My first morning home. I am annoyed.
Not because I’m home, but because of what showed up in our huge stack of mail.
A letter from my husband’s employer that said we need to verify our marriage or I’d be dropped from health insurance.
I was stunned, I tell you, stunned.
We celebrated 37 years of marriage this summer. THIRTY SEVEN!
I spent a good hour gathering requested documents. Scanning and printing said documents. They want them faxed.
Requested documents included a certificate of marriage and tax returns, bank or mortgage statement.
What ticked me off is I am a former employee of this firm. They have everything about me. ALSO, we have a number of bank and investment accounts AND mortgages with this company.
When we filled out mortgage applications, we provided all the requested documents including tax returns and bank statements. They have our information.
How can I NOT be verified as a spouse?
Of course, I am providing all the information. I’m just annoyed that I have to do it. We live in a world where everything is compartmentalized and computerized. The personal touch is gone in much of our lives. We’re a number. Gone are the days of my childhood where we all knew each other.
I guess this is a reality check that my vacation is indeed over. Back to real life.
What has annoyed you this past week? Or have you had a great week without minor inconveniences?
I would be annoyed too E.A. for everything you mentioned and then some. I would be bothered by the basic lack of internal communication. They have a responsibility to care for your info as their own. If their own systems can’t talk to each other, what trust do I have that they’ll take care of mine. Just annoying. But I think this is the way things are now. Hang in there.
Thank you. I was thinking I was making too big of a deal out of nothing. But you are correct.
There’s no end to red-tap-ism in today’s world.
That’s a good word for it!
It is!
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You’re being kind using the word annoyed. My words would be much stronger. I’m sure it must be some red tape thing whereby the confirmation that this was done is more important than the fact that they already have this information- at least to those who make these stupid rules. What a homecoming…
Thanks! I’m sure it’s a by the book without thinking type of rule.
I am guessing they had a server breach and all that stuff got wiped. Rather than admit they have shitty security, they make it your fault.
That could be. Or they have some rules about not sharing info between departments.
I agree, something smells fishy about this. BEFORE I would make copies of everything, I’d be calling their office to ask for verification on why this was needed, because it sounds like they were wanting MORE than just a marriage certificate. Very odd indeed.
I hadn’t thought about that. My husband is calling his boss this morning asking why they need this info.
YES, don’t give anything unless you find out WHY. Too much Identity Theft going on. When I say that to a bank, Xfinity, Dr office, etc — they BACK OFF. So, sometimes it’s not necessary.
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Yup. An in house phishing project.
My husband’s boss asked me to send the letter we received. He’s looking into it. It didn’t smell right to him either.
Yep. Might not even be from the company.
It’s legit. I think they’re trying to weed out people on insurance.
What? You mean there are people out there so unscrupulous enough to try to cheat health insurance? Lordy Be! What is next, scammers calling your phones asking for your social security number?
I’m not sure if it’s people trying to cheat health insurance or the company wanting to drop coverage 🙂
Agree, asking for a marriage cert – NEVER has that been done, that smells of Identity Theft.
It does smell like that but it checked out. Crazy.
Do you work for a foreign company? They often ask for details like that. In fact, in Italy they still put your date of birth on C.V.’s and for candidates they are voting for, their birthdate is on the info sheet. Interesting… in some ways
Europe is better than us when it comes to securing identity, ie Apple/Google stuff, but than in other ways, they are behind us.
No, it’s an American company. That’s interesting to know though. I’m thinking it’s almost open enrollment for health insurance. They probably want to purge or clean up who gets insurance.
Probably, especially people who aren’t married anymore, who knows. Everything has increased, so companies have to drill down to save.
I agree!
My husband said a co-worker called and said she got the letter to verify her kids! It’s definitely a clean up of their insurance rolls.
Maybe they are negotiating new rates. Isn’t November when they have enrollment and changes to plans can be made. I hope we don’t pay more, let’s see what happens.
Exactly right. November is right around the corner. They are verifying dependents. It’s weird though I never had to show a marriage certificate before.
Agree, the marriage certificate is a strange one. Well, as long as you feel it’s legit, need to do what they require.
I’m just glad I have some semblance of a filing system that I can!
Wow! I would be upset too! That is crazy that they are asking for documentation now, after so many years!! And like you said, you used to be an employee there! I hope something happy happens to you today!
Spam phone calls annoy me, but in comparison to other things they aren’t that bad. I just ignore them and let them talk to my machine!
I wonder why all these years later they want to “verify” me? I can’t stand spam calls either. I turned on “silence unknown callers” on my iphone.
I think BEFORE you give them all of this information, you need to talk to a person up to a top level and verify WHY this is needed, WHERE it is going, etc. I would argue “identity theft,” and I would ONLY give what was absolutely necessary. You need to find out WHAT they are using this information for, my opinion. This is out of the norm.
I never even thought about that before. It is scary.
What craziness. I agree, check it out.
My husband’s boss said others are getting the requests too. It’s legit 😳
What’s funny is I read this after doing my post. But, I still answered your question.
You sure did!
I was annoyed yesterday because they canceled the memoir class I wanted to take. You’re paying the premiums for 37 years. For the same person. Does it matter?
I think it does matter. Is it postponed or canceled?
Cancelled. I switched to a fiction writing class, which I didn’t really want, but I need to find some external motivation and I want to be in a live class
A live class would be so motivating.
I can’t do zoom other than talk to my daughter
I don’t like zoom either. In person is so much better.
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I’m glad you’ve verified it is actually coming from the company, but indeed quite annoying!
I don’t know whether to be annoyed or not, but a friend asked me this morning about pre-ordering my book (it doesn’t come out until July 2023), and that’s how I found out it is already up online for pre-sales and my publisher said nothing to me about it!! I had just sent an updated book summary, because I thought none of this was live, yet. Sheesh. You’d think they would want me to be drumming up orders. Makes one wonder.
Congratulations on your book! What is the title?
Fortune’s Frenzy: A California Gold Rush Odyssey.
Thanks! I’ll take a look and preorder 😊
While it can be found on Amazon, I’m trying to direct people to bookshop.org which supports independent bookstores. Thanks for taking a look!
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I was annoyed when I took my in-laws to a doctor apt today and after I dropped them off, ran and parked the car, ran back to the facility, and they told me I had to leave because there is only one person allowed with the patient. I said so my 84 year old mother-in-law is supposed to push the wheelchair? She asked me to not only drive but to be there as a second set of ears! Ugg! I had to sit outside for over for over an hour! Life! 💕C
That is so frustrating! Why do they have rules like that?
That is a strange story! Perhaps it is why in times of challenge, I like focusing on past memories. This week was pretty good but long.
I look back on good memories, too.
Oh, that sucks. I’m always annoyed about one thing or the other, but I’m working on my positivi-tea (because I’m drinking tea lol)