Hi all,
In 2007 I was graduate student and had a student insurance at Colorado State University. In January, 2008 I needed a blood test. The University Clinic could not perform the test and advised me to go to the hospital where the test was conducted. Shortly afterwards I moved to Los Angeles and notified the University of my change of address. They in turn notified the insurance carrier and I assumed would also notify the hospital. Even now I continue to get mail from the University and their affiliated organizations.
In March 2008 I purchased a car and in the process confirmed that my credit score was 718. A couple of months later I applied for a credit card which was denied. Upon investigating the reasons I was told that I had an outstanding unpaid debt. I was able to access my credit report and discovered that it listed an unpaid bill to the hospital in the amount of $16.00 due to the blood test which I thought being paid by the insurance. I immediately called the hospital and found that they had been sending the bill to my old address in CO. Nothing had been forwarded to my Los Angeles address so I was totally unaware of any problems. I paid the bill that day and assumed the issue was closed.
I then contacted collection agency to see if my credit report had been updated and was told that since the bill had been paid there was nothing else to do. However, I was also informed that the record of the past due invoice would stay on my credit report for seven years.
The impact of what most would consider an insignificant event has had a devastating effect on my creditworthiness. I checked my credit report and my score is 673.
I have always been a responsible consumer paying my bills on time and never overextending my resources. Now I find myself in the untenable position of having a black mark on my credit record which will remain into the next decade.
Therefore I wrote a letter and made a formal request that collection agency's records be amended to reflect the payment in full of this minor debt and to expunge any references which would adversely affect my credit score.
The agency did not even respond my letter. I was planning to get a loan in couple of months but I can not even increase the limit of my credit card which I have had for 2 years and never paid late or anything.
I appreciate your advices to delete this matter from my records or increase my credibility.
Happy new year.
Who is the collection agency..? Check for it on my company website'sexamples page... I might be able to offer some guidance...
Hi Koraydaver
Any negative listing will show up in your credit report for seven years. Even if you pay off the debt in full, it will show up in your credit report. Only the status will change to "paid in full". But if before paying off the debt, you had made the hospital agree to pay for deletion, then the negative listing would have removed from the credit report after you had paid $16. However, I do not think that the hospital would has agreed to PFD for such a small amount of debt. You can ask the hospital to change the status of the listing to "paid as agreed" instead of "paid in full" which can improve your credit score.
Your credit score may have come down because of two reasons - firstly there is a negative listing in your credit report about the outstanding hospital bill and secondly, there has been a hard inquiry in your credit report as you have applied for a credit card. So for the time being your credit score may not increase from 673, but if you now make regular payments with your existing credit cards and repay on time without making any missed payments, your credit history will improve and your credit score will rise. But if you apply for a new credit card again, your credit score may fall further due to further hard inquiries.
credit
Gosh!!...all of this for $16.00? Is that what I understand? Just for a few dollars, this can REALLY mess your credit up. Doesn't seem fair, does it?
WOW I agree with SDchargers (Great game by the way) I am still new to fixing my credit as well with all the in's and outs so my advice may not be the best but I do side with you.
$16 for seven years is hardly fair. I agree with the PFD but that time already past. I would call whomever I had to at the hospital and explain the situation clearly till that $16 could not be pushed anymore.
I would pay 20x the amount to have stuff like that removed..
Best of luck
It is true that $16 is a petty amount and so instead of informing you first to pay back the debt, they have reported the debt to the bureaus. Since any negative information affect your credit score irrespective of the amount, your credit score has come down. What I think is that when medical bills are of such small amount we should pay them without waiting for the insurance company to pay them off. If the outstanding amount is high, then one can go for pay for deletion agreement to get it out of the report. But if the amount is just $16, the creditor do not agree to pay for deletion agreement.
That is really a bad record to you. But it is still your duty to check if you still have bills or not, you must check it always so that their will be no problem like this will occur to you again.
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Thanks All
Hey! Thanks everyone for your time. I called the agency few days ago hoping to talk someone to fix this. They are not willing to fix this, although they are able to. I explained that I was unaware of the debt again... Nope, does not work.
I was planning to get a loan for a house in March, but I talked to my bank and they can not give the credit to me, since they can not even see the amount of paid debt but collection occurred.
If someone is given god-like power which may ruin somebody, it should be at least logical and reasonable people. They are unable to understand the difference between $16 and $1600.
Death penalty for stealing a candy is not fair. Agency said that life is unfair sometimes. :) What brilliant people I have to deal with due to my stupid mistake of not updating my address through USPS.
Please tell me who the collection agency is... I'll be happy to offer more once I know that much...
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