Superior technology and service bring former customer back

Liberty Lift’s previous carrier came with a long list of issues — everything from billing to plan setup was problematic. With Unum’s HR Connect^® seamless integration with ADP Workforce Now^®, review for most plans can be done in about 15 minutes. Billing is fast too with real-time data sharing and easy online bill payment.

Liberty Lift first partnered with Unum in 2013 for Life, Dental and Vision insurance, before switching providers for two years. In 2020, they returned after “a nightmare of an experience,” according to IT Director David Snow. Unum’s superior customer service drew the company back, but the Unum HR Connect integrations with ADP Workforce Now^® turned out to be all the difference.

With their prior carrier, Snow dealt with issues that included “everything from billing to plan setup.” The company’s plan had accidentally been cancelled at one point, and the carrier could “never bill correctly.”

“There were constant credits and rebuilds, and the invoices never matched the coverage,” Snow said. Vicki Evans, Liberty Lift’s HR Director, added, “There were never-ending issues — people getting cancelled for random reasons. Billing was a nightmare.”

“When we were choosing a carrier to go to, Unum was at the top of the stack because of your ability to provide customer service,” Snow said. “We knew very little about” HR Connect. However, as an IT expert, Snow knew that “generic” connections to ADP Workforce Now^® were often slow. So when he heard about the HR Connect API* connection, “my ears perked up. I was pretty excited about that.”

A year and a half after implementation, Snow says, “Unum delivered on everything they said they could deliver on. It was everything that it was sold to be, which is rare, but we’ve been very impressed with it. HR Connect is just a really nice addition that makes it easier to keep our data in sync and makes our jobs easier.” It’s the “cherry on top of the package.”

Plan setup using Unum HR Connect took much less time than with a traditional carrier connection, according to Snow, and “was so easy because you guys did it all on your side. It fed right over to ADP and was set up as it went up.”

“There are no reconciliation issues between the two systems,” Snow said. “If you do something on the Unum side, it feeds back into ADP and vice versa. It has been a dream.”

Enrollment is also easier. “The day-to-day headaches that I was dealing with are gone,“ said Evans. “Once employees enter their enrollments, everything’s taken care of. And I do like the fact that when someone applies for voluntary life insurance they’re automatically directed to provide evidence of insurability right there in ADP Workforce Now^®.”

Prior to working with Unum, Evans had to spend a lot of time going “item by item, employee by employee,” matching up bills. Nothing came over correctly, she got error reports on file feeds, and it easily took days every month to make sure the right premiums were submitted. Now she can just download the bill and match it to what the ADP^® bill shows, with no need to reconcile. She handles the necessary work in about 15 minutes. “I know what they’re billing is correct,” she said.

Snow also noted that in the past they had to wait for the “weekly run” to send employee changes to the carrier. With Unum HR Connect’s real-time data sharing, that wait has disappeared, along with the need to constantly verify information. Furthermore, “sometimes during that week we would cross over monthly lines, which would complicate the billing,” Snow said. “We don’t have to worry about that anymore.”

Customer service was what drew Liberty Lift to Unum, and it remains their priority. Snow said that “even if you got rid of Unum HR Connect, we would still stick with Unum because the people there care. Any time we have an issue it’s not a big deal to get it fixed — but we don’t have very many issues. You are really good at your job as far as managing and servicing the plan.” Both Snow and Evans called Unum very responsive.

Knowing that she’ll get support and a quick response is crucial to Evans. “Employees are our number one priority and getting them taken care of is the most important thing on my end.” Snow agrees, pointing out that “neat technology” means nothing “if you don’t have the team behind it that is competent and dedicated to their jobs. Unum has the right people behind it and that’s the most important thing for us.”