A little background on this, a personal incident which still baffles me.

I had a large-ish dental repair done on June 26.

The insurance asked for more information, sent me a letter saying they’d contacted my dentist. I checked and the dental office was indeed sending yet another set of information re my claim.

I have two sets of insurance, from working at two companies. They were originally covered by different insurers, but over time Sun Life Trust has taken over both of them. SLT responds separately to each claim in two responses, one for each benefit plan.

Eventually my second insurance paid their part of half of the claim. This was on July 19. On September 10 the first insurance paid their part of the same half of the claim, and said by letter that they wanted more information including a description of the tooth damage and an X-ray. My dentist’s office assured me they would send it one more time, and suggested that some insurers know that 44% of all claims contested are simply dropped by the insured, who do not believe they can move a large, multimillion dollar company to provide the coverage to which they are legally entitled. My dentist hinted that legal action might  actually be required, and said he’d send the information yet one more time. He suggested I contact the insurer myself as well.

After being passed about in the usual way of business phone systems, and being told I needed to know my account number, unless by chance I knew my full name and birth date and address, I eventually was forwarded to a senior claims analyst who listened carefully.

I said that my dentist believed they were doing this (requesting the same information over and over) to several clients, and that I had had a lawyer recommended. There was a pause and at one point I was assured that in four business days something would indeed get done.

Later that same day I got a phone call from my dentist’s office. Apparently Sun Life Trust had contacted them and explained the following:

• Two years ago they changed their address for claims information.
• Mail was automatically forwarded for two years.
• Now mail is not being automatically forwarded.

The dental office retrieved my information, put it in a new envelope, and sent it to the new Sun Life Trust claims information address.

Now for the dumb questions, in fact several of them:

Have you ever mis-addressed a piece of mail? Did it come back to you with a sticker over the address you put on it, and marked Return to Sender?

Once a piece of mail has an address on it, is it not a federal offence not to deliver it? If it cannot be delivered, does it not Return to Sender automatically?

Do you believe my dental office was having mail returned marked, incorrect address, and was unaware of this? Or do you think they were unaware of the incorrect address because the mail simply went out and never came back?

Does mail work differently for Sun Life Trust than it does for you and me? Or does this only apply to claims and claim-supporting mail?

Am I nuts to ask any of these questions?