Former employer billing me for health insurance premiums due to their mistake (employee, credit rating)
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So, I changed employers at the very beginning of this year. My "old" workplace was on a was on a temporary closure due to construction for three weeks, and I gave notice during this time. However, my previous employer didn't apparently cancel my health insurance benefits or change me in the system from being full-time until 2 months after I left. I could still "see" this in the employee website so I called/emailed for weeks and they just didn't get it done, until February 11th when they finally changed me.
When my "old" workplace reopened, I was originally planning on working on a seasonal basis (like maybe 5-6 days/year), so I didn't "quit" altogether, and I was concerned that when I worked I'd have several months of "unneeded" benefits pulled out of my future checks, so I began sending emails about this to my former bosses/managers, with basically no response.
In the end, I ended up just quitting due to conflicts with my new job... and also because they were being totally incompetent about this matter and it wasn't worth the headache.
Now...get this...they just sent me a bill for my health insurance premiums that I "didn't pay" for because they didn't come out of my checks (since I didn't work). I emailed them about a hundred times about this, starting on December 21st of last year! My new employer gave me benefits right away, so these weren't even used! I am so incredibly frustrated I just want to scream.
My question is... does anyone know my rights with this? I feel that it's incredibly unfair to try to bill me for coverage that I didn't even use when I have record that I left full-time before 2011. Also, if I don't pay the bill, do they have a right to send it to collections? I have excellent credit and the thought of that having an adverse effect on my score makes me furious. I just sent yet another email to my former boss about this, but I'm guessing nothing is going to come of it, as usual...
I have an email trail going back to 12/21/10 of me asking about when I'll be changed from full-time, by the way. Let me add, too, that this isn't a mom and pop company--it's a very large employer with a worldwide presence which makes it about 10 times more frustrating.
Last edited by thepinksquid; 02-26-2011 at 01:51 PM..
Most employers are able to make changes that date back several months. Are you sure this bill isn't for COBRA coverage? If you don't need it don't pay it.
Most employers are able to make changes that date back several months. Are you sure this bill isn't for COBRA coverage? If you don't need it don't pay it.
No, it's not COBRA. I got another letter for that. So are you thinking that if I don't pay it they'll just be "canceling" my coverage effective since I last paid up (rather than trying to collect on it further)? My only real concern is that they're going to keep trying to bill me for it.
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Since they are not responding, I'd ignore it and if it does go to collections maybe you'll have better luck with them, assuming you kept copies of all e-mails. If it does affect your credit record you should be able to get it taken off.
If this is a significant amount of money you might want to go ahead and show it to an attorney now and let them get it over with quickly.
If it was a significant amount of money I would probably have a lawyer draft a letter telling them why you aren't going to be paying this and that if this somehow negatively impacts your credit rating you will be suing. That should get some action.
I had an old employer forget to take me off the health insurance. I didn't discover I was still on their health insurance until 1-1/2 years later when my pharmacy said it was still an active policy. I called and left messages, but they still didn't cancel the policy. It wasn't cancelled until I took the time to stop by and told the owner that it was still active. They never asked me to pay a penny. Then again, I never used the policy either.
Since they are not responding, I'd ignore it and if it does go to collections maybe you'll have better luck with them, assuming you kept copies of all e-mails. If it does affect your credit record you should be able to get it taken off.
If this is a significant amount of money you might want to go ahead and show it to an attorney now and let them get it over with quickly.
Agreed. You have left an electronic paper trail a mile long disputing the original debt...and since they chose not to respond, they are already in default.
Agreed. You have left an electronic paper trail a mile long disputing the original debt...and since they chose not to respond, they are already in default.
I agree. They don't have a leg to stand on unless you made an interim claim on that policy and it seems from what you said that you didn't. I would just send them a quick letter saying, "This bill is not for my account. Please see enclosed copies of all correspondence addressed to you since December 21, 2010." Then copy everything and send it all. That'll keep them busy reading for a while and I doubt you'll hear anything back from them.
One thing that hasn't been brought up above is 'open enrollment period'. Usually you can only add or withdraw from insurance plans at designated times. Depending on the benefit and company policy, that period may occur once per year or once per quarter. And typically there is a deadline for submitting your request for a change, occurring some time before the change is actually to take place, in order to give HR time to complete the paperwork and computer transaction.
For insurance, year end, December 31st was likely the end of an open enrollment period, but the deadline for submitting your request may have been significantly before then, possibly even before you submitted your half-resignation. If you missed this deadline, it may not have been possible to cancel your policy then, no matter how many emails you sent.
Now of course leaving your job is one of the occasions in which you can change your benefits outside of the open enrollment period. But unfortunately, you didn't fully quit. You chose to remain a seasonal employee. Which meant you had to follow the open enrollment rules, just like every other employee.
Send them a certified letter informing them of your prior request to withdraw your healthcare coverage. But I wouldn't be surprised if they reply that you were required to continue paying for that benefit until the next open enrollment period, or until you no longer were an employee.
One thing that hasn't been brought up above is 'open enrollment period'. Usually you can only add or withdraw from insurance plans at designated times. Depending on the benefit and company policy, that period may occur once per year or once per quarter. And typically there is a deadline for submitting your request for a change, occurring some time before the change is actually to take place, in order to give HR time to complete the paperwork and computer transaction.
For insurance, year end, December 31st was likely the end of an open enrollment period, but the deadline for submitting your request may have been significantly before then, possibly even before you submitted your half-resignation. If you missed this deadline, it may not have been possible to cancel your policy then, no matter how many emails you sent.
Now of course leaving your job is one of the occasions in which you can change your benefits outside of the open enrollment period. But unfortunately, you didn't fully quit. You chose to remain a seasonal employee. Which meant you had to follow the open enrollment rules, just like every other employee.
Send them a certified letter informing them of your prior request to withdraw your healthcare coverage. But I wouldn't be surprised if they reply that you were required to continue paying for that benefit until the next open enrollment period, or until you no longer were an employee.
^^ This would definitely be a valid point if that were the policy, however its not how the company works its health insurance. They actually outsource the management of the benefits to an outside company, and (I forgot to mention this in my original post) I called the benefit company and got my benefits cancelled finally a day before I officially quit. Still, I had about 6 weeks of
"unpaid" benefits at that time. Now, the person at the outsourced company agreed that I should have not been kept active for benefits I didn't need, and that technically this is something my company should taken care of for me.
I actually took a look at the letter sent to me for my benefits, and I realized it was sent postdated to me before I actually officially quit. Soo... I'm thinking I'm going to be okay. I sent an email which will get me nowhere, but I totally have myself covered if they continue to try to bill me.
It's still just really frustrating!
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