Bill went to collection because of the company's mistake, what do I do?

[noelm]

In Nov. 2012, my gastroenterologist sent my blood samples to Enzo Clinical Labs, NY. Enzo had my incomplete address on file. They sent the bill and it went back. I got a call from them in Jan 2013 about my address. I gave the complete address but the customer service personnel wasn't competent enough to record the address correctly. Seems like the bill went back again and now it went to collection.

I got a call yesterday from a debt collection agency. I confirmed my correct address to them. The lady at the debt collection agency corrected the address.

Next I called up Enzo to give them an earful (in civil but not at all happy tone). The personnel confirmed the mistake and corrected the address and before ending the call, I explicitly expressed my disappointment with them.

My questions are,
- Since this bill went to debt collection agency, will it appear on my credit report? (At the moment, I do not have a SSN because I am on a dependent visa but in a year, I will have my SSN, will it appear on records then?)
- I posed to that agent that who is responsible for it affecting my credit report and score? She informs me that it is reported to the credit bureaus only after a couple of months with a debt collection agency. Did she lie?
- Should I ask for a letter from Enzo that this delay was because of their mistake and not mine? (so that should it appear on my credit report, I can have a letter to prove it)?
- If Enzo refuses to provide this letter, can I take a stand that I won't pay unless I get a letter?
- If Enzo refuses to provide a letter, can I ask the debt collection agency to provide me one?
- If all fails, what options do I have? Do I have to just suck it up?

I AM going to pay the bill as soon as I receive it, so payment is not an issue but even after paying that, I am stressed out if it appears on my credit report because of these monkey's mistakes.

Thanks in advance.

 

[pb4uski]

You're on the right track. You should insist that if the overdue bill was reported to the credit agencies that they contact the credit agencies and recind the report and acknowledge that it was their error. You should also get a letter from them acknowledging the situation and the billing error. Also, were you covered by insurance at the time? If so, then the bill should have been submitted to the insurer before it was billed to you.

There is not much you can do if they refuse to cooperate other than threaten legal action for the damage to your credit score, at which point you should talk to a lawyer.

 

[MichaelB]

They are probably telling the truth that it is not reported to the credit agency. Many medical practices have their own "collection agencies", which are really just collection departments with names to make them sound scary.

Without a social security number you do not have a credit record, so this transaction cannot be recorded. Still, the letter does not hurt. You can always send one to them confirming the chain of events as well.

 

[Tree-dweller]

I think it's unlikely to show up in a credit report, but just in case...

Disputing Errors on Credit Reports | Consumer Information

 

[eytonxav]

I seem to recall a 60 Minutes episode or maybe it was another news show that talked about the difficulty in getting these credit rating agencies to correct errors, it sounded like a real nightmare to me.

 

[Texas Proud]

I seem to recall a 60 Minutes episode or maybe it was another news show that talked about the difficulty in getting these credit rating agencies to correct errors, it sounded like a real nightmare to me.

Yea, I remember it also... seems like the rating agencies do not care at all about what the people report... almost all is automated reporting and the company is always correct...

IIRC, the big problems were from identity theft...

 

[Texas Proud]

I would not worry about it.... I have refused to pay bills that have never shown on my credit report... I do not think that many docs or clinics do any reporting...

 

[growing_older]

Over the years I have had several similar instances of medical bills being sent to unexpected places or just never being sent at all until someone decides it's old and should go to collections (twice). By promptly responding and clearing up the mistakes - their mistakes - I have never seen any of these reported on my credit records. I do have an SSN at these offices, so reporting the issue would have been easy, but they didn't do it and I suspect the info that you were told they wait several months before reporting is correct.

You could always pull a credit report and check, but without a SSN, it may be as impossible for you to check as it is for them to report.

 

[Animorph]

I had something similar happen, though many years ago. I got a new credit card, it came to my new address, but they sent the bill to my old address. It didn't get forwarded properly. And it did go on my credit report. A year or two later I applied for my first mortgage loan. I'm not sure what the ding did to my score, but all I had to do was write a letter of explanation to the loan company describing what happened. That was enough to get the loan, so no problem.

My understanding from what I've read nore recently is that one missed payment is not a big hit to your credit score.

 

[eytonxav]

IIRC, the big problems were from identity theft...

Yes, thats correct, it was about identity theft

 

[jollystomper]

From the credit report perspective you should be okay - it likely will never show, and if it did one incident really won't hurt your credit.

But it is good to get a letter from them acknowledging their mistake *and* that you have paid the bill. What might happen is that the "debt" gets resold to another agency who comes after you again because the original agency never cleaned up their act.

 

[noelm]

Thank you everyone for the comments.

Here is final update.

I called them up to confirm about reporting to the credit bureau. She informed me since the collection was closed and the bill was in the mail, it will not be reported. I insisted on written statement but she offered me in email. This email only states that the incidence will not be reported but does not admit their mistake (which I expected). At the same time, I recorded our phone conversation so that if anything goes wrong in future, I have a back up. I seriously don't care if it was legal to record the conversation. If I have to produce it in future, I will look into the legality, until then, let it be as it is.