The Cost of Bureaucratic Mistakes
I am so fucking angry right now I could strangle someone. And at the same time, I feel so powerless and alienated that I just want to crawl under a rock and die. Money was taken from me, changed hands several times, and is now with someone else. Robbery? Money laundering? Receiving stolen goods? No, not that kind of crime. But rather a bureaucratic snafu involving five different parties. The whole scheme sounds so bizarre and improbable, I'm still in disbelief. But then again, maybe I shouldn't be surprised.
It all started when the corporation that services my mortgage, CitiMortgage, became concerned about the insurance situation at my condo. They become concerned every year, but since my condo association always purchases the proper amount of insurance for all the buildings every year, it is really nothing to worry about. And yet, CitiMortgage worries, and they send me letters requesting that I show them proof of adequate insurance. Well, this year, instead of contacting the insurance agent who handles our insurance, CitiMortgage contacted the National Flood Insurance people directly, and inquired about the policy. I couldn't quite get a clear story out of the rep I spoke to, but from what I could tell, National Flood Insurance responded to that inquiry by sending CitiMortgage a bill for an insurance policy. So CitiMortgage paid the bill, and didn't bother telling me until a month later. Why did they pay for insurance which is being paid for by my condo association? Good question, and I was not able to get an answer from them. Why was National Flood Insurance sending a bill to CitiMortgage when they should be sending it to the condo association through the insurance agent? Again, I have no idea. But they sent the bill for $2906, and CitiMortgage paid it, with my money, without telling me.
Then, for some inexplicable reason, National Flood Insurance sent a refund to CitiMortgage. I have no idea why--did they realize they made a mistake? However, it was only a partial refund, for $2254. Which leaves $652 unaccounted for. Since the CitiMortgage rep indicated they did not know where that money was, and seemed to think it was not their problem, I called National Flood Insurance. And they explained that the $652 went toward the premium for the condo's insurance policy! The one that covers all the buildings, all the units; the one that is always paid for by the condo association--I was paying part of the premium directly! And, they said that subsequent to receiving my money, they received the full payment from the condo association, and gave them a refund of $652, since that was the amount they overpaid (since I had picked up that portion earlier)! So now the condo association, who was probably confused about the refund but quietly pocketed it anyway, has my money! As far as National Flood insurance is concerned, they received an overpayment, and they sent out a refund. End of story--their hands are clean. Yeah, right.
Now, how the hell am I supposed to get it back? How can I convince the condo association that all these strange mistakes happened and so now they owe me $652? Since both CitiMortgage and National Flood Insurance seem to think this is not their problem, my only hope is that our insurance agent can look into this, feels morally obligated to set things right and takes action. Because of this mistake, I must now rely on someone's goodwill to fix it. To be honest, I am not at all sure I'm ever going to get that money back.
It baffles me how this bureaucratic nightmare happened. Mistakes are made, money changes hands, and then those hands are washed of all responsibility. Someone gets money they shouldn't get, and some sucker loses it. And everyone denies it's their problem. The injustice is enough to outrage me. But what if it had been more? What if it was the full $2906 that disappeared? What if they decided to shell out $10000 of my money? Or more? And suppose National Flood Insurance decide to send the refund to someone else? I can imagine another 'mistake' like that happening. They can take payments from anyone, why not send refunds to anyone as well? It's a disaster waiting to happen. Probably happened to someone else already.
So this all sucks in a serious way. And my only recourse is to pray that someone has a sense of decency and helps me out? This sucks.
It all started when the corporation that services my mortgage, CitiMortgage, became concerned about the insurance situation at my condo. They become concerned every year, but since my condo association always purchases the proper amount of insurance for all the buildings every year, it is really nothing to worry about. And yet, CitiMortgage worries, and they send me letters requesting that I show them proof of adequate insurance. Well, this year, instead of contacting the insurance agent who handles our insurance, CitiMortgage contacted the National Flood Insurance people directly, and inquired about the policy. I couldn't quite get a clear story out of the rep I spoke to, but from what I could tell, National Flood Insurance responded to that inquiry by sending CitiMortgage a bill for an insurance policy. So CitiMortgage paid the bill, and didn't bother telling me until a month later. Why did they pay for insurance which is being paid for by my condo association? Good question, and I was not able to get an answer from them. Why was National Flood Insurance sending a bill to CitiMortgage when they should be sending it to the condo association through the insurance agent? Again, I have no idea. But they sent the bill for $2906, and CitiMortgage paid it, with my money, without telling me.
Then, for some inexplicable reason, National Flood Insurance sent a refund to CitiMortgage. I have no idea why--did they realize they made a mistake? However, it was only a partial refund, for $2254. Which leaves $652 unaccounted for. Since the CitiMortgage rep indicated they did not know where that money was, and seemed to think it was not their problem, I called National Flood Insurance. And they explained that the $652 went toward the premium for the condo's insurance policy! The one that covers all the buildings, all the units; the one that is always paid for by the condo association--I was paying part of the premium directly! And, they said that subsequent to receiving my money, they received the full payment from the condo association, and gave them a refund of $652, since that was the amount they overpaid (since I had picked up that portion earlier)! So now the condo association, who was probably confused about the refund but quietly pocketed it anyway, has my money! As far as National Flood insurance is concerned, they received an overpayment, and they sent out a refund. End of story--their hands are clean. Yeah, right.
Now, how the hell am I supposed to get it back? How can I convince the condo association that all these strange mistakes happened and so now they owe me $652? Since both CitiMortgage and National Flood Insurance seem to think this is not their problem, my only hope is that our insurance agent can look into this, feels morally obligated to set things right and takes action. Because of this mistake, I must now rely on someone's goodwill to fix it. To be honest, I am not at all sure I'm ever going to get that money back.
It baffles me how this bureaucratic nightmare happened. Mistakes are made, money changes hands, and then those hands are washed of all responsibility. Someone gets money they shouldn't get, and some sucker loses it. And everyone denies it's their problem. The injustice is enough to outrage me. But what if it had been more? What if it was the full $2906 that disappeared? What if they decided to shell out $10000 of my money? Or more? And suppose National Flood Insurance decide to send the refund to someone else? I can imagine another 'mistake' like that happening. They can take payments from anyone, why not send refunds to anyone as well? It's a disaster waiting to happen. Probably happened to someone else already.
So this all sucks in a serious way. And my only recourse is to pray that someone has a sense of decency and helps me out? This sucks.
posted by Johnny Introvert at 9:26 PM
3 comments
