Dear Money Helps: In April 2005, I went to the Web site of my insurer, United Healthcare, to look for an in-network physical therapist. I found one and saw him several times, each visit paying the $15 in-network co-pay. Then, a full year later, I received a bill for $1,732 from UHC; it says my doctor is out of network! I’ve called and written letters to no avail - and now my account is going to collections. Help! - From Mary Jo Albrecht of Dania Beach, Fla.
Ah, the familiar game of you said, they said. In this case, however, there appears to be a ringer, and it’s not you. United Healthcare reports that your doctor was a member of its network prior to April 2005 and then again after April 2006 - but not, unfortunately, between those dates, which is when you saw him.
Perhaps you found him in a Web [...]
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Dear Money Helps: Last fall I left my job at DaimlerChrysler for another opportunity. I had an American Express card for business expenses and filed my last expense report a week after I left. It took months for DaimlerChrysler to process the report, and when it finally did, it didn’t cover $300 in late fees. Isn’t the company responsible? My wife and I are buying a house and are worried that this will hurt our credit. - Mark Moores, Albuquerque
Answer: You’re right to be worried about your credit score. When your company gives you a corporate card, it’ll cover approved business expenses, but it’s your name and FICO score that suffer if there are late payments or other problems.
DaimlerChrysler spokesman Kevin McCormick admits that it took an unusually long time to process your expenses. That’s partly because you were no longer an employee and couldn’t submit your report electronically. So [...]
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Dear Money Helps: I have sleep apnea and signed up for a study at the Stanford Hospital Sleep Disorders Clinic. I paid a $15 fee, answered questions and was checked out by the staff. The whole process took 30 minutes.
I was told I couldn’t proceed to the next phase until my health insurance was verified. My insurer told me later that week I wasn’t covered. Much to my surprise, I got a bill for $420 for the consultation. I called the customer complaint number on the bill but was told that the charges were final. I paid the $420 but feel like I was ripped off. – Christopher Camba, Hayward, Ca.
Answer: You’re not the only person to lose sleep over a medical billing snafu. According to medical bill auditor AMBR, 85% of hospital bills contain errors.
Yours was one of them. When the manager of the clinic reviewed your record at [...]
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Dear Money Helps: In August 2005, I signed up for a Bank of America credit card with a great fixed rate of 6.9%. Last year I got married and put a lot of wedding expenses on the card, figuring to pay it off in a year or so. I opened my bill last month, and my rate had shot up to 19.99%! I called the bank and was told that I’d been mailed a notification. But I never received it. Can the issuer really triple my rate even though I always pay on time? And is there anything I can do to get my 6.9% back? - Eric Jones, Denver
Answer: Unfortunately, even diligent customers like you can get slammed with out-of-nowhere rate hikes. That’s because some credit-card issuers, including Bank of America, have a policy - buried in the fine print of your contract - which says your rate can [...]
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Dear Money Helps: A year ago I flew to Florida to bury my mother and handle her estate. I went to a Staples store to ship 10 boxes of antiques and sentimental items to my home via UPS. I insured each box for $500. Four arrived damaged, and priceless heirlooms were broken. I filed claims for $400 with UPS but I’ve never been paid. No luck with Staples either. Can you help? - Nancy Mathias, Richardson, Texas
Answer: This was a sad errand for you and a sorry case of miscommunication by the vendors. The last thing you needed was to get a damage-claims runaround. What happened? Basically you got caught between two companies: UPS, which transported your goods, and Staples, which packed them and served as an outlet for UPS services. Since Staples sent the boxes, UPS considers it the customer, not you. (I know, the logic is kooky.) So when you [...]
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Dear Money Helps: Having traveled a lot for work, I’d accumulated 83,000 United Airlines miles by the time I retired in ’96. Recently I tried to use them but was told they had expired! United said they’d announced a few years back that old miles would be phased out if not used in three years, but I never got the word. Is there anything you can do to help me get my miles back? - Larry Pace, Caswell Beach, N.C.
Answer: Used to be you could hold on to unused miles for years without penalty. Not anymore. Over the past few years airlines have quietly been putting expiration dates on them. The first big change came in 1999 when a number of major airlines, United included, said you had to show account activity - either redeeming miles or accumulating more - every three years to keep miles in play. Earlier [...]
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Dear Money Helps: I opened a brokerage account for my son at Success Trade Securities for a school project. He lost most of the money - and his interest in stocks. I tried, first online and then by letter, to sell the shares and close the account but heard nothing until January, when I was hit with a $50 inactivity fee. What gives? - Doug Munro, Warren, Mich.
Answer: No company likes to lose a customer, but some businesses make it harder than others to sever ties. According to Success Trade spokesman Patrick Dorton, you must sell the assets in your account before it can be closed. You should have been able to do that online, but around the time you wrote your letter, Success Trade was bought by Penson Financial Services. You couldn’t log on because the old PIN, the last four digits of your son’s Social Security number, [...]
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Dear Money Helps: My husband and I were married in March 2006 in California. It was perfect except for one thing: We still haven’t received our wedding album! We hired a photographer a friend recommended and paid him $2,300 up front. The first three times we called, he promised to send our photos. Then he told my husband he couldn’t afford to print our album. Now he won’t return our calls or respond to e-mails. What can we do? –Stacia Johnson, Provo, Utah
Answer: You can count on something to go awry at your wedding no matter how carefully you plan. Now if the florist had delivered ragweed instead of sunflowers or the band had played “Hell’s Bells” as your processional, you might have been able to laugh it off - eventually. Not receiving your photos, on the other hand, is a true wedding disaster.
I too had trouble getting in touch [...]
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Dear Money Helps: Two years ago, my mortgage company applied one of my monthly payments to someone else’s account by mistake and reported to the credit bureaus that I’d been 30 days late. My credit score plunged 150 points as a result. Earlier this year I got EMC Mortgage to admit its error, and the firm promised to notify the credit bureaus. But my score hasn’t budged. I need to refinance, and if it weren’t for their mistake, I’d have excellent credit. Help! –Robert MacLean, Highlands Ranch, Colo.
Answer: Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, credit bureaus are obliged to correct inaccurate information once they’re made aware of it. Sounds fair enough, but unless you get an error fixed at the source, it can keep cropping up.
You did the right thing by going directly to your lender. Problem is, EMC Mortgage sold your loan earlier this year, and by the time [...]
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Question: My husband and I had a six-month CD with Countrywide Bank at a great 5.55 percent. News of the company’s subprime troubles concerned us, so when the CD matured in September (value: $37,745), we decided to cash it in. We mailed the form during the 10-day grace period and waited. No check. Upon calling, we were told that the bank hadn’t gotten the form and that the funds had been rolled over into another CD. We faxed another request and got our money - minus a $396 penalty! We didn’t do anything wrong. Can you help? -Barb Foster, Fairfield, Calif.
Answer: Losing half the interest you made may seem extreme, but Countrywide isn’t alone in imposing harsh penalties for early withdrawals. Banks set terms on CDs because they use the deposits to fund loans and want to ensure that they’ll have money at their disposal. On average you’ll lose three [...]
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