Comments on: When We Received a Collections Letter

By: Link love « Funny about Money

Link love « Funny about Money — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 04:55:23 +0000

[...] Mrs. Micah opens an envelope and finds a dunning letter from a collection agency-nothing actually due, but the hassle leads her to describe what you should do if you find a collection letter in your mailbox. [...]

By: David

David — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 15:31:38 +0000

So glad it turned out to be nothing major, but just as a precaution you may want to call the agency directly and let them know – there isn’t the greatest of communication going on between these type of parties!

By: Ron@TheWisdomJournal

Ron@TheWisdomJournal — Wed, 14 May 2008 12:37:45 +0000

What chaps my hide is that they never take just a few minutes to make a simple phone call. They can call you trying to sell some gizmo, gadget, or unneeded service, but they can’t call and say, “Have you had a chance to get that check in the mail to us yet?”

By: this time last year on plonkee money | plonkee money

this time last year on plonkee money | plonkee money — Wed, 14 May 2008 12:01:09 +0000

[...] when we received a collection letter @ mrs. micah – fortunately I haven’t had one yet myself, but I’ve had them for other people (previous tenants) and it’s best to open and call them up to let them know that they’ve moved. It cuts down on hassle. [...]

By: Dad

Dad — Wed, 14 May 2008 03:11:10 +0000

Good advice. It is good to know the procedures that must be followed. Some people who make collection calls will skirt the very edge of the law or even violate it. They want to scare you into paying so that their collection rate goes up. They may get incentive pay for their success.

I had a problem once because the health insurance company failed to pay. I went round and round and ended up paying the debt because I was responsible. It was partially fixed later when my insurance company discovered the error in an audit and sent me the payment. By that time I worked for a different company and had a different insurer.

I’ve also had a number of cases where the payment crossed the collection letter. This is especially been true with insurance payments as some insurers put off the payment as long as they can ‘get away with it.’

By: Aryn

Aryn — Tue, 13 May 2008 17:13:52 +0000

This happened to us, too. A lab my doctor used sent the bill to the wrong address for a year and a half, then put it into collections. Apparently they people who lived at the address where it was sent never bothered to return it as “not at this address” during that time. Finally they sent it back to the collection agency, who used my credit report to find me.

Not only was it not my current address, it was not an address where I had ever lived. Yet the collections agent still wanted me to pay him interest and fees because “he’d had to find me and he deserved to make a profit.”

I should have thought to call the lab, but all I got was the letter from the collection agency and had no idea who the lab was. I did find a statement from my insurer indicating that I did owe the lab fees.

I finally managed to convince the agent that I would pay the full amount of the lab bill, but I would not pay any interest or fees because I didn’t do anything wrong. I couldn’t very well pay a bill I never received.

We also agreed that the collection would not appear on my credit report.

The whole thing made me mad, though. They screwed up, not me, and I got hassled over it.

By: Amy

Amy — Tue, 13 May 2008 15:32:03 +0000

Great post! Two points to include – never give the collections agency electronic access to your checking account or they may “accidentally” take more than agreed (a money order is best) and if you negotiate down the debt, always get it in writing before giving them money!