BEWARE: Insurance Company Checks Your Status On Facebook

• Tweet

• Tweet

Nathalie Blanchard, 29, an IBM employee was advised by her doctor to go on a vacation after being diagnosed with major depression.

With insurance coverage, it gave her all the more reasons to enjoy.

The benefits reflected faithfully on her bank balance until this fall. Manulife stopped the compensation arguing that she looked too happy on Facebook to be still suffering from depression.

Catch the highlights from CBC below.

The insurer:

“…in a written statement sent to CBC News, the insurer said: “We would not deny or terminate a valid claim solely based on information published on websites such as Facebook.”

Tom, Nathalie’s lawyer:

“I don’t think for judging a mental state that Facebook is a very good tool,” he said, adding that he has requested another psychiatric evaluation for Blanchard.

“It’s not as if somebody had a broken back and there was a picture of them carrying …a load of bricks,” Lavin said. “My client was diagnosed with a major depression. And there were pictures of her on Facebook, in a party or having a good time. It could be that she was just trying to escape.”

Nathalie:

“When I called Manulife, the company said that I’m available to work, because of Facebook.”

Silly way to judge health status

A picture tells a thousand words but who said that they are necessarily true? If a smile on Facebook could prove that someone has recovered from an emotional catastrophe, I guess no one around is really depressed. On the flip side, if Nathalie posted pictures showing how depressed she was, would she be able to enjoy more claims?

What’s more, it is an eye opener to know that Manulife is using Facebook to check on its clients. Perhaps it is an industry norm that the public is unaware of?

For people who are currently under coverage benefits, be careful of what you update on these social sites.

Stock photos powered by pixmac