Don’t plan on spending any of that cash yet, it may take awhile for that to hit your mailbox.

Best of luck and thank you for your post!

And the only reform that would make insurance work is to outlaw them or make them return your money if you don’t end up using it.

The Denise Green in the comments IS NOT the real Denise Green. I know this for two reasons. (1) I saw the isp address of the commenter and he’s a good friend and jokester, and (2) Denise Green would NEVER communicate with me under any circumstances, as she has shown by ignoring my multiple pleas for attention left in her voicemail box.

Also, someone had commented elsewhere that I should have used delivery conformation on my letters. This is true, and I could have avoided a lot of heartache if I had. I guess once again I was just too trusting that the people on the phones and the company in generally would want to get this right. I’ll be more vigilant and paranoid in the future. Lesson learned.

Someone had also mentioned that until I get the check I shouldn’t celebrate. This is also probably true, especially given their track record. However, the official decision from the Commission said that Bluechoice broke a law where they could be penalized up to $125,000 per unlawful incident, and since they charged me for 13 illegitimate months, they could by law be on the hook for 1.65 Million dollars. I would think they’d want to settle this matter quietly at this point rather then appeal and risk it getting in front of a judge who is angered by their abuse of corporate power who decides to throw the book at them.

At this point I’m feeling enough swagger that I kind of hope they do appeal. I’d love to see them penalized, personally – they’ve made my financial life a bit of a hell just because they could. And over an amount of money that is a rounding error to them, but a huge deficit to me.

Finally – I have to say that this is a case where government does exactly what it ought to do – protect the rights of the citizens. I had my rights of property and promises violated here, and this state agency is finally righting those wrongs.

And congratulations! I bet it’s all been a huge relief. Also – you should make a copy of the check when it comes in and frame the thing. I imagine it’s rare.

I am SO hoping the Denise Green who left the comment above was not the one named above in the article. I am SO hoping that is just a prank someone’s pulling. And I am SO hoping that, if it is the same person, that you screenprint the comment and send copies to Tara Wilkerson, CareFirst, the Consumerist blog, Ask Metafilter, and Denise’s church to show the true colors of this “customer retention specialist”.

I had a landlord dispute once and almost lost because I moved my account to avoid them collecting rent they werent entitled to. Had I cancelled the account, with out moving the money (disputed rent) to a holding account, I probably would have lost. AND THEY WOULD BE ENTITLED TO TRIPLE DAMAGES!!!!

Almost by rule Carefirst would deny any claim ever and wait for me to call them before they’d approve it. I always wondered what happened to people who didn’t actually read their insurance related mail closely and take the time to call them. I think they count on the percentage of people who don’t, and make a lot of money off of that unofficial policy.

Comcast was giving you the Quadruple Play, apparently.

You’re right, but they have their ways of keeping you from canceling. In this case, it’s that I had a ton of rewards points which I would have forfeited. So I had to redeem them, and then call back. But then that wait time would be crazy, and I knew it. Plus (and I forgot to mention this in the post) my credit card was expiring by the time the credit card company’s “investigation” was completed, so I knew BlueChoice wouldn’t be able to bill it anymore.

But the funny thing? When it expired, BlueChoice sent a letter with my California address HANDWRITTEN on the envelope asking for me to update my expiration date so I could still be auto-billed. So they obviously knew my new address, and they obviously knew I didn’t live in MD anymore. At that point, I felt like they were just mocking me.

Looking back, I really wonder why I didn’t just cancel my credit card much earlier – but I think I was too trusting that these huge companies would eventually get it right. That I had to actually seek protection from a government agency when the facts of the case are so clear is still incredible to me.

So recenlty I had a similar thing – way less dramatic. I signed up for Comcast’s triple play – get all three services for $99. Cool. Signed up, forgot about it.

Then one day about 7 months later I actually looked at the statements (I auto pay) and it was $150!! What??!? So I checked the fine print, and they were charging me for triple play (which includes internet of course) AND internet – again. And no, my internet was NOT doubly fast!

So I called and they switched it, and I said – hey I want my money back. The lady said, not sure if we can do that. Call this guy at this number. Did it. Left message. Waited. Nothing.

I hate stuff like this. Finally I found time to call back, and this lady said – let me look into it. Put me on hold apparently until I died. So I hung up.

The amazing thing is – she called me back!!! And refunded the full amount. YES.

I’m so GLAD you won! Not just because you’re my son, but this just isn’t just and maybe it has helped stop this company from doing this to others.

I’m equally upset at the action of the credit card company. I would think that if there is no way to cancel a service being billed to the card that it would be the time to cancel the card and look for a new card issuer.

Glad you got the letter. Let us know when you actually get a check in hand.