After a few months of persistance and some paperwork, I got the payoff I had been working towards. Actually, payoffs...
Real Estate Assessment
A few months ago we got an assessment notice on our house. The new "fair market value" of our house was over $20,000 more than what it was just two years ago when we bought the house. I would be thrilled if that were accurate, but I knew that in this market with houses in our neighborhood sitting with for sale signs for months on end, that was not the case. This new assessment value was too high and, since real estate taxes are based on that number, that meant our taxes would go up. It was time to fight it!
Appealing our assessment was easier than I thought. I contacted our great realtor, Britt Brandt, at Prudential. He pulled some comps (comparable home sales) for us to show a more accurate value for our home. I included with that a letter that stated why I felt the value was wrong (declining market, stagnant home sales, our purchase being just 2 years ago and the value suggested by the comps). My wonderful husband dropped it off in December and today we got the results. They dropped the value to a more accurate number. That means lower taxes! Savings acheived!
Health Insurance
My husband and I recently welcomed our baby girl into the world through an all natural birth at Labors of Love with the help of midwives Amy Bixby and Linda Weaver. It was a great experience. Unfortunately, my health insurance denied any coverage for the birth stating it didn't meet their criteria for coverage. They didn't even pay for an ultrasound. The upside is that even paying out-of-pocket the fees for a birth center or home birth can be less than a hospital birth with insurance coverage. However, my story doesn't end there.
When I got a bill for our little one's metabolic screen (given the day after birth) I realized that it could be billed to her insurance, not mine. We had added her to my husband's policy, which backdated her coverage to her birthday. There was the vitamin K administration, too. What else? I called the birth center and their office assistant, Rhonda, was able to write a bill for the insurance company with all charges related directly to baby. It totaled over one third of what we had paid. After a few attempts at submitting the reimbursement claim, I finally sent in everything they needed. That was a month ago. We got word today that we are being reimbursed for over $1,000. Now THAT is worth the wait!
Real Estate Assessment
A few months ago we got an assessment notice on our house. The new "fair market value" of our house was over $20,000 more than what it was just two years ago when we bought the house. I would be thrilled if that were accurate, but I knew that in this market with houses in our neighborhood sitting with for sale signs for months on end, that was not the case. This new assessment value was too high and, since real estate taxes are based on that number, that meant our taxes would go up. It was time to fight it!
Appealing our assessment was easier than I thought. I contacted our great realtor, Britt Brandt, at Prudential. He pulled some comps (comparable home sales) for us to show a more accurate value for our home. I included with that a letter that stated why I felt the value was wrong (declining market, stagnant home sales, our purchase being just 2 years ago and the value suggested by the comps). My wonderful husband dropped it off in December and today we got the results. They dropped the value to a more accurate number. That means lower taxes! Savings acheived!
Health Insurance
My husband and I recently welcomed our baby girl into the world through an all natural birth at Labors of Love with the help of midwives Amy Bixby and Linda Weaver. It was a great experience. Unfortunately, my health insurance denied any coverage for the birth stating it didn't meet their criteria for coverage. They didn't even pay for an ultrasound. The upside is that even paying out-of-pocket the fees for a birth center or home birth can be less than a hospital birth with insurance coverage. However, my story doesn't end there.
When I got a bill for our little one's metabolic screen (given the day after birth) I realized that it could be billed to her insurance, not mine. We had added her to my husband's policy, which backdated her coverage to her birthday. There was the vitamin K administration, too. What else? I called the birth center and their office assistant, Rhonda, was able to write a bill for the insurance company with all charges related directly to baby. It totaled over one third of what we had paid. After a few attempts at submitting the reimbursement claim, I finally sent in everything they needed. That was a month ago. We got word today that we are being reimbursed for over $1,000. Now THAT is worth the wait!
WAY COOL! congrats to persistence, sometimes it's too easy to give up and not pursue that which is right!
ReplyDeleteTom Crowl