a big provider in this area and influence the DWP. It would seem pointless for an employer to have Income Protection Insurance in place for employees if they did not benefit from the monthly payment and were actually penalised if they were paid. It is my understanding that the payment can be either monthly or an annual lump sum. If employers never opted for Income Payment protection for their employees companies like UNUM would soon go out of business so it would be in the best interest of UNUM to advise the government to disregard these payments?. Perhaps some one with a better understanding can advise if Income protection Payments are taken into consdieration by the DWP when calculating benefits?

Hi Everyone I would like some advice regarding Unum who my employer has PHI through. I have been on long term sickness from April 2012 with me/cfs. I am signed off by my doctor. Today I received a letter from my employer stating Unum have decided to stop my payments. I am unable to contact Unum directly so emailed my employer who stated 'Unum can stop payments at any time'? I advised I think this is discrimination and asked for the reports as to why. How can they just stop my money with no explanation not sure where to go as my employer is also looking to get rid of me so waiting for a date for 'formal long term sickness meeting'.