It’s amazing how many don’t pay attention to remittance advice.
They should.
I downloaded remittance advice for an MHM client yesterday.
One of them, provided by a certain insurance company, was for 11 separate invoices with a total value of £2,400.
But the payment made against the value of the invoices was only £1,950.
Pretty standard stuff. The difference was almost certainly excess.
Except it wasn’t
WRONG!
Whilst £350 was in respect of excess, the remaining £100 had been deducted because we had charged the wrong fee.
No, we hadn’t.
We had charged the correct fee for the appropriate CCSD code and the insurance company had made a mistake.
They had reduced the value of the invoice incorrectly by mistake.
A quick call to the insurance company later and the mistake was put right.
Next week’s payment will include the £100 incorrectly deducted.
FIRST TIME?
This isn’t the first time this particular insurance company has made this mistake. Indeed it is the 5th time so far this year.
£500 deducted from an MHM client for no valid reason!
And that’s precisely why remittance advice is not only more useful than you think and why you should check them carefully.
They aren’t just pieces of paper your accountant wants to see every so often.
They also aren’t just to tell you if and when an excess has been deducted.
The purpose of remittance advice is for you to check you have been paid the right amount for your professional services.
DON’T HAVE TO
Obviously, you don’t have to check each one.
If you don’t like money or getting paid the right fee, you don’t have to.
Yes, you do.
pete@medicalhealthcaremanagement.co.uk