A hospital accepted a payment agreement, but they sent my account to collections?
I owed $900 to a local hospital. They wanted me to pay $130 a month, but I couldn’t afford it. I made one payment of $130. Then I signed up for a debt consolidation program through a company called Care One.
Care One sent out a proposal to the hospital, asking them to accept a smaller payment every month. The hospital sent me a letter saying that they would accept $50 a month. I kept the letter. I pay them $50 a month, and I make every payment on time.
But they sent me a letter saying that I broke the payment agreement because I didn’t pay $130 a month. They sent my account to an outside collections agency. I just checked my credit report. It shows that the account has been in collections for three months.
I recently got a letter from the collections agency, saying that I have 30 days to dispute it. Why didn’t they send me a letter BEFORE they reported it to the credit bureaus?
I looked at some of my old bills from the hospital. I read them carefully. I saw that at the end of each bill, they left a note, threatening to send my account to collections. I still have their letter, saying that they agreed to take $50 a month. But was I supposed to call and remind them about it? Is it too late for me to dispute this and get it off of my credit report?
The hospital says that they didn’t agree to take $50. I have the letter as proof, but their billing department says they don’t have record of sending me that letter.
Care One sent the hospial a form, asking them to accept like $16 a month. The hospital filled out the form, saying that they would accept the program if we agreed to pay $50 a month.
Mark
Gilbert
If you had this $50/month agreement and you were keeping it, why aren’t you discussing the hospital’s actions with the hospital? It may have been a mistake on their part. If you have their letter agreeing to the $50/mo, take it and go SEE THEM IN PERSON.
Clara
Who signed the letter accepting a payment of $50.00 per month? Care One or the hospital (never trust a debt settlement company)? The hospital was under no obligation to accept Care One’s proposal. The hospital can still continue to attempt to collect from you. They can still sue.
The collecton agency doesn’t have to inform you that they are reporting you to the credit bureaus.
Can you get it off your credit report? That would be up to the collection agency.
Herbert
If the hospital agreed to let you pay $50 per month and you have that proof, then that is your golden ticket. Fax it to the hospital or go there in person and have them make a copy for their records, telling them that they made an agreement and now they need to cancel the collections agency. They also need to correct your credit reports and be on top of them every few days to know the progress. It may not be this cut and dry, even though it should be. For instance, you may have to be the one to dispute with the credit bureaus to get your reports corrected.
It is never too late to dispute something on our credit report if it is incorrect, and I mean never. And, you shouldn’t have to remind the hospital, but it may have prevented some of this if you did, but you shouldn’t have to.
P.S.: ∞infiniti∞: CareOne is a Debt Management company, not a Debt Settlement company. Emily will have to pay the full amount, it’ll just be smaller payments over a longer period. I used them.
P.S.S.: When you have contact with the hospital, be extremely, very, completely adamant that they need to keep their records in better order, that you shouldn’t have had to deal with this, and if your reports are going to stay wrong, threaten to sue.
Good luck.