Trying to help my nephew out, he's 21 had some medical bills that his parents were making monthly payments on. He was 20 at the time the medical bills were incurred. His parents let the payments fall behind about 45 days and they turned the account over to collections. My nephew is in another state attending school and had no idea this was happening, he never received phone or written notification of this happening as they do not have his phone number or mailing address. Since he's an adult legally don't they have to notify HIM that this is happening? EDIT: I understand my brother in-law basically screwed his own son here so no need to point that out, I'm just trying to help my nephew out with potentially might be a loophole. I was able to confirm with the hospital that every notification went to his parents house and every call went to his father. My nephew does not recall ever giving the hospital authorization to deal with his father on his behalf.
How did the hospital get his father's address? Does your nephew have the means to pay this bill off? This may help: Why Chat's Credit Confusion - HIPAA LETTER
He was visiting his father when his accident occurred (never lived at the address). He does not have the means to pay it off, he's a full-time student and works a few hours here and there at a retail store as his studies allow. Enter me, I told him as long as we can keep/get it off his credit I'll pay it off for him and deal with my dip of a brother in-law for repayment.
Chances are, the hospital still owns the debt. This would be a good thing. Your nephew will need to contact the hospital to first verify this is true, then ask about financial hardship programs. Many hospitals have these and from what you say, he sounds like a candidate for it. He'll also need to correct his address with them. It sounds like somehow his dad's address was put down on the original paperwork when your nephew went into the hospital and therefore the hospital had every right to send notices there until further corrected. When speaking with the financial hardship person, make sure your nephew mentions the collection account, and asks the hospital to recall the debt from them once he enters/finishes the program. Has he pulled his reports BTW? Is the CA even reporting?
There is no legal pre-collections requirement. The approach that I would take would be is he the responsible party to the medical bill? Even if he was the patient, his father may be the responsible party to the debt. That may be the quickest resolution.
UPDATE: Was able to speak with collection agency about this matter. They're giving him 60 days to pay or it hits his credit. Rather than having him jump through a lot of hoops I'm going to go ahead and pay it for him and we'll work out it out later. Maybe he can come do some landscaping at my house over the summer etc. What is the best way to pay this off and insure that it doesn't hit his credit. Guy wanted me to just give him a credit card over the phone. Shouldn't I send in a certified check or something like that with a letter that this is settling the debt and that there has been or will be no reporting to credit reporting agencies?
Have you already agree on an amount and have you verified the debt for corrective to the penny amount. Don't forget that This is a 3rd party company. ..you have no contract with them...you legally owe nothing to them!!!
Good move in not giving a CC or checking account info over the phone. A collector will say anything in order to get payment out of you. -- Not to say that it could have been paid and never to hit your reports.....but to be on the safe side: I suggest contacting them again and asking for the agreement of non-reporting of this account in writing. If the previous collectors claim was true they should not have a problem with this. Also, have you tried contacting the OC on this? If they still own this, you may be able to work out a deal where they'll recall the debt, and you pay them directly.
I have a statement from them listing the amount AND the will not report for 60 days from date of the correspondence, is this enough?
Thought I'd close out this thread with an update. Paid debt in full for my nephew, never hit his credit report. Thanks for the advice guys.
Glad to hear it. Sometimes the standard 'we won't report until' disclaimer is enough, thankfully it was.