Dear Welcoming Olim
I wonder if you or one of your readers can help me.
I was most interested to read the post on difficulties with Bituach Leumi. I received a letter from Bituach Leumi to say that they had returned an amount "owing" me to my bank account. The amount they returned was exactly the amount I owed them for the month. Now I am having to pay it again with a few Shekels extra penalty fee.
My bank called asking about the payment from Bituach Leumi was and told me to sort it out as the bank is required to charge me for the service of receiving the money paid from Bituach Leumi and then charging another charge when I pay Bituach Leumi again. It seems that the "kindness" of Bituach Leumi is costing me interest/penalty fee on the additional unnecessary payment to them, plus bank charges. I now worry that they may do it again resulting in all these additional penalty and bank fee costs.
I can't help but wonder if this is just to create work for an employee. After all, someone had to return the money, write a letter to say the money was returned, put it in an envelope and pay for postage. The postman has to deliver the letter just to let me know that Bituach Leumi have returned money I had paid for monthly insurance. Then they hit me with a few Shekel fine. Why is that?
I don't understand what Bituach Leumi are doing, and I don't know how to follow thebank's instruction of "sorting things out with Bituach Leumi." I really don't know. I am an Oleh and have not learned the system too well.
Can you advise at all or can a reader of yours explain to me? The bank's call put me into a further state of depression regarding my honest payments.
Thank you for giving me the opportunity to write a guest post. Can someone offer assistance please?
-- Confused Reader
"I don't understand what Bituach Leumi are doing"
ReplyDeleteThat's OK. They don't know what they are doing, either. Seriously. Their 'books' are seriously messed up and they don't update your payments into their computer for 18 months or so AFTER you have paid - but they send out demand notices a month later. That's how they work.
I haven't spoken to them in a year or two but it seems to me that they will actually negotiate payments. That is, people who owe, say, 3,000 Shekels can bargain with them and get, say, a 50% discount and then they'll call it even-steven. I was amazed to see this, but people do. (It might have something to do with their not actually knowing what people owe.)
If you owe, you can try this.
Another thing - keep all receipts for payments and all records and correspondence - FOREVER. You can use them (copies only!!! never give them the originals) in later disputes.
Someday I'm going to have to face them and demand the several thousand shekels that they have improperly taken from my bank account without my consent...
Good luck!
I just came back in August after being out of the country for 6 years. Before I left in Dec 2004 I never received any booklet after 2003. I'm now considered a returning citizen and went down to bituach leumi to update etc. I just recevied a bill for 3055 shekels. In which 1200 of that is the penalty. My accountant told me not to pay the penalty part. He wants to contest it in writing or by phone. Can I do that? I'm going down to bituach leumi tommorrow. I'm willing to pay the bill except the penalty part. What do you think?
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