May 31
Re: Bank of America and American International Underwriters
This is an UPDATE of a complaint I filed on April 1 regarding unauthorized charges to my Bank of America (BOFA) checking account in the amount of $20.90 per month since (AT LEAST!!!) March for accident/disability insurance.
When I originally complained to BOFA about this on April 1, its customer service rep could not tell me the name of the company, because she claimed she did not have access to that information. I have since learned this company's identify, American International Underwriters (AIU), a subsidiary of AIG, based in Chicago.
I called the 1-866 number referenced on my statement next to these charges in April and to my astonishment, instead of immediately agreeing to stop these charges, the customer (dis-) service representative said, "But we only offer this plan to favored Bank of America customers! Why would you want to cancel this excellent insurance plan?" Finally, she did agree to cancel, and said she would send me a form to fill out that would allow me to call a toll free number and listen to a recording of myself establishing this account. I have NOT RECOLLECTION OF THIS WHATSOEVER, AND HAVE NOT SINCE RECEIVED THIS TOLL-FREE NUMBER IN THE MAIL!!!
Using a database that can be accessed at the Washington State Insurance Commissioner's website, I learned that AIU is not authorized to sell insurance in the state of Washington.
Here is an interesting from AIU's website, that makes me suspect that these charges may originate somewhere outside of the US:
American International Underwriters (AIU) manages AIG's overseas property-casualty operations, the most extensive foreign network of any insurance organization. Stretching across Asia and the Pacific to Latin America, Europe, Africa, and the Middle East, AIU markets a full range of property-casualty products to both consumer and commercial clients.
Following complaint by phone, BOFA sent me an Affidavit of Unauthorized ACH Debit Activity, which I on returned on May 19.
On April 20, BOFA sent me a letter informing me that they had issued a temporary credit to my account for $125.40 (the total amount I initially though had been deducted form my checking account; I have since learned that the total amount is closer to $270, and is continuing to increase), and said it was initiating an investigation.
I sent a fraud complaint to the Washington Attorney General's Consumer Protection Division on April 29 with copies to BOFA and "Plan Administrator, " which is how AIU identified itself on its letterhead in its UNDATED response to my complaint.
On May 11 I sent AIU/"Plan Administrator" a written request to verify my enrollment in this insurance plan and accept its offer to play a recording in which they claimed I had enrolled in this insurance plan.
Also on May 11 I filed a complaint of insurance fraud with the Washington State Insurance Commissioner, and notified AIU by certified mail that I considered their billing to be fraudulent and that I intend to pursue every possible legal remedy to get my money back.
On May 13 BOFA notified me in writing that it had completed its investigation and found that no errors occurred with respect to these transactions.
On May 19 I mailed BOFA an "Affidavit of Unauthorized ACH Debit Activity" with copies to AIU and the Washington Attorney General.
On May 26 I called BOFA again to ask whether they had received my affidavit. They had, and told me that they were giving themselves until June 3 to resolve this dispute.
Incredibly, throughout all of this, BOFA HAS CONTINUED TO ALLOW AIU TO DEBIT MY CHECKING ACCOUNT monthly in the amount of $20.90!!! As I mentioned above, at this point in time, AIU has ripped me off in excess of $270.00.
I will continue to press my complaints with the Washington State Attorney General and the Washington Insurance Commissioner. Nevertheless, I have come to the conclusion that the only way I can stop BOFA from letting AIU continue to bill me is to cancel my BOFA checking account. Therefore, I have started a checking account with a credit union. As soon as my paychecks starts to be automatically deposited in my new checking account, I will close my BOFA checking account.
BOFA's bad treatment has comes on top of notification I received from BOFA dated April (BTW, why do large corporations fail to accurately date their correspondence???) that they were amending my VISA card agreement to raise the domestic and foreign transaction fees.
If big commercial banks keep running roughshod over their customers, they're not going to be big much longer. A recent news article about Washingtonians' massive migration away from commercial banks to credit unions is posted here:
Fact-checker
PO Box 99812, Washington
U.S.A.
0 comments