topic Re: PFD an OC (dentist) letter review in General Credit Topics

PFD an OC (dentist) letter review

tryingtogetitrightnow — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 18:18:06 GMT

Hey everyone,

I composed a PFD letter to the OC(dentist) for a bill that my ex took the kids to the dentist, did not pay them, and it is on my credit report. I am willing to pay in full to get it off my report. Can you please let me know what you think? Also, I think I replaced all of the personally identifying info, but if you find anything I missed please let me know.

Thanks!

3/23/2008
RE: Account #XXXXXXXXXX

Dear Dr. dentist's name,

There is an account with your office for my son and daughter (kids' names) that has been referred to (CA) and is on my credit report. I would like to pay your office in full for this bill if you will instruct (CA) to have this account deleted from my credit reports. You provided services, and are entitled to payment for those services. I have a couple sections below which you can feel free to skip over if you like.

Background Info
ex's name and I were divorced before our kids ever went to your office for dentist treatment. She is the residential parent, and costs for medical and dental expenses are included in the child support that I pay her (I have always paid her in full, never late). She signed a form with your office accepting payment responsibility for the accounts (I never did). All of the bills that your office sent out were to her address. I never received a bill from your office. The first time I ever heard about this account being delinquent was when CA called me. For the past couple years I have been taking the kids to a different dentist and have been paying every balance in full when treatment is performed. The treatment that you gave was wonderful and the decision to change dentists had nothing to do with the quality of care that you provided, it was because of ex's name delinquent account.

CA
The first time I heard that this account was delinquent was when CA called me. They have performed many actions which are illegal. I asked them for their mailing address so I could mail them a letter and they refused. They also told me that they would garnish my wages. Both of these actions are illegal. They did not mail me a letter within 5 days of initially calling me. This is also illegal. They told me that in Washington state there is a law that holds all parents of a child obligated for the child’s dental expenses. The statute that they quoted is for medical treatment, not dental. They said that both ex's name and I are obligated for this account and said that they would see if she would pay half of the bill. They called me back 15 minutes later and said, “She paid half of the bill.” I said, “Can you send me or fax me a statement that shows the updated balance?” They said I had to make a payment first. From what I have seen there has been no payment made on this account. It is illegal for them to give false payment information. They have never sent me a dunning notice which is required by law, all they have sent me is the copy of the statements that you have sent out to ex's name address for the bill in her name. I mailed CA an offer to pay the full amount due for this account in full if they would remove this account from my credit report, but they refused.

Thank you,

My Name

Message Edited by tryingtogetitrightnow on 03-23-2008 11:18 AM

Re: PFD an OC (dentist) letter review

tryingtogetitrightnow — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 17:09:01 GMT

by the way, I already tried calling the OC. I talked to the receptionist and she was nice, but not a lot of help. I'm hoping that the dentist will read this.

Re: PFD an OC (dentist) letter review

tryingtogetitrightnow — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 21:12:02 GMT

bump bump.

Re: PFD an OC (dentist) letter review

glamchick — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 21:58:17 GMT

I dealt with the exact same issue.

I wrote 2 PFD letters to my dentist and they sent me a bill. So I called and asked if they would delete for a pay and they told me to call the CA and that they could not delete the account.

So now I have to PFD the CA. Its a very small CA and the guys that work there are the biggests jerks.

Good luck !!

Re: PFD an OC (dentist) letter review

tryingtogetitrightnow — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 03:08:04 GMT

OK, so you think the letter I have is ok? I'm totally open to changes if they should be made.

Re: PFD an OC (dentist) letter review

glamchick — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 15:23:31 GMT

Looks ok to me. Your right to the point. Are you going to add in the letter the amount you plan to pay?

Let me know how it goes for you. I hope you have better luck than me. I am sending a PFD to the CA today. Hes a real jerk, he told me over the phone he would never delete for payment cause its against the law LOL.

Please keep me posted. I'd like to know what happens. You can PM me.

Re: PFD an OC (dentist) letter review

tryingtogetitrightnow — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 19:39:12 GMT

I'm not positive what the amount due will be (don't know if they'll subtract CA fees). I plan on paying in full. I figure they'd state that in the response letter. As long as it's not hugely more than what is on my credit report (like 50% more or something) than I'm going to pay it. I'm going to drop this in the mail in a couple hours, so if anyone has anything they think I should change please let me know before then.

I'll definitely post how it turns out.

Thanks!

Re: PFD an OC (dentist) letter review

Anonymous — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 19:55:34 GMT

I would tell the Dr. that you will pay his collection fees and the bill in full if he in turn tells the CA that he reported the debt in error. This is the only way it will come off.

I tried that except I had already paid the CA, and offered to pay the Dr. the collection fees before negotiating those terms. However I did it because I felt horrible he had to spend money to collect as my circumstances following the procedure were not his fault.