Scottish Widows  Reviews 

I've had a positive experience with Scottish widows, no one expects they may need to make a claim, they were very empathetic about my condition and easy to speak to on the phone. Only negative was the process took a while, but it's the policy more than the people, which I guess has to be. Would definitely recommend. Thank you Scottish widows.

The customer service officer was very helpful, attended to all raised concerns with possible solutions.

Got a ring back ok. The lady was very helpful.

The agent I spoke was brilliant he spoke clearly no rush and what I phoned for was dealt with great ease always double checked if I understood what was going to be done . Many thanks 😊

Really friendly staff and excellent service

Angela, super friendly and helpful. She answered all of my questions clearly and quickly.

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Excellent customer service, talked through all options, quick and easy .

To start with if I had not call back by the Friday, 5 days after first call. I would have still been waiting. Also, not received a statement on how much Tax was taken before payment. Was going to return to SW but not now as seems to be run by Lloyds and I left then nearly 10 years ago.

The whole process was very easy and a great service offered. I had all the paperwork filled out online and reviewed promptly.

Easy on line access to my Pension which is very reassuring to me. The odd times I have needed help, the support staff have always been really helpful. I called this morning and spoke to a lovely lady, sorry that I did not get her name but she was so helpful and it makes such a lovely change to speak to someone that is not in Asia that you struggle to understand. I am really happy that I have my money with Scottish Widows, I know it is in safe hands.

Drawing and closing a small pension pot was made so easy. One call to Scottish Widows and everything I needed to know was explained to me in an easy to understand manner. Very simple process.

It was an experience I wasn't expecting as I'm not great at doing things online and over the phone. I have been pleasantly surprised and impressed by the help I've been given. Stil only half way through, but not worried anymore.

I called to update my address, I was on the phone for under 5 minutes, I like when things are sorted quickly

Claire was friendly, helpful and patient during the call and managed to resolve my problem effectively.

Dealing with SC staff, their expertise and knowledge gives me confidence in Scottish Widows.

The consultant was clear on the procedures and expectations and made the proceed that much easier.

Steve

I had a really lovely lady on the phone, she was very informative and gave a helpful service - I think her name was Claire. I was looking for a pension from a previous employer and she spent time looking back quite far and found one lost pension for me. She gave a lots of information around the current pension pot and my options, and helped me register and set up the app. Only reason for a 4 star review was because of the automated messages at the start of the call and the hold length before getting through to Claire.

I took out income protection with Scottish Widows, paying over £90 a month for the overall policy which included Life Insurance, Critical Illness Cover and Income Protection. I believed taking our the Income Protection would provide financial support if I ever became unable to work due to illness.

Unfortunately, when I found myself going through the darkest period of my life and was unable to work for seven weeks because of my mental health, my experience with Scottish Widows was extremely disappointing.

At the time, I was dealing with severe personal circumstances and significant difficulties in my workplace. I found myself in what felt like the deepest hole imaginable, and my mental health deteriorated to the point where my GP signed me off work from Monday 15th June to Friday 31st July.

I followed the procedures Scottish Widows asked me to follow, provided the relevant medical evidence and cooperated throughout the claims process.

From the beginning, I felt that I was being discouraged from making a claim. During telephone conversations, I was given information that I later found to be inconsistent with what actually happened, including being told that certain documents had been sent when, as far as I could establish, they had not been.

My claim was eventually declined, and some of the reasoning behind that decision was extremely frustrating.

One point referred to was that my GP had recorded that I was feeling better on 30th July. Yes, I was feeling better by that point. But feeling better towards the end of a seven-week period does not mean that I wasn't genuinely unwell and unable to work during the preceding weeks.

During this period I was receiving private therapy and actively taking steps to improve my mental health. Surely that should be viewed as evidence that I was trying to recover, rather than as evidence that I hadn't been genuinely struggling.

Scottish Widows also referred to the fact that I was made redundant. However, this happened outside the period for which I was claiming. My redundancy was related to my position being made redundant and was not because of my mental health. I therefore found it difficult to understand why this was considered relevant to the assessment of whether I had been unable to work during the period covered by my claim.

I was also assessed by an outsourced mental health professional from HCB Group who are recommended by Scottish Widows in the claim process. Following that assessment, I was given three recommendations intended to help improve my mental health. From my perspective, the assessment and recommendations certainly did not suggest that I was simply fine and able to return to work without issue. I was therefore disappointed by the weight I felt this assessment was given when my claim was considered.

What has ultimately been most upsetting is the feeling that the process was focused on finding reasons to decline my claim rather than fairly considering the circumstances I was experiencing and the medical evidence provided.

Scottish Widows state that they do not discriminate against people because of mental illness. I cannot comment on their intentions, but based on my own experience, I was left feeling that my mental health condition was not given the consideration I expected when assessing whether I had genuinely been unable to work.

I fully appreciate that not every insurance claim will be accepted and that insurers have policy terms and conditions that need to be applied. My issue is with how my claim was handled and the reasoning used to reach the decision.

I was signed off by my GP for the period in question, and I provided that medical evidence as part of my claim. It was extremely frustrating to feel that the significance of my GP's assessment was effectively being set aside in favour of other factors that, from my perspective, did not accurately reflect what I had experienced during those seven weeks.

At a time when I was already struggling significantly with my mental health, dealing with the claims process added another layer of stress and frustration.

Overall, an extremely disappointing experience. I paid for income protection for precisely the kind of situation I found myself in. When I eventually needed that protection, I felt let down by both the claims process and the outcome.

I hope Scottish Widows will seriously consider how claims involving mental health are assessed and, in particular, whether the process genuinely takes into account the reality of what someone can experience during a period of mental ill health.

What a great customer serviced I've experienced today! Pauline was fantastic, very attentive and helpful with all my queries, patiently guiding me through those step by step. thank you again!

I found my phone call about my pension to Scottish Widows, very agreeable. The staff were very efficient explaining the options available to me with a very pleasant manner, and making sure I understood all options.
I would recommend Scottish Widows as a pension provider to anyone requiring same.