“Dear Steve,
I have had a Capital One card with the Payment Protection for some time until in May 2007 I was involved in a car accident which rendered me totally and permanently disabled. Payment protection for capital one told my wife to wait 30 days to fill out activation forms.
We sent them in and was told in august that my benefits would be retroactively posted to may june and july statements and all late fees would be removed. Capital One did not remove any fees, beyond that payment protection also paid 2 days late each month, so again more fees and charges.
In december of 2007 Payment Protection stopped my benefits. After many phone calls, in december 2007 i was told “if you were totally disabled in may of 2007 then we (Payment Protection) would have made a one time “Total Disability” payment to your account covering your entire balance, all you have to do is send us a copy of your federal benefits” knowing full well that it takes people years sometimes to get federal benefits.
Well now in 2010 I was fully approved for benefits, my credit card was charged off in 2008 with a balance of $870.00, Capital One has continued to add late fees and over limit charges since charging it off so the balance is near $1,500.00 today, both collection agencies that my card was in quickly returned the account back to Capital One and Payment Protection asked for me to fill out their Total Disability Benefit Activation so that they can make the “one time total disability payment”.
They did, and sent me a letter that it would go back to “My Date of Loss” in May 2007, yet Capital One had that payment posted to my august statement and kindly sent a letter stating it so, and that their still expecting twice as much to cover the balance. Limit was $500.00 balance in may 2007 $475.00. So now my credit report has three years plus of false negative remarks, Capital One refuses to remove them. Payment Protection defined my “Date of loss” from Social Security’s five month wait period for benefits to begin.
Being what I have been through, should I seek out an attorney in my area? From what I have described do I have grounds for a possible civil action?
Christopher”
The Answer:
Dear Christopher,
I’m not the least bit surprised. Your story of run around and misery trying to get payment protection to pay is beyond typical. I’m stunned they actually made any payment.
The best approach at this point is to find a local attorney to contact Capital One and dispute the listings on your credit report with the three major credit bureaus.
Please update me on your progress by posting updates here in the comments section of your question. I’m very interested in how this works out for you.
If you have a credit or debt question you’d like to ask just use the online form. I’m happy to help you totally for free.