I just have a question about the validation process, I have read in some threads on this board that if you to validate medical bills and the CA or the original creditor don't have your signature they would still ultimately win in a law suit simply by asking you point blank if you ever recieved these services. Certainly under oath no law abiding person is going to say no. So my question is, is all this really worth it in the long run or are we just avoiding the inevitable? THANKS
And if you say yes how does it prove you owe what they claim in a law suit. There could be all kinds of errors in their claim. ========== A Few Examples============ Incorrect amount Wrong Account Billed for services not provided Payments received but not credited Math Errors Cross Billing Identity mix up Duplicate charges for same services ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hospitals are notorious for billing errors and overcharges.
That was my post your were talking about. And since then I have received another validation letter. Again from a C/A in regards to another medical collection. Sent the same validation letter and received just more print outs. She did type a letter on a duplicate invoice About who/what/when/where and insurance claims but again no signature. But she hand wrote account is in dispute states once memo is mailed you will no longer be contacted in reference to this account. However, you may contact us at anytime. And like LizardKing said before they did not give me all the information that I had requested. Namely the agreement with your client that grants you authority to collect as well as the agreement that bears the signature blah blah. So breeze please inform me places to look having problems locating if I need a signature in medical cases
I was referring to the fact that if you read more posts on the board, you will see that the majority of the time, the validation letter works. I was not talking about one specific situation. Obviously, it does not work all them time. However, I do believe that if you request the items listed in those letters, and a CA did take you to court, you might have a 50/50 chace of getting it dismissed, depending on what the CA had as proof that the account is yours. You do sign for medical services, however, we all know that they do not have to produce a signature to prove to the judge that you are the person who received the services (or whatever), and account history, insurance billing info in your name, etc could be proof enough for a judge to say you have to pay it. Talking about whether or not a validation letter will work and whether or not a judge will grant a judgment against you are two different things. The fact that a judge will grant a judgment based on the info the CA has does not mean that you should never use validation letters, because a lot of the time, the validation letters work. But they are not magic wands you can wave and guarantee that the debt will disappear and never return. You are asking for perfection. It doesn't exist. Validation letters are a "tool" in your "toolbox," that's all. It just isn't as simple as you want it to be. Sorry.
LAT, Why don't you just give the collector a call and ask what that statement "But she hand wrote account is in dispute states once memo is mailed you will no longer be contacted in reference to this account." that was handwritten means. It sounds to me like they are giving it up. If not, then I would follow lizards directions.
Has anyone had much luck in dealing with medical bills, removing, settling, etc? My experience with them has not been very good. I can't even get a straight answer on what I owe, how much insurance paid, etc. Personally, I think that many of them are scamming us and the insurance companies. A trip to the hospital involves bills from four different places, often for what seems to be the same services. X-Rays for instance, you receive a bill from the hospital where they were taken, one from the doctor who reads them, and then they are sent to another outside company to be read again, or whatever and you receive a bill for each. The same thing happens with blood or lab work. It's very frustrating, I can never seem to get a straight answer concerning my bill, and when I get one settled in my favor 12 more suddenly come at me that I never heard of before. The local hospitals waste no time suing either, I have been served summons on bill that were only 30 days old, thrown in with other older one that I may or may not owe, with their system you quickly become lost. Interesting how they sue, perhaps up to 200 people at a time all on the same day. Most do not even show up and the ones that do are so confused by the billing that they have no idea what they owe. I'm sure the hospitals know this and exploit it. My one big success I was sued for a $2200 that I was certain I had paid. I gathered my receipts and went to court. Their lawyer showed up with no, none, zero, paperwork, evidence or anything else concerning this trail. They only knew that they had a case today and I think they were surprised that I showed up. The lawyer tried to convince me to continue the case but I refused and did win, only to be served a few months later with more charges that I had never heard of. Might seem like a simple matter to win against these but it's not. In court they will claim services were rendered and produce bills, etc, and what can I produce to counter service I never received? In the end the judge with side with the hospital, believing they are right and that I am confused or just trying to avoid paying. Sorry to carry on like this but it is all very frustrating and if anyone has any ideas on how to deal with these people I'd love to hear them. Thanks
Mike, I know what you mean. I had surgery last febuary and recently received a bill for 1000.00. The pre authorization stated my out of pocket would be 200.00 so I was totally shocked. I requested validation and they sent me a copy of payments they received from insurance company. I am writing them again, asking for itemized bill of all charges during hospital stay and will have my friend who is a billing clerk examine it for errors, duplicates etc.
Good luck with them, I hope your friend can make some sense out of it. I once asked for an itemized bill and they told me "they have no way of doing that", which really makes me wonder how they complied the bill to begin with. After much arguing they agreed to send one but when it arrived it was nothing but a list of hospital/doctor visits dating back to the 1980's.
After the validation letter is printed, is it better if we sign it at the end or just print it out? I'm afraid that they'll use that signature to verify. Thanks Janet
Medical billing and insurance payments are awful to keep track of, but my first suggestion is stay right on top of it like you do your credit reports. Assume it is wrong. Go over it with a fine-tooth comb, and dog their a$$e$ if you don't understand what you see. I have had to correct at least two medical bills a year for my Mom - she's on medicare, where everything is automatic. Yeah right. They were billing her for stuff that her medicare supplement had already paid!! And I just got through with my dentist. They were saying I owed the twice as much money as I did. I had every single check I wrote, every EOB from Aetna, the dentist's original treatment plan and estimate submitted to the insurance company. I went through them piece by piece and discovered there was an additional claim from 10/2000 that had never been filed. I took the info to the clerk at the dentists office and she blooming filed it for 10/2001. The insurance company refused it, so she billed me again. I took everything back down there and showed her what she had done wrong. She was saying like "you pay us this and then we'll see if the insurance company will pay it and give it back to you." I had already talked to Aetna, and they had said if the dentist filed it correctly they would pay it!!! They don't care who they get the money from. They figure it's your problem!! I let them know it was their problem. I had paid my share.
Thanks LKH. Did they ever validate back and would it still be considered a binding validation considering it doesn't have my signature? Janet
My goal for 2002 besides improving credit in general is to deal with the medical bill in particular and get them off my record. They don't make it easy, like I said, I have been sued for them within one month of receiving treatment, I wonder if the insurance had even looked at the bill at that point. I have been luckly enough to not have had trouble with the dentist and their billing. In fact, the dentist and dental insurance are the only ones I have had no trouble with.
I've always typed my name at the end leaving room for a signature as well, however I have been signing my signature awkwardly, AND I make copies of each letter, therefore if the CA wants to get cute and attempt to use that signature somehow, I've got a copy which will match up perfectly, and that it doesn't even come close to my "normal" signature. I know this is lengthly and probably over dramatic, but I always thought a signature was needed.
I never sign my name when sending out validation letters. Especially to creditors I owe alot of money to. Discover I owed over 2K and the repo I owed over 4K. I didn't have enough to cover it, so I made it more difficult for them to validate. They haven't so I won. I do sign my name to disputes with CRA's.
