Commuter gets refund for unused COVID-era benefits with help from NBC 5 Responds – NBC Chicago

Regina Howard began working from home in early 2020.

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, she would take the train to commute from her home in south suburban Dolton to Chicago.

Howard participated in a commuter savings program, which allocated a portion of her regular paycheck toward commuting expenses. Howard didnt have to pay income taxes on the funds that were set aside for her commute.

Then time went on, and we were still at home, and then I'm looking at my checks one day, I'm like, 'Oh, wow, I'm still getting the deductions for the train ride,'" she recalled.

Howard stopped contributing to the commuter savings program.

A total of $477.50 sat in her Ventra account, which is the fare system for the Chicago Transit Authority. Howard said she received disappointing news when she asked Ventra for a refund.

I was told I would need to be relocating or dead in order to get a refund, she explained.

According to Ventras policy, account refunds are not provided unless the account holder is recently deceased and a representative of their estate requests a refund. Or if the account holder has an unplanned move or relocation out of the state of Illinois.

The south suburban resident said the Ventra customer service agent told her the unused funds would just sit there in her account. Howard told NBC5 Responds she called back numerous times and asked to speak with a supervisor.

Then, last June, she received a refund from a Ventra supervisor. He said her money was approved for a refund, but she would need to fill out additional paperwork.

Howard said she followed up numerous times with no luck.

Every rep that I spoke with after that kept telling me that it [the refund] was denied," she explained.

But Howard still had the voicemail saying that her refund had been approved. She decided to call NBC 5 Responds for help.

I got a response so fast from NBC. It's just like, oh, it works, Howard said.

NBC 5 Responds contacted the CTA to get its understanding of the situation.

The CTA said Howard didnt meet its opt-out conditions, adding: In this instance, we are moving forward with providing a refund to the rider The agency went on to say: CTA will issue the transit benefit amount back to the third-party administrator (TPA) used by the riders employer to administer its Transit Benefits Program. The TPA will then coordinate the refund with the riders employer who will then need to tax the value accordingly and process as needed.

The process of refunding the money took nearly two months, but Howard finally got her refund of $477.50.

In this case, NBC 5 Responds went to work for Howard because she had documentation showing Ventra had promised a refund but never delivered.

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Commuter gets refund for unused COVID-era benefits with help from NBC 5 Responds - NBC Chicago