Debt collector question.

[crawdaddct]

They should have a online payment system for the doctors office. Most doctors have it. I would send a check to the doctor. Don't even acknowledge the collection agency. Most are not even real collection agencies, they just use the name to try to collect bills for the doctors. Bottom line pay something every month, even if its $20.00. Ive had the same thing before, I just paid the doctors office and ignored anyone calling. Most of the time if you pay them something, they will leave you alone. My last emergency room visit took me a long time to pay off. I just sent them a $100 a month. A payment plan would be best, but if they don't have it, then do your own.

I had a collection agency call one time. I called the doctors office afterwards, because I didn't know I owed them anything. The billing lady was rude and was demanding immediate payment. I called back and spoke with the doctor and explained, I didn't know about the bill and didn't have the funds right now. I would send them a check every month till I could get it paid off. The doctor said don't worry about it, ill just write it off. They never called again.

[Goldeneagle]

I had a collection agency call one time. I called the doctors office afterwards, because I didn't know I owed them anything. The billing lady was rude and was demanding immediate payment. I called back and spoke with the doctor and explained, I didn't know about the bill and didn't have the funds right now. I would send them a check every month till I could get it paid off. The doctor said don't worry about it, ill just write it off. They never called again.

We tried this on the one's that wouldn't setup a payment plan. The doctors are as big a jackass as the one's that work for them. There are so many doctors involved in this that I'm not sure what they even did.

[Pushbutton2]

Debt collector question.

I'm happy happy happy you survived.


Me personally? I wouldn't.
Multiple bad experiences 20 years ago.

MY issue was money mgmnt. I'd spend than pay bills.
In the process of changing my habits I entered into agreements with them and they didn't uphold their end of the bargain. The irony of it was lost in me for a few years

[RiverRat1]

One hospital and a couple of doctors would not set up a payment plan. That's how some of it got to the collectors. I owe 2 different hospitals, 2 different surgeons, I don't know what all technicians and other crap. Even though my deductibles were met before this, I owe a total of around $10,000. It sucks!

So what did your insurance say or how do they explain you having to pay more than your deductible?

If it was all done at one hospital I believe you only have to send in one payment per month. They will, however, try to separate all bills as many times as possible to make you pay a bunch of minimum payments.

I would check my credit rating. If they already gave you a mark then tell them to screw off. As mentioned before there are plenty of laws set up to protect you.

I know it's hard but try to not stress too much. Log down each doctor you owe then send in the minimum each month to each one. Log it down as you pay. When they call tell them you'd be happy to fax your payment records over.

[Goldeneagle]

So what did your insurance say or how do they explain you having to pay more than your deductible?

If it was all done at one hospital I believe you only have to send in one payment per month. They will, however, try to separate all bills as many times as possible to make you pay a bunch of minimum payments.

I would check my credit rating. If they already gave you a mark then tell them to screw off. As mentioned before there are plenty of laws set up to protect you.

I know it's hard but try to not stress too much. Log down each doctor you owe then send in the minimum each month to each one. Log it down as you pay. When they call tell them you'd be happy to fax your payment records over.

After deductible, I pay 20%.

[crawdaddct]

We tried this on the one's that wouldn't setup a payment plan. The doctors are as big a jackass as the one's that work for them. There are so many doctors involved in this that I'm not sure what they even did.

You can always ask for a itemized list from the hospital and doctors. My father-in-law gets one every time and nitpicks them to death. He meets with the business manager and goes over each charge and questions what its for. One he talks about all the time was a drug screening when he got surgery on his eyes. He bugged them until they took it off the bill. He makes them account for every charge. Even stuff the insurance covers. If they gave him ten pills he wants a copy of the inventory sheet and charts showing he actually received them. Its a bit much for me. The hospitals know people are not going to take the time to dig into their bills.

[BrandonH]

Just send them $10 a month. Mail to the hospital or doctor. Don't have any contact with the bill collection folks. Pay what you can until it's all paid off.

Over the years I've had thousands in unexpected medical bills and I've done this exact thing. I send them $10/month and they have never turned it over to collections or reported anything to the credit bureaus. I've had a couple that actually amended their invoices after a few months to show $10 due that month...i guess they caught on.

[Charles]

We tried this on the one's that wouldn't setup a payment plan. The doctors are as big a jackass as the one's that work for them. There are so many doctors involved in this that I'm not sure what they even did.

In that case make them prove you actually owe them money they "say" you owe. Just sending you a bill saying you owe X, isn't proof enough you actually owe.

Bottom line is, if you don't have the money to pay you don't have the money. Its not like you or I can wave a magic wand and poof have the money.

Keep telling the scum bag, bottom feeding collectors you don't have the money and to pound sand (same thing as "get off my lawn")

[bwssr]

You can always ask for a itemized list from the hospital and doctors. My father-in-law gets one every time and nitpicks them to death. He meets with the business manager and goes over each charge and questions what its for. One he talks about all the time was a drug screening when he got surgery on his eyes. He bugged them until they took it off the bill. He makes them account for every charge. Even stuff the insurance covers. If they gave him ten pills he wants a copy of the inventory sheet and charts showing he actually received them. Its a bit much for me. The hospitals know people are not going to take the time to dig into their bills.

THIS...my wife needed stiches in her scalp, we got billed for 3 er docs, she saw 0....the nurse...then we got the scan bill..so, we showed the "refuse treatment" form signed by the ER folks and wife, and ME!...that was dropped too. They want you to help pay for those that never do

[bowhuntertex]

Just send them $10 a month. Mail to the hospital or doctor. Don't have any contact with the bill collection folks. Pay what you can until it's all paid off.

This is what I did. If you are making an effort to pay something they cannot hound you about it. But whatever you don't deal with the bill collector. Pay directly to the hospital or doctor owed.

[wal1809]

You need to get yourself educated on credit and collections. By that I don't mean here on the green screen.

In the meantime, STOP TALKING TO COLLECTORS!!!!! The first thing they will do is establish who you are. Once that is confirmed on tape, they will get you to admit to the debt. Pay attention here.

Understand if a debt collector is involved, the creditor has sold the debt for pennies on the dollar and used the charge off as a write off. So when you are paying a collector, you are not paying the hospital, you are paying a private company that has gambled pennies to obtain dollars. I don't care what they tell you, you are paying them, not the hospital.

I would never pay a collection agency a dime. If in the event your credit is affected, it will always be affected. You can write letters on your own behalf buy you are not going to be able to take off the bad credit. You might as well keep your money and suffer out whatever bad credit you already have. The best thing is to keep your money and dispute the bad credit. As these debt collection companies hold the debt, they try to collect. After x amount of time they realize you are not going to pay. They turn around and sell the debt way cheaper than what they paid for it. Your debt will get bought and sold over and over again until it is really worthless and the end of the statute of limitation nears. Thats the best time to dispute it because they will not see the value in continuing to update the account. They have to respond in 30 days or less to the disputes you file. If they miss that window, that bad credit rating has to vanish.

My wife had the absolute worst credit ever. We met after she went through a long lengthy bad divorce. Her credit was the worst you can imagine. It was so bad she thought all was hopeless and she would never get back to normal. I had to talk her into running her own credit reports. I picked a debt that was right for the taking and wrote a letter disputing the amount owed. The company didn't respond and it was removed. That lit a spark of hope and she fired off letters of dispute and cleared a lot of her bad credit. We pay our bills and pay them on time. The last time a car dealer ran her credit they went bug eyed and made a "Pssst, no problems here Mam, your're score is over 800".

These laws are created for those that are in a hopeless sense, just like my wife was back in the day. The laws worked and now she is back to being a contributing member to the financial foundation of this country. You can do the same. I would highly suggest you stop talking to them until you get a good handle on your strategy. Talking to them serves no good purpose, except to dig you in further.

[Goldeneagle]

You need to get yourself educated on credit and collections. By that I don't mean here on the green screen.

In the meantime, STOP TALKING TO COLLECTORS!!!!! The first thing they will do is establish who you are. Once that is confirmed on tape, they will get you to admit to the debt. Pay attention here.

Understand if a debt collector is involved, the creditor has sold the debt for pennies on the dollar and used the charge off as a write off. So when you are paying a collector, you are not paying the hospital, you are paying a private company that has gambled pennies to obtain dollars. I don't care what they tell you, you are paying them, not the hospital.

I would never pay a collection agency a dime. If in the event your credit is affected, it will always be affected. You can write letters on your own behalf buy you are not going to be able to take off the bad credit. You might as well keep your money and suffer out whatever bad credit you already have. The best thing is to keep your money and dispute the bad credit. As these debt collection companies hold the debt, they try to collect. After x amount of time they realize you are not going to pay. They turn around and sell the debt way cheaper than what they paid for it. Your debt will get bought and sold over and over again until it is really worthless and the end of the statute of limitation nears. Thats the best time to dispute it because they will not see the value in continuing to update the account. They have to respond in 30 days or less to the disputes you file. If they miss that window, that bad credit rating has to vanish.

My wife had the absolute worst credit ever. We met after she went through a long lengthy bad divorce. Her credit was the worst you can imagine. It was so bad she thought all was hopeless and she would never get back to normal. I had to talk her into running her own credit reports. I picked a debt that was right for the taking and wrote a letter disputing the amount owed. The company didn't respond and it was removed. That lit a spark of hope and she fired off letters of dispute and cleared a lot of her bad credit. We pay our bills and pay them on time. The last time a car dealer ran her credit they went bug eyed and made a "Pssst, no problems here Mam, your're score is over 800".

These laws are created for those that are in a hopeless sense, just like my wife was back in the day. The laws worked and now she is back to being a contributing member to the financial foundation of this country. You can do the same. I would highly suggest you stop talking to them until you get a good handle on your strategy. Talking to them serves no good purpose, except to dig you in further.

We haven't talked to them over the phone. This particular one was in writing.

[Froggy]

The american credit system: Guilty! Until proven innocent.

Read this free online book.

https://freedom-school.com/money/american-credit-system.pdf

Chapters 1 and 10 will give you the knowledge to stop the collection agency.

Next time they call tell them you will send them something right away, then send them the Cease Comm letter on page 201.

Sample

THE CEASE-COMM LETTER
YOUR NAME
YOUR ADDRESS
CITY, STATE, ZIP
VIA CERTIFIED MAIL RRR #Z 683 294 613

Date

XYZ Collection Agency
A Debt Collection Agency
PO Box 4321
Dallas, TX 75221

RE: Account #314075900/ Deadman’s Hospital/ Amt: $343.22

Dear Debt Collection Agency:

This will serve as your legal notice under federal law, the Fair Debt
Collection Practices Act, to cease all communication with me in reference
to the above account.

If you fail to heed this notice, I will file a formal complaint against
you with the Federal Trade Commission, who is responsible for
enforcement, and the state Attorney General’s Office, as well as the
American Collector’s Association, who monitors for noncompliance.

I/We have decided that I/We do not desire to work with a collection
agency under any circumstances. I/We will contact the original
creditor to resolve this matter directly.

You are also notified that if any adverse items are placed against my/our
credit reports as a result of this notice that I/We will be forced to take
appropriate action against you, and the client that you represent.

Give this matter the attention it deserves, as the consequences could
be severe.

Yours truly,

Goldeneagle

[boy wonder]

My mother was treated for a few days at a medical facility, under Medicare. When she was released to a assisted living facility. The medical place called and told me I had to pay $1000 with a credit card over the phone, right away. I refused and asked for an itemized bill and I would send a check. They never sent a bill, even though I asked about it again. A bill collector called and I told her about not getting a bill, she replied " I wouldn't pay it either", and never called me back. This was over 7 yrs ago.

[Huggybear]

Make sure you get it in writing the debt will be settled with this one time payment and removed from collections.