Collections Notice - Auto Insurance Premium

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harrad
Posts: 118
Joined: Mon Sep 29, 2014 6:50 am

Collections Notice - Auto Insurance Premium

Post by harrad »

Earlier this September I changed my auto, home and umbrella insurance to Travelers using a local agent. The agent had an error on the start date of the policy. He corrected it by attempting to cancelling the initial policy and issuing a new policy.

Things got messed up on Travelers side - I had premium bills due for both the initial and corrected policy. I only paid the premium for the corrected policy and agent the asked me to ignore the premium bill due for the initial policy which remained cancelled. A few days later I got check from Travelers with the amount equal to the auto premium. I called up the agent and upon checking he said it was likely for the initial cancelled policy and not for the active policy and asked me not to cash the check. Upon introspection, I think Travelers tried to correct the correct the issue with the premium bill due on the initial policy by issuing a refund check thinking that I would pay the premium for the cancelled policy.

The agent tried a couple times in October and November to have Travelers remove the premium bill due on the initial cancelled policy. While things seem to be corrected on his end, I could see the bill due on my online auto policy account. At this point he just asked me to ignore the bill due notice.

Today, I got a notice from a collections agency saying that I had an outstanding bill overdue with Travelers. I got on a call with the agent and he was apologetic and he reached out to Travelers and they confirmed that this was an error and will recall the collections notice.

At this point I am looking for help in understanding and ensuring I don't have a ding in my credit report

1) Should I respond to the collections notice disputing the bill? I have the email exchanges with the agent and his notes from our conversations. My current thinking is to wait until later next week when the agent promised to get back. I hope to have an email/letter from Travelers confirming that the collections notice was sent in error.
2) During the process when the issue is being corrected, should I expect a ding in my credit report. If I do, should I dispute it with the bureaus?
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