ohhnicholas
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Although it varies from place to place, check with the billing office. They will have financial councilors there who are in charge of that sort of thing. In billing, they are the last stop before unpaid medical expenses get sent to collection agencies. They will set up monthly payments for you that you can afford, and as long as you make those they cannot send you to collections. You have to talk to them so they can put a note in the computer to make it official and so other councilors can see you have an agreement - if they see payments coming in just every so often, they can still send you to collections.
You can also fill out a waver asking them to dismiss part or all of your bill. |
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echo
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I agree with ohhnicho
Talk to them about setting up a payment plan.
If you are just making payments without setting up a payment plan, or you are not making the amount agreed on if you had made a payment plan, they can and probably will send it to a collector.
If you are low income, when your talking to the hospital about a payment plan, along with asking them to waive a portion of the amount, ask them about charity aid. They have lists of different charities that will help pay hospital bills.
If you come to any agreement with them , payment plan, waiving of part of the amount - get it in writing !!! |
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KRISTEN M
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I used to work for a third party collection attorney and I can tell you with all certainty that they can still send it to collections but they won't if you are paying. They will not want to share the money coming in. Every account sent to a third party collection agency/attorney is there on contingency basis. That means the third party gets a percentage of the money collected. They are not going to want to share the $$$. If they do send it to a third party don't worry just make your payments to the third party. Sending it to the original creditor will delay the processing and you will get calls from the third party even if you are paying the original creditor. No third party agency will sue on a paying account because it costs to much to sue and if they already have money coming in from you why would they want to spend theres? Here's an extra hint FDCPA says that if you wirte in the memo section of your check or money order that the payment is settlement in full for acct # and they are dumb enough to cash it then your acct has been settled for that amnount and they can no longer collect on it, it is now an acct that was settled for less than the balance owed. Once the check has been cashed it is seen as a legal binding contract between you and the company and their cashing it is their acceptance of your proposed settlement. It doesn't always work but you can try the worst they can do is send your payment back and then you send it in again without the notation. Good Luck and dont let it stress you out even if you get sued there are a million ways out of a judgement. |
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TXML
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Yes because they are bas#$rds. You can sometimes talk to a financial counselor and they may be able to make your payments more manageable. Or you might can fill out some paperwork (kind of like a loan application) and they may knock off some of your bill |
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carnalust17
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yes they can, however, they cannot make you do anything more than you already are becuase you currently paying the bill eahc month. |
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laaumark
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It's my understanding that when a bill is sent to collections, the "collectors" take a HUGE portion of that bill as profit. The original vendor only gets...say 40 cents on the dollar. If you're paying in good faith every month, it doesn't make business sense to send you to collections. |
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~Me~
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No, they cannot send it to collections if you are paying on time and that they agreed to accept.
The best thing to do with medical bills is write a letter (send it certified), spelling out your wish to pay your bill in the amount that you are able to afford. (ie; $15 per month)...
Then pay FAITHFULLY each month and if you have to lower your payment due to circumstances, you send your payment along with a new letter (again...certified) stating the change.
With that, they can't send you to collections. It's not legal.
If you MISS a payment or are very late, they CAN then begin collection proceedings. |
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sidoniejones@prodigy.net
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They can do it if they want. What I suggest is that you call whoever is in charge of their accounts and work out a deal with them about lowering your required monthly payment to something that you can handle. Creditors are usually willing to work with you if you are sincere about paying and not trying to dodge them, and you are paying what you can. They will get their money as opposed to never getting it if you don't pay. Good Luck!!! |
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Fly Boy
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Yes but if your paying on it they will not nor can not sue you . Dave Ramsey a financial adviser has a site and a plan that is starting to help me out and could help you out of debt. |
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