So, I tried to set up automatic billing for my health insurance plan, but my provider requires that I actually mail in a paper form. After paying the premiums online for a few months this spring, I sent in the form and mostly forgot about it.
Today, 5/31, I went through my stack of old mail and found a letter from my insurance company stating that my premium payment, due 5/1/2014, was missed. Great. I guess they never processed the form. Fortunately, the letter says that there is a 31-day grace period, but ominously warns that the policy will be canceled if payment is not made within the grace period, and cannot be re-instated.
I log on to the online payment website, and it says that the policy has already been canceled and cannot be paid. I tried calling the company, but it seems that no one answers the phones on the weekend, even their automated-by-phone payment system. I am technically within the grace period, I guess, but it seems they won’t accept the payment since it’s a weekend.
This was pretty stupid on my part, I admit, but what are my chances if I call on Monday and beg them to let me pay it?
Well, after trying about 20 different routes through their phone tree, each time getting a “call back from 9-5 monday-friday” message, I finally found a human who accepted my payment.
Man, I had no idea that if your policy is canceled this year, you can’t renew until January 2015! :eek: Not something I will be so sloppy with in the future…
Did you keep a copy of that form you sent in? Better still, did you mail it certified or registered? If you had waited until Monday, and they were stubborn, you could perhaps have waved that in their faces.
Moral of the story:
(1) Save copies of EVERYTHING.
(2) For things that are this important, and have a chance of going so wrong, mail it in some documentable way.
OK, here’s what you need to do. Take a shower. Be sure to cleanse yourself thoroughly with an abrasive cleaning sponge and anti-bacterial soap.
Rinse completely.
Then, report to the nearest “Soylent Green” processing facility, to convert your body’s protein into food for the younger generations. They, after all, need it more than you do.
