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Thu 28 Feb, 2008 12:58 pm
My bill at the er last fall was 7000.00. I was told that I had to pay a certain amount monthly or else and I replied that I would make a payment every single month without fail until jesus returned if necessary but could not guarantee the LARGE payment they demanded, particularly in the first quarter of the year when I'm basically living off my club income.
So I've been good as my word, paid faithfully and most months managed to scrape up the full payment. This month I was only able to give 100.00 and have been informed that I'm to be turned over to a collection agency.
I in turn have informed them that if they do that I will never pay them one goddam cent. they can't garnish my wages because I'm self employed. They can get a judgement but can't enforce it. They can only f*ck my credit once.
They seem determined to go ahead though. How can they be so stupid? I would have paid every dime in good faith but now they've lost thousands because believe me, I won't pay them another dime.
Have you tried meeting with a hospital administrator in person? If there's an ER nurse or doc you like, he or she can probably tell you the best person to approach. You may be dealing with jerks, but, in my neck of the woods, you can often successfully make an appeal to reason when it comes to paying off a large medical bill. As long as you're paying it off in good faith, what's their beef? They should accommodate someone like you who's paying steadily and not trying to stiff them.
already talked to the head muckity muck.
does the hospital work with mediators? You could propose mediation instead of going to the court.
it's too late for that ****.. they already turned me in to collections... which means it'll show up as a negative on my credit report... they've f*cked themselves out of thousands....
I doubt they care. They'll sell your account to a collection agency for $.70 on the dollar and it isn't their problem any more. They'd rather have cash now from the collection agency then the possibility that you might continue to pay for the next 15 years.
what will a collection agency do? can they confiscate property?
i know you're angry, but if it were me, i'd keep paying to the best of my abilities.
well nobody gets dick now and I'm off the hook.... I will attach a note of explanation ot my CBI and when compared to all my other spotless credit history it will be a tempest in a teapot...
maybe.... if you don't stop paying.
dagmaraka wrote:what will a collection agency do? can they confiscate property?
i know you're angry, but if it were me, i'd keep paying to the best of my abilities.
fishin' has it right and no they can't confiscate my property.
dagmaraka wrote:maybe.... if you don't stop paying.
no, fo shizzle... as you young people say....
what's in it for the collection agency?
the hope that they can intimidate me... they do a good job with most people.... I'm not most people...I don't intimidate easily and I understand the law....
hmm...i guess i just wouldn't want to owe anything to anyone.
good luck with the whole thing.
Nor do I... I told them what I would and could do and did exactly that.... not good enough for 'em so it's a TP now, not an MP.
Collection agencies can be quite reasonable.
One of the fringes of Mr. Noddy's family is a financial nitwit. He bought several thousand dollars worth of correspondence courses to improve himself and then didn't make the payments (or follow the steps to improvement).
The collection agency accepted .25 on the dollar.
The problem is.....it sounds like you owe enough money, still on the account that the Collection Agency might see it as worth their while to turn this bill from a collection into a judgement.
If they do that, they will most assuredly win if you stop making payments. Which is exactly what the collection agency WANTS you to do. Plus be awarded court fee's, accured interest, etc. that will just raise the amount you owe right now. if you continue to make payments though, the judge will probably throw the case out and YOU win.
Make sure this is with a collection agency and not the collection department of the hospital. As quickly as they thumped on your ass for non-payment ....it almost seems it's the department instead of an agency. But could be either.
One more thing to consider ....if you stop making payments and a judgement is put on you .... makes it harder to borrow money without paying off the judgement. A collection (especially medical) on the other hand ....almost always is overlooked. Of course it depends on what you are borrowing money for.
Working in the financial world....I can tell you from experience that while some agencies are easy to work with..that is not the norm. Especially if the account in question is not that old. They are for the most part.....the most horrible bunch to deal with. Any accounts that I have ever gotten reduced for people ...the payoff is only good for so many days and you best have the money laying around somewhere.
Next time they call ...tell them to never call you again. Also tell them that you are recording the conversation as evidence. At that point....at least the calls should stop.
Man, I'm sorry to hear this, BPB. Sounds like you made payments every month in good faith, and you'd think they could cut you a little slack for this one smaller payment -- instead of hauling off and going into collection agency mode. That sucks!
Hope you're able to get this resolved amicably with them. (((Bear)))
Hang in there!
dagmaraka wrote:does the hospital work with mediators? You could propose mediation instead of going to the court.
Read that as "Soes the hospital work with medicators? You could propose medication instead of going to court.
I think the medication was what ran the bill up.
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