What to do now?
Telling lie is not at all a problem for the collection agencies.
Telling lie is not at all a problem for the collection agencies. They can go to any extent for collection.
I think you should send a Debt verification letter to validate the debt.
Quote:
Letter for debt validation Your name Your address Collection Agency Name Collection Agency Address Date: Re: Account No: Dear Sir/Madam, I was going through a copy of my credit report and noticed that there was a collection from your agency on my credit report, which I was not notified about. I don?t refuse to pay, but this is a notice that your claim is disputed. In accordance with the fdcpa, I have the right to request for a validation of my debt. This is asking for proof regarding this and verifying the same. You must be aware that reporting such inaccurate information will result in defamation of character and it would leave a dark patch on my credit report. You are supposed to stop all collection activities including reporting this information on my credit report. I?m sure you are aware of the fact that non-compliance with this request will lead you to legal trouble. Please attach copies of the following with the reply: 1. The agreement which authorizes the creditor to collect debt on the alleged debt. 2. The signed agreement from the debtor conforming to pay the creditor 3. The documents regarding the payments made on this account validating the amount. With regards, Your signature Your name |
If they fail to verify the same then send a Cease & Desist letter.
In fact telling lie violates the guiding lines of the collection agencies, ie. FDCPA48.
Thank you very much. I will definitely use your templates. Is
Thank you very much. I will definitely use your templates.
Is there anyone or any branch of government I can report them to, since they have out right lied about pursuing payment?
Also, if they cease to "cease & desist"(In other words if they still keep reporting negatively in regards to the debt) what would be the next step? lawsuit?
Due to HIPPA regualtions, I would think you should be talking to
Due to HIPPA regualtions, I would think you should be talking to the hospital not the CA about submitting the claim. It is not the CA's responsiblity to be pursing the claim. I looked at Aargons site and they appear to be a third party CA, only representing the hospital.
Also, if you did not pay your portion of the copay, then there may be some validity. Technically you should be only disputing a portion of the debt.
Re:
They stated that they would bill me when I presented my insurance on the visit. I felt it was a little odd, but trusted them at the hospital. After researching it myself, I have heard of several cases from the same hospital I attended with other people in the same situation. This hospital as well as this CA seems to think they can continue to do business on a very shady basis to say the least. I have always been willing to pay what I owe, but the hospital refused to pursue the matter with my insurance and instead of contacting me if they lost the data, they chose to send me to collections.
It's obvious at this point that they are hoping that people will be bullied in to paying them straight out of pocket for medical costs and if they don't get cash they will attempt to disrupt people's credit. Never in my life have I encountered this issue and either has my well established insurance company. Either it boils down to straight incompetence on the hospital/ CA part or they are knowingly attempting to strong hand its patients , but it's not good business.
Re:
Also, why wouldn't the Rep. from Aargon in form me of that? They did the complete opposite. They stated they would pursue the matter with the insurance company since they were now handling the debt. After I asked to speak with the hospital they refused and stated that any correspondence about the stated "debt" would have to be discussed through them since once again they now are handling it.
If what your stating is true then, they have lied directly to me. Not alone on not actually contacting my insurance to validate their claim, but also on who to go through to handle the claim.
This is an extremely shady CA based on my personal experience. No one from the hospital or their agency has contacted my insurance as they stated. So I know for a fact that they have blatantly lied out right about that statement.
Can you get the hospital to give you a copy of the bill? Or the
Can you get the hospital to give you a copy of the bill? Or the collection agency? Then you could find out from your insurance company how to submit the claim yourself. Once you see how much the insurance covers, then you would know what your portion of the bill should be and could work on making arrangements to pay it.
I agree that it isn't right the way they did it, and in my experience, hospitals send bills every month, so I'm not sure why they never billed you. However, unfortunately, they apparently didn't, so now it sounds like you are stuck with trying to fix the situation.
Maybe you could also ask for all copies of statements that were sent to you or your insurance company. If they did send statements, maybe they had an incorrect address to you or something. Or if they can't come up with statements, then you would have a good basis for disputing any interest that they have added. Good luck!
Problem is if the claim is that old the insutance company more
Problem is if the claim is that old the insutance company more than likel.y won't go back and pay it. I just dealt with this very same situation myself. I pulled my CR and seen a docs office was on it and could not figurte out why because the exam I had was covered at 100%.
After some calls to the doc office and my insurance company I found thet at the time the docs office I went to was out-of-network. It really peeved me off cause that was the first question I asked them when I called. Needless to say I had to end up paying the bill. I hope you work everything out. I know how discouraging these things can be.