collection agency advice please..

[Stitchfans]

About a month ago my DD was contacted by phone by a collection agency.
They are attempting to collect a fee from an ambulance ride she had taken to a local hospital back in Oct 2005. She forgot all about the ambulance ride since she never recieved a bill assuming the insurance took care of it.

A very rude young woman at the collection agency told her the original fee which was $549.oo was now $1,660.oo since she never paid and due to extra fees of some sort it went up this high.

Through this young woman DD discovered the reason why she never recieved a bill. There was a mix up on DDs address. They had Apt 30 when she is actually 305. The ambulance place never called her, and she never recieved a bill. This is the first she has heard or known of a bill until she heard from this collection agency who is constantly (of course) hounding her. This young woman Tammy is quite rude (which is par for collection agencies) and has DD in constant tears.

She tried to deal with the ambulance place herself but came in contact with another very rude woman named Joan who claimed she was the building manager (found this to be a lie) Joan told her just pay the bill and be done with it she has no other choice.

DD left a message with the real building manager by the name of Michael and he is ignoring her. I also have left a message for Michael to call me today to see if I can reason with him.

Anyone have any suggestions on what her rights are? This isn't fair that the bill is so high due to somone elses mistake. The hospital said they gave the ambulance place the right address and someone there made a mistake.

Since it has gotten so high and since it was so long ago the insurance refuses to pay any of it. This rude Tammy at first had told DD to sign a form so DD could get a detailed bill with the wrong address so she can prove the mistake and has now changed all the information in the computer so DD doesn't have any proof now. She signed the form but Tammy says she can't help her. So confusing, I know.

Any suggestons. Advice as what our next step should be?

 

[Crankyshank]

Why didn't the insurance company pay for it in the first place?

I would call the insurance company back. Tell them you received a bill and ask why they refused initial payment. Don't get into the time or cost aspect with them yet - you need to find out why they didn't pay it last year.

 

[luvwinnie]

This happened to us after my mom passed away...my dad never got a bill until the collection agency letter! I was LIVID. I simply told them they had to go to the insurance company and to NOT contact us anymore (in writing). I sent them all the insurance info so they could bill the proper party and the ins. company paid them (the orig amount of course). Do it all in writing.

 

[Stitchfans]

That is what DD is in the process of doing right now. My guess is because they never recieved it since the ambulance place had the wrong apt# in their billing system.

 

[Stitchfans]

This happened to us after my mom passed away...my dad never got a bill until the collection agency letter! I was LIVID. I simply told them they had to go to the insurance company and to NOT contact us anymore (in writing). I sent them all the insurance info so they could bill the proper party and the ins. company paid them (the orig amount of course). Do it all in writing.

Thank you never thought of that excellent advice about having everything in writing. Can't document and prove phone calls.

 

[Crankyshank]

The wrong address of the patient shouldn't have anything to do with why the insurance company refused payment so long as the insurance policy # was correct. Either way you want documentation from them explaining their reasons. If for some reason the address error was the reason for refusal you will have confirmation from the insurance company that they had your address wrong.
Make sure she gets the full names and time of call for everyone she talks to.

 

[luvwinnie]

Yep, the annoying woman would call and leave messages and I'd reply via fax. The best was the first time I DID call and she said "There is nothing you can do. JUST PAY US." Don't think so, Missy!!

 

[luvwinnie]

The wrong address of the patient shouldn't have anything to do with why the insurance company refused payment so long as the insurance policy # was correct. Either way you want documentation from them explaining their reasons. If for some reason the address error was the reason for refusal you will have confirmation from the insurance company that they had your address wrong.
Make sure she gets the full names and time of call for everyone she talks to.

My mom's insurance had requested the ambulance company's tax ID number to no avail...sometimes it's some stupid red tape that no one takes care of. We also had situations where for some reason the provider did not have my mom's insurance info correct.

 

[Stitchfans]

The wrong address of the patient shouldn't have anything to do with why the insurance company refused payment so long as the insurance policy # was correct. Either way you want documentation from them explaining their reasons. If for some reason the address error was the reason for refusal you will have confirmation from the insurance company that they had your address wrong.
Make sure she gets the full names and time of call for everyone she talks to.

yes, the more I think about it you are right. that was a stupid comment I made about the address with the insurance company.

Either way even if the insurance company still refuses to pay. DD said she wouldn't mind and would understand having to pay the first fee of $549.00.

But we both feel since it wasn't her fault for non payment since she wasn't aware of the bill to have to pay all the extra fees.

 

[luvwinnie]

Didn't they get the bills RETURNED to them showing "wrong address" or something like that?

 

[Stitchfans]

Didn't they get the bills RETURNED to them showing "wrong address" or something like that?

DD asked that and was told no they didn't get the bills back.

I was wondering the same thing where are they if they weren't returned?

 

[Crankyshank]

My mom's insurance had requested the ambulance company's tax ID number to no avail...sometimes it's some stupid red tape that no one takes care of. We also had situations where for some reason the provider did not have my mom's insurance info correct.

I've been dealing with an insurance/hospital/collections/settlement issue for 3yrs now. It's annoying how the stupidest minor mix up causes such a fiasco.

That's why I suggested getting to the root of matter with the insurance company will best tell her where to proceed next. Hopefully it can just be kicked back to the insurance company.

 

[cherylp3]

I'd recommend asking on the clarkhoward.com forums or calling his action center.

 

[WatchinCaptKangaroo]

Don't sign ANYTHING ELSE from them! Tell them you are looking into it and to stop contacting you (they have to by law). The collection agency will use deceptive practices and lie to get you to do what they want. If you do speak with them record the conversation (and tell them this is being recorded).

Some insurance companies won't pay for ambulance rides. Make sure she finds out why they won't pay for it. Time should have nothing to do with it.

You may have to contact a lawyer to get this taken care of.

 

[Stitchfans]

I'd recommend asking on the clarkhoward.com forums or calling his action center.

never heard of this?

 

[Stitchfans]

Don't sign ANYTHING ELSE from them! Tell them you are looking into it and to stop contacting you (they have to by law). The collection agency will use deceptive practices and lie to get you to do what they want. If you do speak with them record the conversation (and tell them this is being recorded).

Some insurance companies won't pay for ambulance rides. Make sure she finds out why they won't pay for it. Time should have nothing to do with it.

You may have to contact a lawyer to get this taken care of.

I may sound real stupid saying this, but wouldn't the lawyer fees most likely be a lot higher than the fees from this whole mess? DD doesn't make much money and is living pay check to pay check. It would take her ages to pay a bill over $1000.00.

Good advice about not signing anything else I will leave her a message right away on her voice mail about that.

She told me before she left for work today she was going to go to talk to someone at work and see if they could help her find out why the insurance refused to pay the bill.

 

[punkin712]

Please be very careful with this. There was a news report recently about unscrupulous collection agencies who purchase write-off accounts from companies for pennies on the dollar and then try to collect the balance due from the customer. They pose as collectors hired by the original company, but by this point the company has already removed your debt from their books. They will try everything under the sun to get you to pay off the debt and will resort to lies if they think it will help their cause.

This happened recently to DH. He switched companies and the bill for his corporate credit card from his original employer somehow got misdirected and there was an outstanding balance of about $30. Of course, DH had no idea it wasn't paid off when he left and by the time the account was finally closed (for some reason, when he left the company they didn't bother to close the account), late fees piled up and the balace got up to about $200. Not alot of money, in the grand scheme of credit card write-offs.

About 6 months after he left the company, he started getting calls from a collection agency saying he needed to pay off the balance or they would report it to the credit bureaus and it would ruin his credit score. Okay, since typical corporate credit card accounts do not post to your credit bureau report we knew something was fishy. Then, when the collections agent kept insisting that we pay them directly and then try to get reimbursed by the employer (rather than having the former employer submit the payment), we were convinced it was a scam.

We got these calls every day for almost 4 weeks because the collections agency reps refused to call or accept calls from the former employer when they tried to get information about the bill. Finally, the employer threatened to report them and the calls mysteriously stopped.

The moral of this story is: don't let anyone bully you - if it doesn't feel right, it probably isn't. Good luck!

 

[Molly Meow]

Don't sign ANYTHING ELSE from them! Tell them you are looking into it and to stop contacting you (they have to by law). The collection agency will use deceptive practices and lie to get you to do what they want. If you do speak with them record the conversation (and tell them this is being recorded).

Some insurance companies won't pay for ambulance rides. Make sure she finds out why they won't pay for it. Time should have nothing to do with it.

You may have to contact a lawyer to get this taken care of.

Whoa! Don't tell them to stop contacting you - since this bill was from 2005, that means that it's still within the statute of limitations no matter what state you're in. If you tell them to stop contacting you, the only legal option they'll have left is to sue.

You can send what's called a validation letter asking them to prove that you owe the debt. If you send this letter within 30 days of their initial contact with you, they can't make any further collection attempts until they validate. In this letter, you can include a request for them to only contact you by US mail.

A wonderful resource for this is www.creditboards.com - I highly recommend them.

Good luck with your situation!

 

[lookingforward]

Whoa! Don't tell them to stop contacting you - since this bill was from 2005, that means that it's still within the statute of limitations no matter what state you're in. If you tell them to stop contacting you, the only legal option they'll have left is to sue.

You can send what's called a validation letter asking them to prove that you owe the debt. If you send this letter within 30 days of their initial contact with you, they can't make any further collection attempts until they validate. In this letter, you can include a request for them to only contact you by US mail.

A wonderful resource for this is www.creditboards.com - I highly recommend them.

Good luck with your situation!

Excellent advice. You must be very careful so that this does not affect your daughter's credit rating. I would ask for validation of the debt by certified mail and like others have said get the insurance companies forms showing they were billed and denied the claim. Perhaps the ambulance company did not even bill the insurance? If so I think they have 18 months to do so. YOu can take the bill and collection agency to small claims court and I would if you realize that they never billed insurance (the original ambulance company) and then sent it to the wrong address (get a copy of the medical reports that show the CORRECT address to prove it was their error). Usually, when you send a court summons they won't show up. Have your ammunition ready if they do.

If all else fails try and work out a settlement agreement. Collection agencies will take a percentage of the total owed in cash. Just get it in writing first before you agree to anything. And make sure they agree to remove or never report the debt to her credit report. The law is on your side.

By the way, they can't harrass you by phone. No late night calls, no early morning calls, no threats, no profanity. They can be fined if they do so.

 

[aprilgail2]

Wow, can't give any advice but feel bad for you daughter! Around here the ambulances are free, we never have to pay for them, I thought it was that way all over. I have had hospital bills, usally 250.00 co-pays that were not covered and I just sent them 10.00 a month until it was done...as long as they get something they normally will leave you alone.