CA calling @ work & demanding full payment w/no options

Hello there munchkin, and welcome! I have found in my experience that Medical CA's are pushy people. One would expect that these would be the ones with a little more compassion, after all, this isn't a debt you incurred in a frivolous way, but that's just my perspective. lol
Anyway, send them a cease and desist letter, I have included a sample.

Your Name
Date:
Your Address
City, State, Zip

XYZ Collection Agency/Law Firm
1234 Main Street, #100
Any town, USA 10021

Re: File #0000000 - ABC Bank - #4445566778899000
For: $5555.55

Dear Debt Collector /Debt Collector Attorney:

This will serve as your legal notice under provisions of federal law, the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (fdcpa), to cease all communication with me in regard to the debt referenced above.

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, the States Attorney General office and/or the American Collectors Association or local State Bar Association.

I/We have decided that 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, as circumstances warrant.

You are also notified that should any adverse information be placed against my/our credit reports as a result of this notice that appropriate actions will be taken.

Give this very important matter the attention it deserves.

Sincerely,
John J. Consumer

NOTE: This is an attempt to make a debt collector obey the law.
Any information obtained, will be used for that purpose.
I think I got this letter from the Bud Hibbs website, you don't have to add the last part (This is an attempt to make a debt collector obey the law.
Any information obtained, will be used for that), but I probably would. lol!

1 annoying thing is that on their payment stub is they only have one option: "pay in full". There's no space typically found on other medical bills where you specify a credit card # & the amount you are paying. Their payment stub simply has just one check box: "__ payment in full enclosed."

Oh they always do that, I wouldn't be too concerned, as long as you are making an attempt to pay this off I don't see how they can possibly make a case in court out of it, that doesn't mean they won't try, but continue making payments. As far as making payments, this is why you should never send the same amount every month, because these CA's tend to take that as an agreement. I have no clue if it would stand up in court as a valid agreement though. I always send my payments in a different amount, one month maybe $100.00, the next month maybe $80.00, and so on. That way they can't trap you into an agreement because you sent the same amount monthly. :)

#2. Is their CA letter legal?
Because I didn't pay $100 per month as they wanted their letters state that since I broke the payment arrangement now the balance is due in full immediately. But I never actually agreed to pay $100 per month.

This part I'm not sure of, so I will let someone else jump in here that knows.

Actually...I was in the same sitaution, with an outstanding medical bill. thet asked for a certain amount, each month, and I tried to explain that I JUST could NOT pay what they wanted. I'm STILL paying on the bill, however..I pay what I can each month nad send the payments by MoneyGram. You can only do what you can do..ya know?

Yeah, that's true, but you are also paying extra for Moneygram, right? They should just let you mail it in.

Well..........the CA said he " would NOT prefer MoneyOrders". I sure the hell ain't sending checks!! LOL MoneyGram? Yep..I DO pay a small fee ( like $5.00) but, I KNOW the CA gets the payment because the payment Electronically goes into my account with them. I ALWAYS get a receipt to have proof of a pyment. Why not a check?...I don't want the CA to have my account numbers, etc.

Yes, definitely I would not send them a check from my personal account either.

If you have on line bill pay, that is always an option also. When you set up the payee, the bill pay providers is able to determine if the can send the payment either electronically or by check. If it is by check, the check that is sent doesn't have your personal bank account information on it it. The check has a different ABA and account number than your actual numbers, makes it difficult for anyone receiving the check to get up to any chicanery. Of course if they are able to send it via ACH, all the better. ACH's are relatively straightforward, they either received or didn't/kept it or returned it.

And you can always track the payments through the bill pay system on your bank's website and if the recipient claims non-receipt, you contact your bank and whoever they use as the bill pay provider (9 times out of 10 it is CheckFree) will do all the research in tracking down the missing payment.

And you can set up pretty much any payee you want on the bill pay system. When I first got it years ago, I actually set myself up and sent myself a $1.00 payment. I just wanted to see how the process actually worked.

And the nice thing is! On line bill pay is pretty much offered as a free service with most banks today. If not, you can usually sign up directly with CheckFree for a pretty reasonable fee.

First off send them a debt validation letter to verify it is even your debt.Add a paragraph to it stating it is forbidden by your employer to receive personal calls. Next find out if this debt has been sold or is just assigned by calling original creditor. If it is assigned,ask original creditor to pull it back since their lap dogs cannot be bothered to follow the legal guidelines of collections. You should be able to make reasonable payment arrangements with the original creditor also.

Just want to clarify - it is a valid debt that I owe, so I'm not trying to get out of paying it.

I'm just struggling financially to make ends meet - like everyone else these days. Our company has a high deductible insurance plan - $2,400, so med bills are only covered if something major happens.

I wonder if this election will actuall bring a change to the health care crisis. After all politicians have been discussing it for years upon years.

I have no concern over whether you want to pay or not. I just would try and deal with original creditor if possible.

Cajunbulldog -

Is there a benefit in getting CA out of the picture? I've never tried to do that. I always thought once the original debtor sent to CA you had to pay through CA - that's not true?

If it is assigned,once the creditor approves to pull it back the ca is out of the picture and also required to remove any info from credit report. The creditor is usually more responsive to humans and also responds better when insurance stuff is involved.Just my opinion of course.

I recently had a medical collection that survived for 48 hours on my credit report. I did all my dealings through a ca but I know what they can & cannot do. It helps that they were local to my state. Not only did they get paid once I verified through the creditor,they also sent me a receipt and a delete from reports letter overnight to my house. :lol: :D

--This is medical debt--

So the doctor saves your life and you thank him by stiffing him on the fee? You need to sell plasma or something and oay this collection agency now.

Guest bugger off and let us help those who need help. We never said stiff anyone!

Hello - stipid collection idiot in disguise, uh, I mean "Guest", can you not read?

I acknowledged that I owe the debt, just can pay in one lump sum. God, you collection people are all the same, aren't you?