Frustrated..........

Takes time. If you can payback your bad debts, do so, it makes your recovery a lot quicker..

 

Christi,

I know how you feel. It is very frustrating, but hang in there. I am just thinking out of the box a little, try dealing with directly with the hostpital/dr's office. Plead your case to them. Tell them you thought insurance would take care if it and didn't. Most Dr's offices and Hosptials seem to have a little sympathy.

It worked for me, I had a $66.00, $269.00, and $18.00 collection from an emergency room visit. The visit happened while out of town, and I didn't go to an "approved" hospital. I thought insurance paid the claim as I gave them all of the necessary information. To boot, I moved 2 months later, and never received bills.

I didn't find out until 2.5 years later the notations listed on my credit report. (This was before I understood collections ect.) I called my primary care physician and explained what happened. They told me there was nothing they could do as it was so long ago, and they suggested I call the hospital and try to work something out. I called the hospital and spoke with the Administrator. I pleaded my case and explained, I didn't want to rip them off I honestly thought my insurance company paid the claim. I told him I was with the same insurance company for the past 5 years ect. Additionally, I moved and received no bills from them. He advised me he would have to discuss with the Billing Manager and get back to me.

Well he called me back a couple days later and advised me they would pull it from the agency if I sent them certified funds for balance in full, and they had the check with in 2 business days. He faxed me a letter stating they would remove from my credit report for payment in full. Needless to say, I went to my bank and got a certified check and fed ex'd overnight. True to his word they removed all three tradelines from my report.

I say all of this to say, sometimes you have to know who to go to for resolution. I went directly to the Hospital Administrator, the top dog. I knew from a customer relations point of view he would attempt to do something to resolve my problem. I agree with others on this board, If you can't deal with the CRA or Collection agency, deal with the creditor.

Validation Letters do work because the collection agency will send the account back to the orginal creditor. At that point, they know you are aware of your rights. Under most circumstances, they cannot legally validate the debt. So, they send it back to the orginal creditor. They will send you a letter stating such. At that point you can resolve the situation.

I know how frustrating it is but try dealing with the Hospital or Dr's office, plead your case. You might be surprised that they will assit you.

 

Well, getting to the point where you are willing to admit that is a good place to start.

That's great. Be sure you show your appreciation.

Not much need to do that.

That's only because you didn't know how to use them. It is definitely a very powerful tool and one of the most basic tools for getting the job done. But they are just like any other tool. You have to know how to use it and make it do it's job. Just about any validation letter you can find here on credit net will work quite well and do an excellent job for you. Having the knowledge and the expertise to use it properly and to it's fullest advantage is usually as important or more important than the letter itself.

I'd like to make a little bet on that. I'd bet that they sure would not tell you that after I got done with them. I'd make them squeal like they had been rubber hosed.

Terry posted a comment that follows

And that's when it's time to give them all a good spanking and send them to school. I just had a New York attorney who is in the collections business. He just did that, sent the account back to the bank after he got the validation letter then sent a letter to the debtor who is a customer of mine stating he had sent the debt back to the bank. It makes no difference where he sends it to, he violated my customers rights to validation in a timely manner. So he will be talking to our attorney very soon, and so will the bank because they are responsible for his having violated my customer's rights. After all, they hired him, didn't they? So under agency law they are responsible for the actions of any 3rd party they contract with to perform a service for them. So the lawyer gets a complaint against him at his bar association and the lawyer will get his chance to explain to a judge and jury why he violated my customers rights and failed to obey the law on top of that. And then the bank can go to court and try to explain to a judge and jury how it might be that they are not responsible for the lawyer's actions on their behalf.

These clowns think they can get away with murder, and that's all because people just don't know their rights nor how to stand up for them and make these clowns pay when they break the law.

I'm no lawyer, by the way. I just happen to be an educated consumer and a few more things even if some clown around here don't like it and keeps claiming I'm some kind of incompetent or other. I do the best I can to help as many people as I can.