Ahoy from the West End of Roatan, Honduras!
Note that this report has nothing to do with Honduras. It has to do with extremely the shady billing practices of IMIS (International Marine Insurance Services) with whom I and many others boaters have insurance.
While I was home in the Boston area in early May I realized that my marine insurance policy would expire while I was out of the country. I also realized that the credit card information that they had on file needed to be updated. A couple of days before leaving I called my agent, Al Golden at IMIS, to find out what the renewal amount was going to be so that I could either set up a payment via my on-line bill payer or provide an updated credit card number. While I was unable to speak with Al, I spoke with his assistant and explained my situation. The next day the assistant provided me with details on the renewal pricing. I provided updated credit card information and assumed that I would be billed when the policy renewed. I also provided my e-mail address so that they could contact me on the boat.
I was quite surprised when I visited an Internet cafe and viewed my on-line credit card statement. IMIS billed my credit card for the policy amount, $5014, on May 5th but the policy doesn't renew until July 4th! I e-mailed IMIS asking what happened. Their reply was that they assumed that I wanted it billed immediately and that if I wanted a refund that I should return the they documents mailed to my house along with a letter requesting that the policy be canceled! First off, I didn't want the insurance canceled, second I was in Honduras with no access to my mail in Boston and third I would never have authorized them to bill me 2 months in advance! Providing a credit card number is not authorization to bill at will. Another silly thing that they did was to tell me that I could have received a cash discount had I paid by check, which I could easily have done with my on-line bill payer.
I reiterated the above points in subsequent e-mail and stated that they could keep the $5014 for 2 months, but in attempt to find some middle ground where I didn't feel like I was being taken advantage of, I wanted the amount of the cash discount refunded to me. Their reply was that they felt like I was taking advantage of them with absolutely no offer of how to reconcile the solution! Hey, they have my money 2 months in advance and I'm taking advantage of them?!?!? If that's their definition of being taken advantage of, where do I sign up?
Now at this point I feel like I'm stuck between a rock and a hard place. I'm afraid that if I dispute the charges with my credit card company that they'll cancel my policy, which is something that I definately don't want to have happen. IMIS doesn't seem to be willing to come to any middle ground, so my approach is going to be to let the world know about their practices. I just don't know why my dealings with insurance companies regularly leave me with a bad taste in my mouth. And if I have problems with IMIS regarding billing, what kind of problems will I have with them regarding claims? If you have insurance with IMIS, or are considering getting insurance with them, be VERY careful with how you handle your payments.
-- Geoff Schultz
P.S. I've attached our e-mail correspondence so that you can see that I'm not making this up.
******** Mail to Al Golden on 5/27/2004 *************
I just noticed that my credit card was billed for $5014 for my insurance policy. While I expected this, the policy renews on July 4th, and I was billed 2 months in advance. Why did this occur?
-- Geoff Schultz in Honduras
******** Mail from Al Golden on 5/28/2004 *************
Geoff:
Sorry for any misunderstanding!
As far as I can tell from our phone log, there was never any mention by you of a specific time to enter the charge, so it was entered as soon as you gave us the authority to do so.
In the future you can either send a check, which would be much cheaper anyway, or give us instructions on when you want the transaction entered.
Fair winds,
Al Golden International Marine Insurance Services
********* Mail to Al Golden on 5/28/2004 ******************
Al,
Per the phone conversation with the woman who took my call to you, I was supposed to be billed when the policy renewed. Not 2 months in advance! The only reason that I called was because my credit card number changed.
I could have easily set up an automated payment if that was going to save me money. No one ever discussed that option with me.
At this point I want my premium refunded and then we can discuss payment by check.
-- Geoff Schultz
********* Mail from Gary Golden on 6/1/2004 ****************
Geoff,
We apologize again for the misunderstanding.
However, please recall that you called us in May to report that you were leaving to return to the boat the next day and that we should charge your credit card. This gave us very little opportunity to contact you to clarify that payment by credit card results in the loss of a cash discount or to clarify when you wanted the charge processed. However, we surmised from the fact that you called the day before you were leaving that you wanted us to process the charge right away so that we could inform you of any problems in plenty of time.
And it is our standard procedure to process credit card charges promptly upon their authorization unless we receive explicit instructions to do otherwise. I hope that you can understand that we would get in a lot more trouble for forgetting to process a charge or processing a charge too late than we would in circumstances like yours where we have processed a charge too early.
If you are insistent on us processing a refund for you, please return the insurance policy declarations renewal that was mailed to your Cameron Drive address on May 10 along with a formal written request that the policy be cancelled. In order to receive a 100% refund these documents must be received on or before July 10.
However, we hope that you will decide to allow us to continue to serve your insurance needs.
Sincerely,
~GARY GOLDEN International Marine Insurance Services
************ Message to Gary Golden on 6/2/2004 ************************
Gary,
I feel like you're doing quite the job of twisting the facts to match your actions. First off, I would never have authorized your to bill my credit card 2 months in advance for a $5000 charge. Cash is king and you've moved $5000 to your pockets for 2 months before you have to pay it out. That's ridiculous. Next, you have my e-mail address aboard the boat and if there were any problems processing the charge you could easily have contacted me. On top of this I was never informed about a cash discount. I could have scheduled a payment via my on-line bill payer to arrive at/before the due date.
Now I'm in Honduras and you want me to return the documents to you and request that I cancel my insurance while I'm cruising! Clearly that isn't possible or reasonable. I simply want insurance and am willing to pay for it when it's due.
At this point I've been bill $5000 two months in advance and I've lost the cash discount. Seems like I've lost on both accounts. I'd be willing to let you keep the $5000 if you refund the amount of the cash discount to me. I do NOT want to cancel my insurance. I just want to end up with a situation where I, the customer, don't feel like I'm being taken advantage of.
-- Geoff Schultz
*********** Message from Gary Golden on 6/3/2004 ********************
Geoff,
As I have said previously, we are sorry for the miscommunication. However, your latest message would have been received more favorably had you omitted the first and last sentences.
In your first sentence you 'compliment' me on twisting the facts. I have stated to you honestly the facts as I know and/or understand them and was disappointed to have been accused of doing otherwise. In your second sentence you indicate that you feel as if you were taken advantage of, but we have that same feeling. You called us and left us a message that clearly intimated that you would be out of touch starting the next day and yet you expected us to take care of everything for you. We did the best we could to comply with what we thought was your desire, but you didn't give us much to work with.
We do not give cash discounts because we prefer cash and checks, we do so because it is less costly for us to to accept those forms of payment. Had we not already irrevocably incurred the costs associated with your credit card charge we would gladly allow you the cash discount.
Regretfully,
~GARY, International Marine Insurance Service
********** May 30, 2008 ******************
I recently received my renewal notice from IMIS. Last year they debited my checking a few days before the policy was to renew, so I told them to use the same banking information. I hope to be out cruising when the policy renews, so I wanted to make sure that they received the premium on-time.
I just looked at my on-line banking statement and saw that they debited my account today, 35 days in advance of the policy renewing. To me this is rediculous. They should debit the account when the policy renews and not at some arbitrary point beforehand.
I will instruct them to delete all of my banking information and handle all payments via check. I really thought that they understood the errors in their ways after our last go-around.
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