The financial news that actually matters
A general consumer finance category covering everyday money decisions, budgeting, saving, debt management, credit behavior, and personal financial improvement strategies.
South Carolina Treasurer Curtis Loftis runs a program that matches unclaimed property to its owner and sends the check without a claim form. The office calls it Palmetto Payback. A letter arrives first, the check follows about four to six weeks later, and each check is good for only 90 days. How Palmetto Payback sends…
Wells Fargo’s California forbearance settlement checks go void 90 days after they are issued, and the clock runs from each check’s own issue date. Checks were due to be mailed by the end of August, so one issued on August 31 expires November 29, according to OpenClassActions. A borrower who does not deposit in time…
People whose student-loan interest and tuition tax forms were exposed through the website of Educational Computer Systems, known as ECSI, can file for an estimated $100 each from a $6.5 million settlement. Claims must be filed or postmarked by December 21, 2026. The Pennsylvania company, which handles student loan servicing and tax documents for colleges,…
California members of Anthem Blue Cross’s grandfathered Core 5000, Tonik and RightPlan policies have until Tuesday, November 10, to ask for money back on brand-name prescriptions they paid for after Anthem refused coverage. The claim window covers purchases from January 1, 2017 through May 8, 2026. It grew out of a state insurance regulator’s case…
Washington drivers insured by State Farm whose cars were repaired after a crash and paid for under the policy’s underinsured-motorist property damage coverage can file for diminished value, the loss in resale price a repaired car carries. Summaries of the settlement put the average payment at about $625. Claims are due December 14, and the…
A Virginia adult in Medicaid expansion who files an application in January 2027 will be able to get bills covered back to December and no further, one month instead of the three available now. The Department of Medical Assistance Services (DMAS) says retroactive coverage drops to one month for expansion members and two months for…
South Dakota Medicaid will cover bills from only one month before an expansion adult applies once January 1, 2027 arrives, down from three months today. Everyone else who applies will get two months of back coverage instead of three. The state Department of Social Services lists the change alongside work reporting and shorter renewal periods…
Maryland’s Department of Human Services sent nearly 507,000 chip-and-tap EBT cards to benefit recipients and estimates that about 85 percent have been activated. That leaves roughly 15 percent, about 76,000 cards by simple arithmetic, still unused. The department’s October 1 announcement says magnetic-stripe-only cards will deactivate “soon” and gives no date. A September 30 cutoff…
Just under 54,400 North Dakotans were enrolled in SNAP in April, and from November 1 none of them can use an EBT card to buy candy, soda or other sweetened drinks. The state’s Health and Human Services department moved the start from September 1 after USDA asked it to wait. USDA’s waiver list, updated October…
Apotex and Heritage together are paying $58 million into the generic-drug price-fixing settlements now taking claims, but that slice goes to health plans, not to patients. Consumers and plans alike can still file against the larger Sandoz and Sun/Taro deals, and every claim is due November 9, two weeks from today. The combined pot is…