HSA issue

[ang78]

What is the name of your state? Indiana

I will try to keep this short. HR gave the bank a wrong date of birth for me. I have been trying to open my HSA accout since 2018. They gave me back the 2018 funds. However, the 2019 funds were never sent to the bank. HR has not, and continues not to be helpful. Putting the blame on me for "not providing documention for verfication." I can't verify the wrong DOB. I sent documentation multiple times each time not having a clue what was wrong.

Now in 2020, I tried again to access my HSA, to again get the run around to contact HR then the bank then the third party. I went off on the poor lady at the bank to finally discover the mistake was HR gave them the wrong DOB. Now HR keeps blowing me off, not sharing info, my money is in limbo somewhere becuase they never sent it to the bank. I am told that she is waiting on Larry in IT who may or may not be on vacation to reload my funds. I have been advised not to file my taxes until they fix this.

My question is: Is this a normal process for something like this? I have had no access to my money since 2018. It shows on my W2 and I have lost out in using it not to mention they kept closing out my account each time and I was unable to contribute the amount I elected. Do they owe me interest? How much obligation do they have to keep me informed on this?

 

[cbg]

I can't verify the wrong DOB.

You can verify the right DOB. What happened when you gave your birth certificate or your drivers license to them?

Does your HR use a third party administrator?

 

[ang78]

You can verify the right DOB. What happened when you gave your birth certificate or your drivers license to them?

Does your HR use a third party administrator?

The bank told me to contact HR. HR told me to call the bank and the third party who told me to call HR. Each would tell me to send my documents and wait for verfication. No one would tell that I was failing, just that I needed to send my documents. All information given to me was very vague and at one point I even sent by fax and mail my information including all of dependants. Nevermind HR was aware they had the wrong DOB on me 6 months after I hired when I informed them of it when a doctor bill wasn't getting paid and I was fighting with the insurance company. That's when I found out their mistake, reported it to HR and was told everything was fixed.

 

[ang78]

There has been so many mistakes since my hire in and I have been very polite, understanding, and patient. Here's a timeline:
Mistake with DOB was made when signed up to do clinicals for school at this location in Dec 2016.
Hired March 2018, they pulled that profile (wrong DOB), my I-9 threw an error and someone manually entered the wrong DOB instead of using the correct DOB on the I-9.
I had a Dr appt and XR Aug 2018. Sept 2018 got a Workers comp form and discovered the wrong DOB. Immediately reported it to HR and was told it was corrected.
Did the run around with HSA in 2018, 2019, and this year. Jan 15, 2020 I discovered the real reason I couldn't establish the account, was told to contact HR.
I contacted HR, they said to contact bank and submit my documents! I have since been able to open my 2020 account due to being a complete jerk and complaining about HR not helping me. Now the problem is my 2019 funds never reached the bank. Call HR benefits/payroll. HR is now telling me they do not have access to any of this and are waiting for some guy named Larry in IT to upload funds because they don't know where they are??

 

[cbg]

Obviously I don't know how your organization is arranged. But where I work, Benefits could not fix your DOB and HR could not do anything about your HSA. Benefits and HR are two distinct departments with my employer and the line of what we can each do is very clearly defined.

It's still not clear to me whether a third party administers your HSA or not - is there?

 

[ang78]

The money is sent to a bank in which we use a third party to gain access to the funds.

HR is horrible to navigate here. There is the Head of HR which seems to act as a liason for the rest of HR. She says the benefits lady will fix the issue which in turn she says she has no access. The bank says HR are the ones to fix it.

The bank and third party both say they have no records of any of my contributions for 2019, nor for the contributions I made after july 2018.

 

[ang78]

Oh, and the original fax number and mailing address given to me by HR was incorrect.

2018 the third party closed my account and distributed me both mine and the employer's contributions. Took out contributions for a month and then never credited that money back to me, nor reported it. I then transferred to another location where I signed up for the HSA again and went through the run around. Had contributions taken out for Dec 2018 that was then taxed to oblivion and they kept the employer's contribution (I can see this on my paystub, never received a statement from the third party because it was never sent to them). Then of course, the whole 2019 situation I described above.

I had to fight to get my first contribution of the year credited to my HSA because they only had the second one.

 

[cbg]

Of course the money is sent to a bank. That's standard procedure.

Okay, I give up. The head of HR reports to someone. Complain to them.

 

[ang78]

I thought so too until this all happened to me. The whole situation is so bizarre and I cannot get information on who is even in HR at this point. My supervisor is aware of the whole thing and had me report it to her boss. She is going to "mention" it to her boss monday afternoon. I am just flabbergasted at the whole thing and especially everyone's response to it, or actually lack of response. My husband wants me to get an attorney but I am not sure if there is anything illegal or not?

What would be the process if this happened in your organization?

 

[cbg]

Exactly what I told you. Someone who sent an email to the VP of HR explaining what happened would get a lot of attention pretty darned quick.

 

[ang78]

I was discouraged of doing just that on friday by my supervisor due to backlash??? I am not sure why everyone is acting like I will get fired if I go up the chain of command. I was also discouraged by the head of HR to "not involve more people as it may complicate things", "just let (the lady in benefits) do her job, she's the specialist".

What the heck is really going on??? The more I type this out, the more suspicious it gets. Should I be posting this under a legal advice thread?