So Mad at My Car Insurance Company!!!

[heaven2dc]

I am fuming at my car insurance company and ready to strangle that little British animal (not naming names here ). I had sent my DVC owner payment for my trip and kept more than enough in my bank account to cover it and then my ins. company took out a 6-month premium payment instead of one month's! My local agent had me sign a new form last month changing it from a 6-mos premium payment plan to monthly at my request. This caused 2 checks to bounce (one was for my hotel ressie) and now I'm battling my insurance company to reverse the huge payment and take out the monthly amount. I only found this out today and contacted the DVC owner and hope he is understanding and can wait a couple of weeks for this to be resolved.

My question is - does anyone have any suggestions? Since the home office didn't receive my request to change, they are saying they can't do anything about it other than to fill out another form, fax it to them and when my premium payment date comes along (in August) to change it then.

 

[here757]

I am fuming at my car insurance company and ready to strangle that little British animal (not naming names here ). I had sent my DVC owner payment for my trip and kept more than enough in my bank account to cover it and then my ins. company took out a 6-month premium payment instead of one month's! My local agent had me sign a new form last month changing it from a 6-mos premium payment plan to monthly at my request. This caused 2 checks to bounce (one was for my hotel ressie) and now I'm battling my insurance company to reverse the huge payment and take out the monthly amount. I only found this out today and contacted the DVC owner and hope he is understanding and can wait a couple of weeks for this to be resolved.

My question is - does anyone have any suggestions? Since the home office didn't receive my request to change, they are saying they can't do anything about it other than to fill out another form, fax it to them and when my premium payment date comes along (in August) to change it then.

supervisor.. dont talk to a regular rep. them not getting ur request is NOT your fault. remind them of that
plead ur case and tell them two checks bounced. then tell them u signed up for a monthly payment plan..

i used to work for an insurance company.. i have seen this happend and that company always reversed the transaction ..plus refunded return check fees with proper documentation

tell them u are shopping around because of this.. see if they do anything

 

[msmayor]

You said your local agent had you sign the form...did you call the local agent and ask what happened? That should be the starting point.

Do you have a copy of what you signed with a date on it? That's your proof that you authorized the change well before the payment was taken.

 

[heaven2dc]

Thanks everyone for your replies! I did contact my local agent first and I do have a copy of what I signed. Unfortunately he hasn't been in the office due to snow this week but I have left him messages and he has returned my calls saying he is working on it.

I definitely won't take this lying down

 

[a1tinkfans]

Good Luck op.
Did the agent say how long the change would take?
Did you review what you signed for that info?
If its not there, then agent should resolve this for you.

 

[PrincessMama605]

I have had similar issues in the past with a local insurance agent. Now I only deal direct with my insurance companies, either online or over the phone.

OP, I know this doesn't help your current situation but might help avoid something like it in the future. Maybe you can talk to your bank manager about refunding the fees if your insurance company refunds the payment? Hope it works out for you!

 

[Mathfailure]

A bit off topic but I think important, can you set up your payments to be the type you have to "push" out of your online banking and get rid ot the type that "pull" your payments.

You are always the last one to double check before taking money.

 

[Swimalie]

A bit off topic but I think important, can you set up your payments to be the type you have to "push" out of your online banking and get rid ot the type that "pull" your payments.

You are always the last one to double check before taking money.

I agree. The companies you deal with should never have access to your account. You should be paying them, not them taking the money out.

If they have access to your account like you have given them, they have the right to take more than they are owed and you have to fight to get it back, as you are finding out. Start paying your bills instead of letting them draft your account and then you can control the money more and prevent this from happening again.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

I agree. The companies you deal with should never have access to your account. You should be paying them, not them taking the money out.

If they have access to your account like you have given them, they have the right to take more than they are owed and you have to fight to get it back, as you are finding out. Start paying your bills instead of letting them draft your account and then you can control the money more and prevent this from happening again.

I agree. I'd also look into your bank for overdraft protection. It gives a small cushion in case of errors. Many years ago, dh accidentally used a savings deposit slip instead of checking. When checks started bouncing and I thought, wth!, I told dh to take our receipt back to our bank for proof of deposit. That's when he was told of his error.
The tiny bit of interest charged for this line of credit is pennies compared to returned check fees charged by the bank and back then many stores charged fees too. (This was pre debit card days when people would actually write checks in stores if they didn't want to carry cash.)

op, not to nit pick but on behalf of the Brits, that little animal is Australian.

 

[allison443]

I am fuming at my car insurance company and ready to strangle that little British animal (not naming names here ). I had sent my DVC owner payment for my trip and kept more than enough in my bank account to cover it and then my ins. company took out a 6-month premium payment instead of one month's! My local agent had me sign a new form last month changing it from a 6-mos premium payment plan to monthly at my request. This caused 2 checks to bounce (one was for my hotel ressie) and now I'm battling my insurance company to reverse the huge payment and take out the monthly amount. I only found this out today and contacted the DVC owner and hope he is understanding and can wait a couple of weeks for this to be resolved.

My question is - does anyone have any suggestions? Since the home office didn't receive my request to change, they are saying they can't do anything about it other than to fill out another form, fax it to them and when my premium payment date comes along (in August) to change it then.

It sounds like you formerly had the the six month premium payment plan and it was still in effect. Why didn't they receive your change request? Sounds like your agent messed up!
Good luck-I hope you can get the company to put the money back in your account.

 

[NVDisMom]

You can always contact your bank and let them know that the withdrawal was not for the agreed upon amount. You are protected by consumer protection laws for electronic funds transfers. Its called Reg E. Its fairly similar to a credit card chargeback, but specifically for billing errors related to EFTs. Look it up, find out your rights and see if that will alleviate the immediate issue. HTH

 

[ZachnElli]

I use to work in an agent's office, but for a different insurance company. It may not be the agent's fault. When we sent over changes, it could take 3-4 weeks to get changes processed at the company level even when we sent them over the same day the changes took place. Going through a company representative would not make it go faster, especially if something needed signing. BUT, if it was the company's fault, like taking too long and taking too much money out, they would refund any overdraft fees they caused.

 

[kaytieeldr]

Your signed copy and so the signed original (obviously ) are dated, correct? And the date is BEFORE your six-month premium would have normally been withdrawn, right? Okay, while you still haven't been able to get in touch with your insurance agent (although, honestly, over such an important issue and especially if he's the agency owner, I'd be trying to track him down at home - yes, even if he doesn't have access to the office records), consider involving your state's Attorney General, and the AG from - I think - Nebraska.

 

[scrapquitler]

This is why I don't do ANY autopayments out of my checking account!

There is always going to be some lag time between when you request the change in the auto payment and when that change takes effect, most likely the agent didn't get the change thru to the proper place in time. I'd guess that the form you signed states something to the effect of 'its not our responsiblity if the change doesn't happen in time' and you probably are going to be out of luck. Maybe you'll get lucky and the agent will get it fixed for you, but I'd guess the odds are against that.

In the meantime, I'd suggest getting some overdraft protection thing set up with your bank so this doesn't happen again with some other payment.