Scammed on credit report and credit destroyed by a medical secretary's accident!?

Parent Cafe
1

<p>Hi parents!</p>

<p>I was wondering if you might have some advice to offer me.</p>

<p>Recently, I tried applying for a credit card and was denied (I currenlty have one card with a 2,800 credit limit, need a second but not to buy anything). </p>

<p>I never make impulse purchases I can afford, and Im not very materialistic. I have paid off my balance in full since I opened the card three years ago.</p>

<p>So, seeing how the credit card company that denied me (chase) was a little wierd, I went to experian and saw that I had two problems with my account that were really really sketchy…</p>

<p>Apparenlty, two collections agencies have been going after me since two years ago. The circumstances are so wierd. is there any way I can dispute this? Its really not my fault at all (the medical center forgot to bill my insurance and sent everything to my UCLA dorm room which i had already moved out by then and now I can’t even prove that It would have been covered since I already have switched health care insurances…</p>

<p>Here are the circumstances:</p>

<p>I moved to Los Angelos for College and went to the UCLA medical center twice. Both times, I showed the secretary my healthcare card and they said my health insurance would cover it. However, apparenlty they NEVER billed my insurance and just ended up sending me bills to my dorm room address (which I had already moved out of to San Fransico and didn’t have a forwarding service). </p>

<p>So, I don’t believe I ever got the bills. If one were to run my medical visits through my health insurance at that time (I have switched since then), they would be covered. Since I am insured under a new healthcare insurnace, I can’t even prove that my old insurnace would have been ok with it.</p>

<p>What do I do?
I have two collection agency notices on my credit report and I’m afraid to check my credit score! (I need to apply for 6K in private student loans for my last year of college…and I can’t sign with this bad of a credit!)</p>

<p>Worse off, my mother (father is out of the picture, sadly) can’t cosign becuase she also had the same thing happen to her (secretary said they would bill united healthcare, they ended up sending the medical bills to the WRONG address and then directly went and told the credit bureau that my mother was deliquent—as a result, she just got her credit card of 6 years and all the credit history (it was almost perfect then!) canceled.</p>

<p>Whatever do I do to repair me and my mother’s credit givent hat this wasn’t even out fault? (not that the credit companies care…)?</p>

<p>THanks so much,
Sally.</p>

2

<p>First, contact the billing office and see if they still own the debt. If it has been sent to collections, you will need to work with the bill collectors to get it paid off.</p>

<p>If the medical billing office hasn’t sold the debt, you can ask them to resubmit to your old insurance. But I don’t think they do since it’s on your credit report. </p>

<p>Next, contact the insurance company that insured you at the time the service was provided. Find out how you can submit a claim to them for them to process. In medical billing terms, 2 years is not too old. The fact you have switched insurances won’t make any difference, the old insurance will still likely pay claims that were incurred while the old one was in effect.</p>

<p>Third, you weren’t scammed. You didn’t pay a bill and now your credit reflects it. You will need to pay the bill to get it off your credit report. Your credit will improve greatly once it has been paid off.</p>

<p>Same thing for your mother - first find out who owns the debt. Then contact UnitedHealthcare and find out how to resubmit claims. Then pay the person who owns the debt the amount that UnitedHealthcare won’t pay.</p>

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<p>Start a log of everyone you talk to. Record the date, the time, the phone number and who you reached and what you discussed. If you call the old health center and speak to “Sally” you’ll want to check back in a few days and it will be very helpful if you stick with “Sally.”</p>

<p>Being mobile is very typical for college students/new graduates. To avoid this sort of thing in the future you may want to get a post office box that you keep until your life is fully settled. </p>

<p>The post office usually forwards mail for at least six months for free. Make sure you use this service in the future. </p>

<p>It may take several weeks of diligent work to sort this out. Worse case scenario (to save time) you might find out how much the bill at UCLA is. If it is not too much, you might want to pay it (or make a payment plan) and then untangle the insurance coverage over time.</p>

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<p>^ That’s assuming that UCLA hasn’t sold the debt to a collection agency, which most likely has happened. In that case, the UCLA medical clinic won’t be able to offer much info.</p>

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<p>"Same thing for your mother - first find out who owns the debt. Then contact UnitedHealthcare and find out how to resubmit claims. Then pay the person who owns the debt the amount that UnitedHealthcare won’t pay. "</p>

<p>Can I still do this even if UCLA medical has already sold the debt to a collection agency? (they have)</p>

<p>thanks again</p>

6

<p>The person that owns the debt will have to be paid for it to go off the record.</p>

<p>UnitedHealthcare probably won’t pay them directly, but may be able to pay your mother. Call them and find out how you can submit a claim.</p>

7

<p>Just an FYI, UnitedHealthcare allows 90 days for bills to be submitted before they are denied for timely filing. I am quite sure UCLA Healthcare knows this and that is why they are going after you. If you can get them to submit the claim, United will deny it and will also state that UCLA CANNOT bill you before they had the responsibility for submitting the claim in a timely manner. Therefore you owe nothing. However, if they did submit a claim and you provided any incorrect information, you may be on the hook. </p>

<p>Agree with the other posters above that if this debt has been sold, UCLA has absolutely no incentive to work with you. You can, however, propose a settlement to the collection agency for cents on the dollar sometimes.</p>

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<p>I heard somewhere that your credit will be negatively impacted if you settle for less than the original amount of the debt. Is this true?</p>

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<p>Just an FYI: if you use medical services, expect a bill or some sort of paperwork from either the provider or your insurance company. Follow up if you don’t receive something within a month. These billing problems can be a headache to deal with and noone wants late fees, etc. to deal with.</p>