just got a letter that a doctor bill was sent to collections

[phatj]

apparently my insurance didn't cover full costs of a doctor visit i had last year... i've moved from house to dorms and into a condo now so if a letter was sent i havent received it....

regardless... the account was just put into collections last month.

If I pay now and it is not on my credit report is it possible for them to still report it on my credit report?

I called them this morning and asked for them to send me a letter stating that it will not be put on my credit report but she said her company cannot send such a letter.

In other threads I've read people suggest that once a collection is on your credit report you should contact the collection agnecy and tell them that you'll pay in exchange for removing the collection from your report.

What should I do? I got a credit report a few days ago and it wasnt on there

 

[tfinch2]

Call the Dr's office. Sometimes they tell you they sent it to a collections agency just to scare you into paying, but they really haven't.

 

[phatj]

well i spoke with the collections agency this morning and they had all my info..... so i think they definitely put it to a collection agency

 

[Descartes]

If it is not on your credit report simply send them a letter requesting confirmation, in writing, that nothing will be added to the report if you pay now. If it's not on your report you're likely in the clear, but don't delay. If you did pull a fresh report you could even call them to settle the debt, but if they add it later you won't have any legal confirmation that you paid before collections; with the letter you do. At worst case you could dispute it as "paid before collections."

The pay for delete request only works after you've exhausted all other measures. If it's not even on your report yet you have nothing to worry about.

 

[phatj]

but when i spoke to them on the phone this morning they stated that they wouldn't send a letter stating that it wont go on my report. She said it creates "legal issues"

 

[EagleKeeper]

Originally posted by: phatj
but when i spoke to them on the phone this morning they stated that they wouldn't send a letter stating that it wont go on my report. She said it creates "legal issues"

Call the Drs office and explain the situation.

They may be willing to take the payment in exchange for the letter.

Also, determine if it is on the credit report.

 

[Descartes]

Originally posted by: phatj
but when i spoke to them on the phone this morning they stated that they wouldn't send a letter stating that it wont go on my report. She said it creates "legal issues"

Of course it does. It creates legal issues for them.

Your other venue would be to ask for validation (not verification). If you send them a letter they can't legally report your account to any of the credit bureaus until they validate. This would give you more time (up to ~30 days unless they validate sooner).

If they don't validate they can't report. They could just sell the account to someone else though and you'd have to do it all over again.

 

[ebaycj]

I used to work for a company that did medical billing. They had a process called "Auto-Outsourcing" that would automatically kick your payment to a collections agency after you failed to respond to a series of letters. This practice, I imagine, probably pissed a lot of people off. You may have been the victim of a similar system.