Billing issue leaves Florida Blue customers seeing red

Image 1 of 3

Customers of Florida Blue are reporting the insurer has mistakenly withdrawn hundreds of even thousands of dollars from their accounts, leaving many of them severely withdrawn.

When Mark Lopresti pays his bills, he prefers to write a check and drop the return envelope in the mail.

But, when his latest Florida Blue statement didn't arrive on time, he reluctantly agreed to do it electronically.

"Today, at 3:00, I received a 'low account balance' alert from my bank," Lopresti said.

"Low" would be an understatement.

"It was thousands and thousands and thousands of dollars overdrawn. Tens of thousands overdrawn," Lopresti said.

A closer look at his bank statement revealed a big problem.

Florida Blue had processed his payment a whopping 74 times, withdrawing nearly $89,000.

"It was surreal. I had other things going on at the time and I was still processing," Lopresti said.

Lopresti is watching his bank account closely, waiting for the numbers to rise back where they belong.

But after all of this, he said he's ready to find another carrier.

"Some people should be fired right now," Lopresti said. "I'm just thankful I am in a better situation where I can handle it but you know, there's a lot of people out there who, this is everything they have and everything they need for this month."

Florida Blue didn't say how many customers were affected or give a timeline as to when they expect everyone's accounts to be replenished.

However, the process has started.

We spoke with a St. Pete woman who had been charged 33 times and her account was negative more than $4,000.

She said that by Monday afternoon, Florida Blue had refunded her money.

Social media channels for Florida Blue are filling up with complaints from users around the state, reporting that they were repeatedly billed for what should have been a one-time premium payment.

"Thanks Florida Blue for taking out my $650 premium over 76 times making me $50,000 overdrawn," one user complained.

"Florida Blue has debited my business account 105 times today, totaling over $45,000," another wrote.

"Thanks Florida Blue for taking out my $650 premium over 76 times making me $50,000 overdrawn," a third person said.

In a Facebook post, the Jacksonville-based insurer acknowledged an “issue” and they say they are working to resolve the problem.

"We’re sorry! We’re working to fix an issue w/the payment system ASAP. Please email us at socialmediasupport@floridablue.com so we can help you," the post stated.

A more detailed statement from the company listed steps being taken and included a pledge to repay all overdraft fees: