Quick answer: After your letter is issued, buy the product with a personal card, then Add a receipt on Letters and reimbursements. When you are ready, the receipt shows Continue reimbursement. Crates fills and sends the claim for supported administrators. For any other administrator, download the letter and the receipt and submit them yourself.

Before you buy, open Letters and reimbursements and confirm the letter is issued. View the original letter opens the file.

Your LMN needs to be dated on or before your purchase date. In the app, the purchase date has to fall on a day a letter covers. A date no letter covers is refused. A letter still in review cannot be used. You can request once it is issued.

Purchase from wherever you normally would: Amazon, your gym's website, in person, wherever. Use your regular credit card, debit card, or another personal payment method. You cannot buy the product in the Crates app. You shop where you normally would.

You do not need your HSA/FSA card at checkout. Most wellness retailers (gyms, supplement stores, wearables, and similar) do not take HSA cards, because of how their merchant category codes are set up. Paying with a personal card and then getting reimbursed is the standard path.

Keep the receipt. It should show:

The file can be JPEG, PNG, GIF, or PDF, up to 4 MB each.

Log in and open Letters and reimbursements. Switch to Receipts and reimbursements (on a phone, Receipts). Add a receipt needs the product and one or more files.

Success says Receipt saved for the product name.

You can store a receipt if you have a paid plan, or if an issued letter is still unexpired. Otherwise the app says: Store receipts with your letters and request reimbursement with a paid plan, and it shows Choose a plan. There is no Add a receipt in that case.

A stored receipt is for your records. It is not a claim. Until you submit a request, nothing is sent to your administrator.

You can delete a stored receipt until a request is submitted. The confirmation is Delete this stored receipt? This can't be undone. Requested and sent receipts have no Delete.

One request is one receipt. Every request asks Amount you are claiming and Date of purchase. A range form asks Service starts and Service ends. The date picks the letter that covers that day. On renewal day, the new letter's date applies.

The first request asks only for missing administrator details, then saves them on Profile under Reimbursement details. One of those details is Account establishment date: the date your HSA or FSA account was established. If you are not sure of it, your administrator can tell you. Later requests reuse them. You still draw a signature each time.

Crates can fill and send the claim when the administrator and account type match a form it has: Bank of America, Fidelity, FSAFEDS (FSA only), HealthEquity, HSA Bank, Navia, Optum, and WEX. Our in-house claims team reviews and finalizes the submission to your HSA/FSA admin.

If Crates cannot send to that administrator, including a name typed as My administrator isn't listed, you submit it yourself. The letter and the receipt stay available to download.

If the letter was written for an administrator you no longer use, the app can tell you to contact Crates instead of sending the request to the new account.

After you submit, statuses can include Reimbursement requested, Sending reimbursement, and Reimbursement sent to your administrator. The sent detail says the administrator decides the payout and timing. Administrators do not share payout updates with Crates.

After it is sent, you can note Heard back from your administrator? as Reimbursed or Not reimbursed. The note does not change the sent status.

A question from Crates shows on that receipt, and on Home under Waiting on you (One question about your [product] reimbursement, with Answer the question or Answer). The reimbursement-question email is not sent. An answer returns the item to review or to Reimbursement requested.

Typical timeline: Reimbursements usually process within 5-15 business days (HSA accounts are often faster, around 1-5 days; FSA claims take longer due to review), depending on your specific HSA/FSA admin. Some are faster than others.

The reimbursement goes through your HSA/FSA administrator, not through Crates. You may need a bank account connected inside your administrator's portal (such as HealthEquity, Optum, or WEX) for the funds to reach your bank. That setup is on their side, not in Crates. The administrator decides the payout and timing.

No. When we talk about connecting bank information, we mean inside your HSA/FSA administrator's portal. Crates doesn't hold or transfer your reimbursement funds directly.

The letter setup does not ask for an SSN or an account number.

If your HSA didn't have enough funds at the time of purchase, you can still submit for reimbursement later. There's no time limit on HSA reimbursements - as long as the expense happened after your HSA was opened, you can reimburse whenever your account has the funds.

The app refuses a date before the HSA opened, and a date no letter covers.

Note: FSA rules are different. FSAs typically have a plan-year deadline, so check with your FSA admin about their submission window.

Your receipt should include the product name, date, amount, and merchant. If your receipt is vague (just shows a total with no product details), your HSA/FSA admin might ask for an itemized version. See our article on getting an itemized receipt if you run into this.

Do I shop through Crates? No. You shop wherever you normally would. Crates provides the letter. For supported administrators, Crates fills and sends the claim. We're not a store.

Can I reimburse purchases I already made? There are two types of HSA-eligible expenses: those that require a Letter of Medical Necessity and those that don't.

For FSA accounts, reimbursements must be submitted within your plan year. Check with your FSA admin about their specific submission deadlines.

How long do reimbursements take? After you choose Continue reimbursement, most HSA/FSA admins process claims within 5-15 business days. Some (like Fidelity) can be even faster. The administrator decides the payout and timing, and does not share payout updates with Crates.

What is the Account establishment date in a reimbursement request? It is the date your HSA or FSA account was established. The form asks for it the first time you request a reimbursement, with your other account details. It is used to check that your purchase happened after the account was established. If you are not sure of the date, your administrator can tell you.

What if my reimbursement is denied? Check out our article on what to do if your claim is denied.

If you're stuck at any step, chat with us or email [email protected]. We'll walk you through it.