Medical Collection PFD?

[StartingOver87]

AFTER PAYING ALL MY COLLECTIONS OFF! Another one poped up, Medical for 80.00, I called the hospital and asked for verification because I never received a bill!! I asked for PFD and she said "Umm yeah they will do it if you pay it"  I also asked for a bill showing what I owe, I got it today.

Should I repsond with a PFD letter and ask to get it in writing first? because I dont really trust what she told me over the phone.....

[js0319]

This is the unfortunate side of trying to do PFD's over the phone. Most of the times I have done PFD over the phone, the CA uphold's their end of the bargain. Even still, your best bet is to get it in writing.

[StartingOver87]

Thanks I think so to, Im even thinking about when I send them the check to write it on the Memo of the check

[esme]

Who is reporting? Is it the hospital or an external collection agency?

I would wait to get a bill as DV first, before paying. Then, tell them you are willing to pay but in exchange for a deletion from your credit files - mentioning that you never received a bill for it for whatever reason and that you only learned of it when you pulled your credit report. If it JUST popped up and you called as soon as you saw it being reported, you could make a case that you tried to resolve it as soon as you discovered it. Depending on who's reporting it, you'll either need to negotiate that the hospital send a request for deletion (if they're reporting), or that the hospital needs to pull the account back from the CA that they sent it to and tell THEM to delete it. Emphasize that you do not want them to simply tell the CA to update the account as paid.

Depending on how things go verbally, you might feel comfortable with paying even without getting it in writing first. I negotiated a PFD with IS Systems for a medical collection, but they wouldn't give me anything in writing prior to my payment. I made the payment online, called the next day to confirm they received it, and they lived up to their end of the bargain. They deleted plus sent me a letter of intent that I could show my loan officer while I was waiting for it to come off.

If all else fails and you pay it and it stays on, you can always pursue the HIPAA process. It's time consuming, but it does work. Good luck!