As some of you may know, my wife and I are expecting our first child. We have had our share of doctor visits and routine checkups. With checkups come random medical bills from companies that your physician may have outsourced blood testing and other forms of tests that needed to be done.
It just so happens that one bill was put in my wife’s maiden name and the address was incorrect. Well we knew we had to pay this bill but it never was sent to our home address. After a couple of months my wife received a call from a bill collecting agency requesting that we pay an outstanding bill. Of course my wife thought we were paid up on our medical bills and it just so happens that this was the one that fell through the cracks for reasons mentioned.
So my wife called the bill collector back and asked for the amount so we can pay it in full, since we do indeed owe the money. All we had to go by was an amount and the address for the bill collectors. Since I felt uneasy about putting a check in an envelope and sending money to a random address I did what I recommend that all of you do if you are ever found in a position where you have to pay an outstanding debt to somebody other than the person or company you owe money to.
Get it in writing
Send a letter and ask for verification of debt owed. This is simply a letter saying that you received a phone call about a certain amount and include amount and reference the account number. Be sure you note that you are not refusing to pay but that validation is being requested. Trust me, they know the language and since this is an initial letter, try now to use lawyer jargon, especially if you don’t know what it means.
So you want to know the exact amount that you owe them and how they came about the amount being charged to you. Also ask for proof of original creditor and proof that the collection agency indeed owns the debt.
If the calls seem to be harassing you can state in the letter that from now on they can only communite with you via USPS and they must. If they have already started messing with your credit or they are threatening to add negative marks to your credit you can add this to the letter:
I will not hesitate in bringing legal action against you for the following:
Violation of the Fair Credit Reporting Act
Violation of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act
Defamation of Character
I know this seems harsh for an unpaid bill that really I know I have to pay, but trust me, if I just send a check and then they end up selling my debt to somebody else and cash my check without reporting it, the situation can get really messy. So now that we know where we are, i’m going to wait for the right letter or invoice to come in the mail like I requested in the form of a letter and i’m going to pay it as soon as I receive it.
Just wanted to share since I just sent the letter yesterday but I know this happens to people all the time when they have any kind of precedure done at a medical clinic. Bills can be confusing, especially when you have no idea which company is going to in charge of billing you.