Question on Collection

[cricketsarge]

I last owed a Doctor a balance in April of 2010, which I did receive a statement for.  After insurance paid, I disputed the balance owed, as the Doctor was charging me for lab draws he did for his own research. They still insisted I owed them. I did not pay. Now, they have turned this over to a collection agency. It is approx. $277.00. I am trying to up my credit scores from what myfico.com is reporting as 608.

This is my question...should I just break down and send the CA a letter stating if I pay, they will delete?

Thank you.

[gdale6]

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@cricketsarge wrote:

I last owed a Doctor a balance in April of 2010, which I did receive a statement for.  After insurance paid, I disputed the balance owed, as the Doctor was charging me for lab draws he did for his own research. They still insisted I owed them. I did not pay. Now, they have turned this over to a collection agency. It is approx. $277.00. I am trying to up my credit scores from what myfico.com is reporting as 608.

This is my question...should I just break down and send the CA a letter stating if I pay, they will delete?

Thank you.

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If what you say is true I would be reporting the Doc ^ the CA to the BBB for shoddy business practices. I would never pay for something like this.

Edit: Ask for removal of the Collection as remedy and write off of the debt

[cricketsarge]

I tried doing that, but apparently there is fine print in their volumeous paperwork you fill out/sign/etc when becoming a patient that allows them to do this! If I would have known this, I would have walked out the door, as they never told me when they did the labs each time that these labs would not be covered! When you are sick and suffering, it is probably a good idea to have someone else read all the paperwork and ask questions...lesson learned.

So, my plan is to write the collection company (who must have my phone number on speed dial) a letter, and tell them that I do not agree that I owe this physician any more money, however, to put this account behind me, I am willing to pay off the account in full, if they agree to completely remove the account off my credit report...not report it is paid...removed completely off. I plan to tell them if this is something they are willing to do, to send me an agreement on this, on their company letterhead, and I will send them a postal money order for payment in full.

Is there anything that I am missing that I should do to protect myself? The debt is 5 years old, but I am cleaning up my credit and do not want to play a waiting game if I can get this resolved.

Thank you so much!

[RobertEG]

Burying terms such as that in a contract could be found to have been effort at concealment or confusion on the part of the consumer.

A contract is a meeting of the minds.

It could also be viewed as an unenforceable condition unrelated to any serivce on his part.

You might have a legal basis for contesting the "contract."

You wont get resolution of that matter by way of an FCRA dispute or a BBB complaint.

If yoo wish to pursue, I would advise consulting an attorney wiht view at voiding any assertion of a binding legal contract.

Charging you for items that were not related to your treatment would, in my opinion, be a no-brainer for a judge.