Today my voice mail received a call regarding an issue with my Auto/Car Insurance Carrier Ameriprise, I called back and was informed that my credit card on file was declined for automatic payment. I apologized and informed the representative that I received a “new chip” card and the expiration dates are different. She then informed me that my $111.00 payment was late by one day, so I will need to pay for the remaining balance of $395.00. I asked are you refusing to take my current payment of $111.00 and she said "yes", its Ameriprise policy to extort you for the remaining balance when you are late.
My question…Why pay the entire balance? Why can’t they just take the payment due? Do they consider you a bad risk...a late payer? I am a mature family man who always pays his bills on time, my credit score has always been in the 750's, so I do not understand how they get away with type of policy to demand full payment regardless of error with chips, lost/replaced cards, old expiration cards on file... it does not matter.
The call should be more about getting the account back on track so both parties can go on about their day. I cannot believe in this economic climate this "archaic" policy is still in place. I asked to speak with a supervisor and was informed that a year prior my card declined too? Then I recalled I had lost my card and did not update it on their system., But wow that statement of having 2 violations made me feel more like a criminal. I asked, have I ever not paid my insurance or been more than a day late on those violations dates you mentioned and they said no.
My hope is, this reaches an advocacy group to stop this type of behavior. In this economy I would hope most people want to pay their bills but when your insurance carrier is forcing you to pay the "Full Bill" for a technical error that's just wrong. It would be different if auto insurance was optional but it’s a law, we need to have car insurance so why extort your customer base like that?