A case against auto-pay

[GlockSpock]

http://www.fox5vegas.com/story/24914685/womans-auto-payments-hid-her-death-for-six-years

 

Now, I use auto-pay for all of my bills and love it. Since I use YNAB I have no worries of over-drafting, ever.

 

Buy wow, six years without being found? 

[TNMTBik3r]

6 years is crazy.

I only have one automatic withdraw and that is into a college fund we setup for our daughter. Other than that, all of my bills are paid manually when I decide using online bill pay or sending a check.

[NashvilleStage]

So... you're saying that she would still be alive if she had paid her bills manually?  ;) 

 

All kidding aside, I travel quite a bit, and have used auto-draft on all my bills for the last decade or so with zero issues. The few times that a bill was incorrect, the utility quickly corrected the payment or adjusted it on the next bill.

[bersaguy]

I only have one auto pay bill and that is netflix. I pay all my bills either on line or with a check each month. I have never really put that much trust in the auto pay programs even though my bank has told me that they will protect me from any possible abuse of it I just don't have that kind of trust in utility companies and other people having access to my bank accounts.............jmho

[GlockSpock]

[quote name="bersaguy" post="1126458" timestamp="1395166478"]I only have one auto pay bill and that is netflix. I pay all my bills either on line or with a check each month. I have never really put that much trust in the auto pay programs even though my bank has told me that they will protect me from any possible abuse of it I just don't have that kind of trust in utility companies and other people having access to my bank accounts.............jmho[/quote] The majority of my auto bill payments are setup on my bank's side. The E-Bill gets sent to my bank. There are settings on my online banking that I can set (pay when bill arrives, pay 10 days before due, pay 3 days before due, etc). I trust it more than making payments in the mail. In fact, the only issue I have had since adopting the strategy is one time my bank sent my rent payment via USPS (a it always does), and USPS lost it. It was taken care of though. Keep in mind, if you pay by check "they" already have your account information. It is printed on the bottom of the check:) Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[npgunner]

[quote name="CZ9MM" post="1126460" timestamp="1395167076"]The majority of my auto bill payments are setup on my bank's side. The E-Bill gets sent to my bank. There are settings on my online banking that I can set (pay when bill arrives, pay 10 days before due, pay 3 days before due, etc). I trust it more than making payments in the mail.In fact, the only issue I have had since adopting the strategy is one time my bank sent my rent payment via USPS (a it always does), and USPS lost it. It was taken care of though. Keep in mind, if you pay by check "they" already have your account information. It is printed on the bottom of the check:)Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk[/quote] Good point about the account info. When I auto-pay or e-pay through my bank, it sends a check from the bank on my behalf, so my actual bank account info is never seen by the third party. The only info on the check is my name and the account number with whomever is being paid (I.e. my water company account #). I try to do all my e-pay this way and not through the other companies websites.

[Dane]

Ok so who in the world has 6 years of mortgage payments in their account? Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

[vontar]

I read this a few days ago.  She had very good neighbors to mow her lawn for 6 years with out asking questions as well.

[tnguy]

There was a time before the housing bubble was inflated so high.

[Monkeyman2500]

Wow. Pretty freaky.

[Ted S.]

After working tech support and customer service, I will do my best not to let computers pay my bills for me. Sent from somewhere in the cosmos using magic...and bacon.

[Dooley111]

I bet you can buy the car she was in pretty cheap.. Might need a little febreze.

[vontar]

After working tech support and customer service, I will do my best not to let computers pay my bills for me. Sent from somewhere in the cosmos using magic...and bacon.

I totally agree.

[Oh Shoot]

Ok so who in the world has 6 years of mortgage payments in their account? Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

 

Some people have a lot of money, ya know. Once CD interest crashed,  a lot of folks just dumped a lot of their bucks into interest bearing checking and savings accounts. Say 2 grand a month for mortgage and utils and whatnot, that's only $144K over the six years, not exactly big rich status or anything.

 

- OS

[bvarnell]

Some people have a lot of money, ya know. Once CD interest crashed,  a lot of folks just dumped a lot of their bucks into interest bearing checking and savings accounts. Say 2 grand a month for mortgage and utils and whatnot, that's only $144K over the six years, not exactly big rich status or anything.

 

- OS

 

And automatic deposit for SS, retirement and who knows what else. 

[Dirtshooter]

The really sad part is 6 years and nobody checked on her?? The cops were real thorough huh??