ComplaintsforGustafson Insurance

• Initial Complaint

  07/11/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  We canceled our Insurance with Gustafsons/Safeco on Feb 1st 2022 and move to State Farm.. After receiving several check for premium refunds, we realized Safeco had not refunded the ******* we had coming on this policy.. I contacted *** Gustafson Mid Feb to inquire about the missing *******.. *** contacted Safeco and they gave him the last four of the Discover card **** they had credited for the amount of *******.. We continued to call Discover over the next 90 plus days to see if anything was ever pending.. Discover never received the refund so they suggested filing a dispute for the amount Safeco owed.. We finally received credit back to our Discover account mid May after filing a dispute, we thought things were done and over..I then receive a demand letter from Safeco on June 27th, postmarked June 17th.. I contacted *** Gustafson that same day, he gave my file to ******************* to work on.. ***** informs me that Safeco refunded a different card account with US Bank **** that had been closed for over ****************************************************************** number and batch number, they received the refund Feb 3rd 2022 and kicked it back the same day since it wasn't a transaction that was drawn on their card.. I gave this info to ******************* and she called Safeco back, now they requested written proof from US bank that the refund was kicked back.. Us Bank said it would take 7 days and Safeco was made aware if this, in the mean time Safeco sent me to a collection agency on July 4th for the full amount of *******..They know this was in-dispute and if they would take time to research there books they would know this ..I contacted *** and ***** today first thing 7/11/22 and they stated ts out of there hands until I can provide proof from US bank, this has been hard to gather from US Bank on a closed account, they already provided all the transaction information.. It feels like Gustafsons and Safeco are taking advantage of the little guy and now sending me to colle

  Business response

  07/12/2022

  ***************************** contacted us on 2/2/2022 requesting to cancel multiple policies with Safeco Insurance.  ***** was set up on direct **** with Safeco and was making payments through various credit cards on his policies that were on file with Safeco, with the most recent payment coming from a Discover Card per Safeco's Billing Department.  We had ***** sign cancellation forms and processed the cancellations of his policies as requested.  On 2/16/22, ***** contacted us and inquired about his refund amount stating that he had received all refunds except for the refund related to his auto policy.  We inquired with Safeco Billing that day to get confirmation of the refund amount.  Safeco Billing told us the refund would be to his card on file in the amount of $1,182.98 so we passed this information along to ***** the same day. ***** advised us that during the cancellation of his policies he was also changing banks and credit cards and he was not sure where the refund would go as his cards on file were being closed.  We inquired with Safeco Billing and they stated that the refund would go to his discover card, which was the card he last made payment on for his renewal in August 2021.  We provided the last 4 digits of that card number to ***** from Safeco's Billing System that listed the refund and that card. ***** then contacted us on June 28th stating that he received a **** from Safeco for the refund amount.  ***** stated that he never saw a refund amount hit their Discover Card so he disputed his original premium payment with Discover in the amount of $1,182.98 (the refund amount) attempting to collect his own refund.  Due to his dispute, Discover pulled that amount back out of Safeco's account in May, which created a balance owed of $1,182.98 (from what Safeco Billing tells us and what we can see on their Billing system).  We contacted Safeco again on 6/28/22 and raised this matter to Billing Managers at Safeco.  We spoke with 5 different Billing specialists at Safeco trying to track this down.  Safeco stated that the refund had been sent out and this time cited it was to a different card, one that was on file for his policies through US Bank.  Safeco stated that when the insured disputed the premium payment with Discover and pulled the money from Safeco's system through Discover, it created a **** that was owed because the refund had already been paid out on a US Bank Card that ***** had on file with Safeco.  We communicated this information to *****.  ***** contacted US Bank who stated they received the refund but had sent it back to Safeco due to the card account being closed.  We contacted Safeco Billing and advised them of a transaction and batch number that ***** provided us that US Bank provided him for the transaction.  Safeco requested a paper document from US Bank, a statement or document from US Bank that indicated the return of the refund because Safeco never showed the refund coming back to their system.  We advised ***** on 7/1 what was needed in order to clear this matter up with Safeco. ***** stated he had contacted US Bank on 7/1 and that they told him it would be 7 to 10 business days to address his request.  On the morning of 7/11, ***** emailed that he received a notice of collections from Safeco.  We emailed right back to ***** and let him know we would contact Safeco and request a stop to the collection request, as this had been an ongoing billing issue that was being worked through.  We involved our Marketing Rep with Safeco who personally contact ****************** above the level we have access to.  We requested that they stop the collection notice and advised of the wait for US Bank to provide documentation to Safeco.  Our Marketing Rep spent several hours working through this with Safeco's Billing Department.  Safeco stated that they showed they sent a refund back to the insured and citied a transaction from 2/3 to the US Bank Card on File for *****.  Because ***** is saying the refund was received but then sent back by US Bank due to this being an old card, Safeco has stated they need documentation of this in order to remove the collection notice because they have no record of any funds coming back to them from US Bank.  We advised ***** of this and provided multiple updates throughout the day to him on 7/11. 

  Customer response

  07/12/2022

   
  Complaint: 17550450
  
  I am rejecting this response because:
  Statement is false, we no longer had monthly payments from July 2021 onward.. My wife used her Discover card to pay the 12 month balance in-full.. Safeco made the decision to illegally refund my card on file from the previous year... You can't ring up a transaction on one persons card and refund that amount to a completely different person and card.. We have zero joint credit accounts..Safeco or Gustafsons can call US Bank as a merchant a track down this transaction since it was a bad transaction.. I have no notice from anyone that says collection efforts will pause until this is straightened out. I have spent hours on-hold trying to straighten out this mess that I didn't create.. *** has no remorse and doesn't care about my time/stress I've had to invest in this transaction.. I purchased the policies from Gustafson directly and this makes 100% their responsibility to fix since I can't talk to Safeco directly..  
  

  Sincerely,
  
  *****************************************

  Business response

  07/18/2022

  *****, we certainly feel for the situation you are in and have professionally worked to resolve this from day one.  We have spent many hours working on this for you which we are more than happy to do.  I am sorry for your frustration. We have involved Safeco who has requested documentation from your Bank to clear this up because Safeco's system shows that they paid you a refund and then your Discover Card pulled an additional amount away from Safeco months later, which generated the collection notice.  I have again involved Safeco today, at the highest level that I have the ability to reach, to update them of the situation and have requested any assistance they can offer, including trying to get information from your Bank directly.  As agents, we write business through Safeco but Safeco is the responsible party for their billing and have a direct **** relationship with their customers.  We, as agents, are doing everything we can to help you in this situation since we were made aware.  As soon as I hear back from my contact at Safeco who is again involving management, I will let you know.  My Contact at Safeco stated that you should file the complaint against Safeco directly, as this will get in front of management at Safeco and might help.  You have been directing all of your complaints to my agency and perhaps filing against Safeco would be a better option?  We are continuing to work for you on this matter but are only as good as the information we are given and can only get so far with Safeco's Billing department.  The information given at this point, from Safeco Billing, is that they need documentation from you regarding the money that US Bank supposedly sent back to Safeco.  All that Safeco's billing system shows is that they sent the money out to your US Bank card/account as a refund.  Given the delay of US Bank to provide this documentation, I would suggest you pay the collection balance to avoid the collection action so there will be more time to get the needed documentation from US Bank and get this resolved with Safeco.  Perhaps you can file a complaint with US Bank as well as they had told you 7 to 10 business days for documentation on 7/1 and it is now 7/18? I will update you once I hear back from Safeco, which will hopefully be today.  As I mentioned, we are sorry for this situation and are doing everything in our power to help you.

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