Collection Agency Calling Me claiming they sent a letter to me about an insurance balance! help.

[Anonymous]

I just received a cell phone message from UHC Oxford Recovery Services asking me to call them back. I returned their call. They claim I owe them several hundred dollars.  The rep said a letter was sent to me in June indicating this balance. I have not received such a letter. The address the rep repeated was slightly off as to the apartment number.  However, my mailman knows me and would have given me this letter. I did not receive such a letter.  I asked that they cease calling me. 

I have not had Oxford health Insurance for several years.  I had the insurance when I was working so the fees were paid by my employer.  If I ever received a check from Oxford directly, it went straight to the doctor.  I asked the collection agency to stop calling me.

I promptly emailed Oxford Insurance Company and asked what the situation was and am waiting for a response.

I do not have any debt issues before like this (other than an incorrect library fine) and not sure how to handle it.

I want to refinance my apartment soon so this issue is very concerning to me.   I am not working now and the money they claim owed is tremendous and I KNOW I don't owe any money to anyone.  What should I do?

[pmbrian]

I would pull your credit reports to see if it is on there.

I would follow the Debt Verification (DV) process that you can see on these boards - basically requiring the CA to prove that the debt is truly yours.  You may in fact owe a balance because in many times even if you have health insurance there are cases where not 100pct of everything is covered, in fact that is quite rare now and even a few years ago.

Respond promptly to every call and letter you now get - do not ignore it - they will be more willing to work with you this way.

If it is your debt offer a Pay for Delete agreement

[LIGHTNIN]

UHC Oxford Recovery Services said they sent a letter in June.

Have you checked your CR's since june, for this CA?

ETA: IMO, I would not do anything, until you have all the facts first. Use caution when dealing with an unknown debt.

Just knowing whether the debt is passed SOL or within SOL, may make a difference to you,in the way you handle the debt. 

From my experience , I know it made a difference to me.Sometimes I would skip the DV letter

[Anonymous]

Can you explain a bit more about what you mean by  "...[u]se caution when dealing with an unknown debt.

Just knowing whether the debt is passed SOL or within SOL, may make a difference to you,in the way you handle the debt. "?

Also, why would you choose to skip the DV letter as you indicated in your post that "...[s]ometimes I would skip the DV letter"?

[Anonymous]

I will pull my credit reports.

I do understand what you are saying about owing more than what an insurance company is paying. However, the rep stated clearly that the debt was owed to Oxford Health and not to a doctor. Besides, I am friendly (email basis at this point) with every single one of my doctors particualrly ones that have performed surgeries on me. None would hesitate to contact me if a balance was owed and I surely would pay it.  However, not once has a doctor contacted me about a balance. 

I have not even moved so there are ways to send a bill if needed without it disappearing or becoming misdirected.