Licensed from Columbia University Press
Unum is a Chattanooga, Tennessee-based insurance company previously named UnumProvident, which was formed from the merger of two competing insurance companies, Unum of Portland, Maine, and Provident Life and Accident Insurance Company of Chattanooga. It is currently the largest disability insurance company worldwide. Unum also provides long-term care insurance and life insurance.
Corporate
Corporate parent company Unum Group consists of three divisions: Unum US (headquartered in Chattanooga), Unum UK (headquartered in Dorking, England), and Colonial (headquartered in Columbia, SC). Unum Group employs approximately 10,000 people and has significant operations in Chattanooga, Columbia, Dorking, Portland, ME, Worcester, MA, and Glendale, CA, in addition to field offices in 38 major U.S. cities.History
Unum’s predecessor, Union Mutual Life Insurance Company, was founded in 1848, making it one of the oldest continuously operating insurance companies in the United States. It was one of the first major U.S. mutual insurance companies to convert to public ownership, forming Unum Corporation in 1986. Unum’s strategy eventually evolved to have a clear focus on disability and special risk products. Through its subsidiaries, Unum became the leader in group disability insurance. And through its business unit, Colonial Life & Accident Insurance Company, it became a leader in voluntary insurance.Founded in 1887, Provident Life and Accident Insurance Company provided accident insurance for "uninsurable" workers in the sawmills and coal mines around Chattanooga. Provident went on to become a leader in individual disability insurance and "return-to-work" programs that helped disabled workers return to the workforce.
In 1997 Provident completed the acquisitions of rival insurer The Paul Revere Corporation and its subsidiaries. It also acquired GENEX Services, Inc., which provides disability case management, vocational rehabilitation and related services to corporations, third party administrators and insurance companies.
Unum and Provident merged in 1999, creating UnumProvident Corporation. Following a rebranding effort in 2006-2007, the company shortened its name to Unum and unveiled a new logo in April 2007.
Controversy
Unum garnered media attention in 2002 after attorneys who had sued the company went to national television outlets claiming the company had quotas for closing claims. The company countered the accusations by noting that "only 2% of the policyholders who filed a claim with the company ... were found not to be disabled" and that court judgments in the prior year were in the company's favor 75% of the time, although this amount is by case, not by total monetary obligation, which can be misleading. In December 2004, the company and several states entered into a regulatory settlement agreement. Unum has also been branded an "outlaw company" by the former California Insurance Commissioner.
In April 2007, the LA Times published a major article updating problems with the multistate review. Advising the United Kingdom government on claims since 1994, Unum is also involved with the UK's current, much criticised Welfare Reform Bill.
To view the BBCs report into the corruption within Unum see the reference link below entitled 'Rogue Firm'. The report makes a point that Unum 'are still up to their old tricks'.
External links
- Unum website
- StopUnum.com - A website exposing the corporate corruption and insurance fraud of the Unum Corporation. Run by bad faith insurance claim victims.
References
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
Last updated on Friday May 30, 2008 at 13:17:47 PDT (GMT -0700)
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