I'm new to this board, despite extensive lurking, so I apologize if this is out of place. Four years ago, I was involved in a vehicle accident during which I rolled my car and totaled it. Long story short, I was uninjured and when I called to report the accident, the dispatcher asked if I would like to have an ambulance dispatched. I declined. Some passers-by saw the accident and called 911 and an ambulance was sent, despite my declining it. A few months later, I get a bill for $100 for the ambulance service. Being broke, young and stubborn, I refused to pay it. It gets sent to Central States Collection and is now a glaring issue on two of my three credit reports.
In reading this board and a couple others, CSE is a pain to deal with and they almost always refuse any sort of pay to delete offer or goodwill letter. The $100 is not a problem, I can easily pay that just to wash my hands of the matter. But I don't want to pay it if it's not going to accomplish anything and/or just exacerbate the issue when I'm trying to rebuild my credit to purchase a new vehicle in the coming months. So do I have any sort of recourse with them? I've seen people mention HIPAA for medical issues, but didn't know if this would qualify since it's an ambulance, but not necessarily a medical collection.
Thanks for your help.
