• When a customer sends a payment outside the regular billing cycle, the funds are placed in the customers prepay account.
• Funds in the prepay account must be requested to be applied to a specific billing period. If a request is not made, the prepaid amount will be applied to the next billing period.
• The prepay account screen is accessed by going to the billing screen (F7) and then F9. Once in the prepay screen, you will see if there are funds to be applied to a billing period or returned to the customer.

In the following example, this customers payment was received on September 27, after the September billing had taken place. His $45.00 was placed in his prepay account. He called the contact center and requested the amount be applied to his current billing, which it was. If he had not called, the money would have been applied to the December billing period and he would have had a lapse for the September period.

If the billing period has passed, money cannot be paid in arrears. For example, on a quarterly billing, if it is currently November, the payment cannot be applied to the June quarter. Only the current billing cycle may be paid. Likewise, on a monthly billing, once the month has passed, a previous month cannot be paid using funds in the customer’s prepay account.

Prepay can not be applied in the event a hard decline has been received. A new account change form must be submitted to verify the policyholder still has a relationship with the financial institution.

If a customer has funds in their prepay account, the customer can request that the money be refunded. Agents should advise the standard three week refund policy.

If premium is received on a cancelled coverage, the check/money order will be returned back to the primary insured. Premiums are not kept on cancelled coverages.

Don’t use the CREATE DATE as a reference for a refund date for the member. The refund date should be 3 to 4 weeks after the CREATE DATE for a check.

Unless the customer requests the funds in prepay be returned at the time they cancel, any funds in prepay will not be returned until the policy actually cancels. In the following example, this customer had money in prepay in August. However, her policy didn’t cancel until the end of October. Her prepay refund would have been processed at the time of the October cancellation if the customer asks for the refund. Providing the CREATE DATE as the date the refund was requested is NOT correct. You must read the comments to get the entire picture. As shown in the comments below, the cancellation letter was sent in October. The customer should be advised they will receive their refund three weeks from the cancel date.