Medical Collections PFD denied - what next?

[Anonymous]

I am very frustrated as I sent a PFD letter to a collections agency that is in my small town for a medical collections bill I have for $347 that is less than a year old. A rep from the company called me and said that she spoke to the hospital where the debt was originally from and they denied my request for a PFD, however, she said they would mark it "paid" which was not what I wanted to hear. I thought I would have no problem getting a PFD on this and now I am stuck. I thought my next step might be to write a heartfelt letter to the hospital requesting it again? Would that be the correct thing to do...I have also heard of a DV but haven't looked up any info on that. Do I still have a chance at getting this PFD? Anybody's advice would be great-thanks.

[CotJockey]

I am in the same boat you are in. I have two of them that my insurance should have paid, or at least I thought they should have paid. Anyway, I sent two PFD letters out and the doctors office said that they would forward my info to the CA. But, I could make the payment to them and report to the CA that it has been paid. The CA informed me that they are a state run agency and that they cant delete. They can just report it as paid. The other CA said that company policy does not let them delete. They too can only report as paid. She said that she would be glad to send me a letter stating that it was paid in full and that I could dispute it with the CRAs to have it deleted.  I wished I could help you out with what you need to know, I am not trying to hijack your post but, maybe someone out there could help us both out.

[Anonymous]

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Elexi21 wrote:
I am very frustrated as I sent a PFD letter to a collections agency that is in my small town for a medical collections bill I have for $347 that is less than a year old. A rep from the company called me and said that she spoke to the hospital where the debt was originally from and they denied my request for a PFD, however, she said they would mark it "paid" which was not what I wanted to hear. I thought I would have no problem getting a PFD on this and now I am stuck. I thought my next step might be to write a heartfelt letter to the hospital requesting it again? Would that be the correct thing to do...I have also heard of a DV but haven't looked up any info on that. Do I still have a chance at getting this PFD? Anybody's advice would be great-thanks.

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If the OC is also reporting send them (OC) the PFD. If they aren't reporting contact them direct and find out if they sold the account, If they didn't offer to pay them.

Never talk to a CA on the phone!!!!

[Anonymous]

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CotJockey wrote:

I am in the same boat you are in. I have two of them that my insurance should have paid, or at least I thought they should have paid. Anyway, I sent two PFD letters out and the doctors office said that they would forward my info to the CA. But, I could make the payment to them and report to the CA that it has been paid. The CA informed me that they are a state run agency and that they cant delete. They can just report it as paid. The other CA said that company policy does not let them delete. They too can only report as paid. She said that she would be glad to send me a letter stating that it was paid in full and that I could dispute it with the CRAs to have it deleted.  I wished I could help you out with what you need to know, I am not trying to hijack your post but, maybe someone out there could help us both out.

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COT....contact the Dr again...ask if they sold the account. IF they did not then tell them that you will pay them BUT they need to tell the CA to delete. If they say that they can't,  remind them that the CA is working for them & that the CA must do what they say.

Everything in writting.

IF they sold the account to the CA then you must deal with the CA.

[Anonymous]

OK thanks Happy, I'll try that...also, if the hospital has sold the account to the CA, then is there anything else that can be done to persuade the CA to delete? Thanks for your advice!

[SmartCookie]

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Elexi21 wrote:
OK thanks Happy, I'll try that...also, if the hospital has sold the account to the CA, then is there anything else that can be done to persuade the CA to delete? Thanks for your advice!

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It's like buying a car... they aren't going to start with giving you their bottom line offer if you will take the bait.  Once you determine who still owns the debt... keep offering the PFD every 2 months or so.  Not sure what you offered to settle for but you might want to increase that once they have turned it down a few times.  If you have not yet offered anything to the OC and they still own it... remember you can offer less than full on a PFD and work it up as needed.   

[Anonymous]

Thanks everyone for the great advice. I found out that the account hasn't been sold to the CA (but the CA is still the one reporting), so I decided to write up a more heartfelt (aka: sob story) PFD to send directly to the hospital. I am stating that I will pay in full, as I feel I probably should since my original PFD to the collection agency stated that as well. Any feedback would be appreciated on my letter before I send it off (sorry so lengthy):

To Whom It May Concern:

This letter is in regards to the collection account under my name for "ABC" Hospital. The account numbers I have are the ones listed above.

In November of 2005, I incurred medical expenses with your hospital while I was pregnant. Due to unforseen circumstances in that my baby was born two months prematurely, I was unable to keep up with a monthly payment plan to "ABC" Hospital for these expenses. Since the premature birth of my daughter caused me to unexpectedly be out of work two months earlier than planned, as well as the additional medical expenses I incurred in excess of $5,000 that insurance did not cover while my baby was in the NICU at "X" Hospital in "City Name", I found myself overwhelmed and unfortunately had to pick and choose where the small amount of money I had went to.

Thankfully, I am now in a place where I am beginning to get back on my feet financially. In the spirit of compromise, I am willing to pay this account IN FULL if you agree to immediate deletion of this account from any and all credit reporting agencies (Equifax, Experian and TransUnion). The purpose of this payment is to satisfy my debt to "ABC" Hospital and to have this item removed from my credit files.

If you agree to the terms and accept this agreement, certified funds for the FULL amount of three hundred forty seven dollars ($347.00) will be sent to "ABC" Hospital before the end of November 2007 in exchange for full deletion of ALL references regarding this account from my credit files and full satisfaction of the debt. As certified funds will be used for payment, there shall be no waiting period regarding the deletion of this account from the credit reporting agencies.

"ABC" Hospital will direct "123" Collections Agency to delete ALL information regarding this account from the credit reporting agencies WITHIN TEN CALENDAR (10) DAYS following receipt of payment as specified.

If would so kindly agree to the above terms, I would request that you please prepare a letter on your company letterhead explicitly agreeing to the same terms as listed above and have it signed by an authorized representative of "ABC" Hospital. It will be implied that this letter shall constitute a legally binding contract, enforceable under the laws of the state of _________.

Your response must be postmarked no later than 15 days from your receipt of this letter or this offer will be withdrawn and I will request full validation of this alleged debt, as provided for by the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.

I thank you in advance for your time in looking over my account, and for taking consideration in my request.

Sincerely,

[Anonymous]

I had a few hospital bills that I could not afford to pay and called the hospital (they had went to collections also) The hospital sent me a wage verification form in order to set up payments and pulled it back from the CA. Guess what they also lowered the bill on there own it went from almost 3000.00 to only 300.00 because of my income and number of dependents. I dont qualifie for any kind of public assistance so that was out of the question and I did not know that hospitals have those kinds of programs for families that make to much for public assistance but cant afford to pay for insurance. Once I found that out I paid that in full and they did remove it. The other Dr bill I had was sending it to the wrong address (one I never lived at go figure) and I paid that since they agreed to delete but the CA would not so I contacted the Dr. office to ask what was up and they siad they had called the CA and sent an email but the CA claimed not so I told the DR office that and that made them mad she told me that they work for them and had to delete so she copied me on the E-mail so I could use that with Credit Bureas May be you could try that.

Debbie

[Anonymous]

Just a quick update, my letter worked!  The CFO of the hospital where I owe the money called me and said if I brought in certified funds for the collections account (as well as one other account with them I have a small balance on), that he would agree to the PFD.  Yeah!!

[silly34]

Get it in writing on their letterhead, etc.. etc..

B.