I've insured myself for the last 2-3 years. My new promotion makes me benefit eligible which is probably the best thing about it. So I called my current insurance provider last Friday to find out what I needed to do to cancel my policy. She told me the process, but neglected to tell me that I'd need to do those things by Friday in order to not get slapped with the auto-payment for this month. So when I called back on Wednesday to cancel this is what occurred:
Me: Hi I just faxed the letter stating that I wish to terminate my coverage is there anything else that I need to do on my end.
Insurance lady: Umm.....that auto payment already pushed through.
Me: (silence)
IL: The person you spoke to gave you all the right steps she just needed to tell you that last Friday was the deadline to cancel that payment.
Me: So what are my options?
IL: Well right now your payment of $225 will clear from your account on Monday. Once it clears you can call in and we can mail you a check back for that amount.
Me: Ok, not ideal, but not a problem it usually clears from my account instantly, so we should be able to have the matter cleared up quickly.
IL: (pause) no.....not when it clears from your account. when it clears on our end. It usually takes about 15 days.
Me: (pulling up the calendar) So what you're saying is you can verify that my policy is being terminated today, but you can't stop the draft payment. Not only can you not stop the draft payment, but I will have to wait until some time in the first week of March to get back a payment taken from my account February 8th?
IL: yes....ma'am.
IL: There is one other thing you could do
Me: (wearily) I'm listening
IL: You could do a stop payment through your bank
Me: (sigh) ok it's worth a try
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Basically, my bank needs 3 business days to process a stop payment. I didn't have three business days....I had two. The bank guy told me if I had a document stating that my coverage was discontinued then i could dispute the charges and get my money back faster. Called the insurance company and they won't even be able to verify receipt of my letter until next week, much less give me something official to dispute the charges.
Sigh...........
2 comments:
tell me you got the person's name and wrote it down. even if you didn't, you should speak to a manager. unacceptable. keep going up if you have to to get your money back faster if for no other reason than they should've told you at the time of your first call.
woooooow.
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