I work as a tax agent and we hire a private firm to do collection work if you do not pay the initial bill. They really do not care if the bill is an error they just want to get paid. My agents get all the non-paid cases from the collection agency after a judgment has been filed. We do not want you paying money you do not owe and often have to fix the account and cancel the judgments that were entered.
So I still don't know what to do. Even if I pay, it will say Paid-Collections on my credit report, right? I want it off because it doesn't seem like it should be on there in the first place.
I've emailed our local news people that are supposed to look after consumers. We'll see how that goes.
It's true. Nowadays, I would probably pay a fee up to $100 to keep it off my credit, even if it wasn't legit, after the last time.
Where I work, it's amazing what people won't pay to avoid going to collections. Sometimes they get sent to collections for bills as small as $10. It's mind blowing. I warn them. They don't get it. They will. Unfortunately.
Multiply your case by several thousand other "unjust" collection proceedings and you find an important source of revenue for unscrupulous collection agencies.
Most folks would balk at a few thousand or even a few hundred dollars of invalid debt. Twenty or thirty bucks just gets paid to avoid hassels.
Talk to a lawyer and see if your state has any punitive damage and legal fee provisions available to punish businesses that act in bad faith. Most of the protections that used to exist have been gutted in the name of "reducing costs".
Medical record keeping management, both patient medical histories and financial procedures, are a disaster in the US. This increases costs and causes errors.
I am already considering it. I'm hoping that if I do bring the case against them they'll just drop it because it's not worth their time/money to come from Toledo? It's less than $100 for all the bills combined. I wish I could go after them for a little more because of all the crap it's caused for me- the constant phone calls, the denied credit card, etc. But I won't because I don't think I can and it's not worth it. I just want the truth. Seriously, that's all I want.
It doesn't always have to be legal to really screw with you.
When this happened to us, we had to jump through hoops to get it off our credit report. It can be done, but it usually takes a lot of time.
It may sound random, but maybe you can go to small claims court? A victory there might be enough to get the credit agency off your back. I don't know. Probably a long shot.
I responded. I wouldn't mind paying if I owed it, but it seems to me that I don't owe anything and it's ****ing up my credit. I got denied for a freaking student credit card. I already have two and just wanted to get one with a better rate (my capitalone card is screwing me over and I want to be done with it, but not close it) and I'm not even close to my limits and I always pay way more than minimum. It's just crap that I have three accounts in collections on my credit report, but no one can tell me WHY.
I just can't figure out how any of this is legal. Ugh.
I went through this with a tiny bill after we moved. It was an enormous hassle.
Another time, a bill came almost a year to the time it was incurred, after our insurance changed. It was big, I complained and still had to pay it. I wasn't happy.
I don't think it's someone else with my name. It's definitely my name, my info, my hospital, etc.
I am disputing that I owe anything in the first place. Right now, nothing says that we owe anything.
My dad's been keeping copies of everything. We haven't moved. He is neurotic about medical bills because this isn't the first time this has all happened, it's just the first time with me. He still has someone coming after him for an ambulance ride over 7 years ago that everyone has records of being paid.
I will scan and send the bills shortly.
And yes, I contacted the credit reporting agency (there were three of them). Actually, my mom ended up taking care of that. She is a banker and filling out those forms are like second nature to her. This was almost a month ago now that they were contacted.
I have contacted the debt people, if that's what you mean. They just tell me that I owe that amount, but will not tell me why. They also have an "F" from BBB and pages and pages and pages of complaints when Googled. http://www.bbb.org/toledo/business-reviews/collection-agencies/united-collection-bureau-in-toledo-oh-7271
Could there be someone else with your name, Romani? That could explain some of this. Or maybe someone else used your insurance card? Are you disputing the charges that they didn't happen or simply that they were paid?
Your bills that you weren't even aware of had collections fees added on. Those figures are just small enough to prove that there was a delay in payment from insurance company to docs that they added on the collections fee. It's usually a small enough amount that must be paid or it will ruin your life.
If you want to pm me, I am happy to look at your stuff, Romani. I think you will to contact the collections agencies and be pleasantly nice but persistent. They have made a mistake. I am curious about when the bills were paid, minus the collections fees? Was there a huge time gap between payment? Did you move?
It's very possible the docs didn't bill right away which caused this problem.
Or someone made a mistake and is covering up their error.
You need names and phone numbers and a paper trail. Did you say you contacted your credit reporting agency?
Ok, so this has been going on for at least a year, but this is the most recent development:
I am 19 and have never missed a payment on anything, ever. About six months ago, creditors started hounding me about a medical bill I never paid (which they still never sent me a bill for it). Anyway, a few weeks ago we asked for an itemized bill from the debt collectors after I discovered I had THREE medical bills "in collections" on my credit report. Never once have I gotten a bill about any of these. I also started getting calls last May from hospitals and they were all automated. When I tried to call back, they couldn't find my records. I still get about 6 calls a day.
So I finally got a bill from United Credit Bureau for two of my three accounts. On one it says: Amount billed: $505. Amount covered by insurance: $505. Total due: $37.50. The other says Amount billed: $2650. Amount covered by insurance: $2650. Total due: $27.50.
Ok- first of all, no idea where they came up with those numbers. Secondly, it originally says Total due: 0.00 and someone WHITED IT OUT and HAND WROTE in the $27.50 and the $37.50. When we call the place to figure out WHY we owe money that should be covered by insurance, they simply say that we owe it- no explanation.
This wouldn't even bother me except that I got denied for a student credit card because of these accounts "in collections" even though I have disputed them.
I hope this makes sense. Does anyone know if this is even legal and what I can do about it? If I OWE money, I WILL pay it- but they won't tell me what I owe for and it doesn't seem like I should owe anything at all.
I will scan the documents later (obviously blotting out personal info) if that will make it more clear.
Thanks for anyone who has any idea. I'm just so frustrated.
Oh, and when we call the hospital they say that they have no record of me owing any money. My dad used to work for this hospital and one of his best friends works in billing and she can't find any record of me ever missing a payment.
