How can I fight a collection agency that smears my credit to collect a medical bill my health ins. should pay?

The collection agency contacted me and to show them that they should have been paid by now, I faxed them the health insurance approval form that authorizes the medical procedure for which I am asked to pay. My health insurance agency should have paid the bill of $750. Even though the collection agency knows who to contact to be paid, they decided to come after me. I guess it's easier for them to come after me, then to fight another agency to get paid. Can I take them to small claims court to take the credit report off my credit history and force them to stop coming after me? What if I ignore them? What will they do? What is next for them? What does disputing this claim involve? Anything to guide me with? FYI, my credit score was something like 775 before this incident.

Public Comments

1. Contact your health provider to find out why they did not pay....sometimes they will not pay due to the codes that the doctors put on there.....Get them to fax you in writing that they will not pay this... Step Two is to send a letter to the collection agency as follows: As you well know, Section 805a(1) of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act states :"Without the prior consent of a consumer given directly to the debt collector or the express permission of a court of competent jurisdiction, a debt collector may not communicate with a consumer in connection with the collection of any type of debt at any unusual time or place or at a time or place known or which should be known to be inconvient to the consumer". I emphatically state that at my place of work, my home, or anywhere else regarding said matter is inconvenient to me. Your failure to comply with this request will subject your organization to civil liberty under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, Section 813, which is $500,000 or 1 percent of your net worth, whichever is less. All dialogue from this point on will be conducted through the U.S. Mail only. This will keep them from calling.....if they continue, contact the Federal Trade Commission and register a formal complaint. Next, I would make a payment agreement with them. If you take them to small claims court, it will probably cost you more and they will more than likely win, especially if your health provider did not pay this. I would specify each date and amount I would pay, something like this: I agree to pay this amount of $750.00 broken down in dates and amounts as follows: and list each one. Send money orders (I don't know if I would trust them with your checking account), and on the final money order mark Paid In Full. I know this would probably cost more money, but I would mail it certified mail (only $3 here) each time....that way, someone there would have to sign for each payment sent and you would have a paper trail of names if they say they did not get a payment. After this is paid off, I would send copies of everything to each credit bureau, letting them know that it has been paid off. I would also send copies of where you had contacted them about the health company not paying them off. I would send them everything especially since your FICO score is so high. Best of luck and never let any kind of collection agency intimidate you.
2. Since this is a valid claim disputing it does no good. If there is anyone you should sue it should be your insurance company. Ok...the hospital or doctor bills the insurance company timely and correctly. That is the only responsibility they have. It is your responsibility to make sure that your carrier remits payment. If they do not remit payment, you are personally liable. I bet you even signed something when you were going in the first time and it is a personal guaranty that almost evey doctor makes you sign. Im sorry but that is the law. You can dispute the claim and the bill collector will validate it by sending copies of your signiture or bills. Thats that. What next? You need to call your insurance carrier and put them on blast. Tell them that their not paying the bill has caused this problem for you and you want it take care of immediatly. Find out why they havent paid. If they say they have than request a copy of the canceled check. Most likely they havent because most carriers deny claims for all kinds of reasons. If they tell you its been denied than the bill is your personal responsibility. Ask the insurance carrier what you need to do to get it paid. Sometimes you can get things like retro-authorizations, etc. If they tell you nothing and the bill simply does not qualify and are not covered under your benefits. Again...thats on you. If that is the case call the agency, make a deal with them to pay a less amount and for them to give you a deletion if you pay it. Get it in writing before you pay anything. What can happen to you? You may be sued by the collector or if he doesnt want to sue you because its not such a significant account...it will just stay on your credit report. This is NOT a consumer account for one thing, its a medical account. Another thing is...dont go filing any complaints if your going to set up a payment plan like that girl told you because paying it acknowledges you owe it and can not be disputed later and than filing a complaint can make the collector NOT want to take it off your credit report. If they dont take it off..you cant do anything cause it doesnt seem that they are in the wrong or breaking the law. WE WANT THIS OFF YOUR CREDIT REPORT so leave the agency alone as they are not in the wrong since you do admit you owe the debt, the insurance didnt pay it and so it landed in collections. As far as bill collectors calling you...which I doubt they have you on blast cause this is not a consumer bill which means collectors are not like consumer collectors, plus we are talking about 750.00 bill collectors have 750,000.00 accounts to call...just tell them that it is your right and you are putting them on notice and you do not want to be called. The collector by law can make one last call toyou to make you aware of their final decision if they wish to make that call. Otherwise, thats it and they will not call again. However, they can proceed with litigation and they can proceed to report to the credit reporting bureaus. None of these ideas resolve your issue. Before anything at all...call your insurance company and find out why they didnt pay. If you need help you can email me at smile4cobra@yahoo.com Good Luck
3. Whatever is incurred by you, you're still liable until fully settled. You need to connect with the insurance company to ensure they pay promptly. Once payment has been settled, your credit score will not be smear.
4. Go to the forum section of www.creditboards.com and READ READ READ