Consumer complaint received 2024-04-22
Product: Mortgage — Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Trouble during payment process — Trying to communicate with the company to fix an issue while managing or servicing your loan
Company: FIFTH THIRD FINANCIAL CORPORATION (AK)

We suffered a frozen/broken pipe at our home in mid-winter ( XX/XX/2024 ) while we were not present. The broken pipe ran for 6 days in the home causing significant water/flood damage. We had repairs made. XXXX contractors were involved with the repair work. We filed a claim with our insurer, XXXX XXXX. They cut us 2 checks, one for {$1800.00} and another for {$21000.00}. The checks were drafted as payable to my wife and I, AND to Fifth Third Bank. Fifth Third was required to be listed as payable per Firth Third as the mortgageholder. 

I spoke to " XXXX '' at Fifth Third 's Loss Draft Department who advised I needed to mail the checks to them for indorsement and they would mail the checks back to us promptly. He stated that we did not need to indorse the checks ourselves before we sent them to them. He also stated that we needed to include a cover letter ( describing the situation ), insurance estimates, and a prepaid mailer in the package I sent to them. I mailed the package following XXXX 's explicit instructions on XX/XX/2024. 

Several telephone calls were made to Fifth Third in the following weeks to check the status of these checks. I was advised they they had been indorsed and had been mailed back to me, and that I should receive them soon. 

In the meantime, we started receiving telephone calls, emails, and text messages from our creditors ( contractors who did the repair work ) asking about the status of our payments to them. I explained the insurance check situation. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I was contacted by one of the contractors again asking about these checks. I called Fifth Third again, and this time looking for more details. They confirmed that they processed the checks on XX/XX/XXXX and mailed them back to me, but THEY DID NOT USE the prepaid mailer that THEY REQUIRED ME TO INCLUDE. And instead of mailing the checks to our mailing address on record with them, the mailed them to the address of the damaged home. NO MAIL CAN BE RECEIVED AT THAT LOCATION. Our checks are effectively LOST because of Fifth Third. The Fifth Third representative asserted that the check was mailed to the address on record, the address for the damaged home, but per everything I can see on our account, our MAILING address is clearly identified. The pre-paid envelope that I was to provide also had our mailing address on it ( obviously ). The representative actually FOUND THE PREPAID ENVELOPE I SENT WITH THE PACKAGE AND COVERLETTER AS REQUESTED while I was speaking to her on the telephone. 

The representative at Fifth Third advised that I needed to have " my '' insurer cut new checks to mail to me, then for me to again mail the checks to Fifth Third for processing/indorsement and they would mail them back to me. I explained that I wasn't the only policyholder on this insurance policy and that they, Fifth Third was also a named insured. I suggested to the representative that Fifth Third should cut me a check, or to cut checks directly to the contractors, and that since they mishandled the checks, they, as a named insured on the insurance policy, should take up the matter of issuing new checks with XXXX XXXX themselves. That, of course, went over like a lead balloon. I then requested to speak to a supervisor. 

Eventually, a supervisor named XXXX got on the phone. She was aware of the situation and apologized, and simply repeated what the representative stated. I asked for documentation from Fifth Third stating what happened and what they did with the checks. She said she couldn't do that. However, she did offer to provide her telephone number so that our XXXX XXXX claims XXXX could contact her directly. 

I have contacted the post office that may have received the package but this has gone nowhere. 

I have left a message for our XXXX XXXX at XXXX XXXX. No action yet. 

Contractors have yet to be paid.