Bad Credit Agency

Can I sue a Collection Agency??

VICTIM OF FRAUD My wife was having a baby back on May-2006, Her primary Doctor sent her To the Obstetrix Medical Group Located in Hamilton Ave San Jose, Ca. Her primary Doctor told her not worry about the Insurance covering because They do accept PacifiCare.! My wife and I were barely new to PacifiCare we didnâ??t know how this really Works or what exactly we supposed to do before visit any place â??According to PacifiCareâ?? We hired the doctor in the first place â??thanks Godâ?? was in the PacifiCare Network. But we thought that once we have a doctor and the doctor send you to these Different places for testing or examinations? It will cover by the insurance.!! However this is what got us in trouble. Even if a doctor send you to another place for some sore of test, we supposed to Find out first if that place is cover by PacifiCare, According to this Insurance. But, there were times that insurance was confused themselves with their system, They didnâ??t even know if some places my wifeâ??s doctor used for third party work Were their responsibility to pay or not. How we supposed to know that as well?? They didnâ??t make any sense at all. Which, Again, We didnâ??t know this. And because the doctor told us the Obstetrix Medical Group is cover by PacifiCare? So went and we even asked the Counter Employee at the desk if they take PacifiCare? And she said â??Yesâ?? She took our Insurance card and took a photocopy and we filled out other forms Days later, We received a bill from Obstetrix Medical Group for the amount of $1,964 which this bill continued arriving over and over at my house. In the mean time I was calling insurance to find out why they were not paying this Bill? And they told me that the Obstetrix Medical Group was not in the network. We told them that my wifeâ??s doctor checked it in Northrop Grumman website that Was in the network that it was cover thatâ??s why we went. Time went by, later I received a letter from California Business Bureau collecting The amount of $2,731.41 including fees. To contact the collector At this time I got the news that PacifiCare Finally decided to pay so I got the copy Of the PacifiCare Payment. Then I called this guy the collector and told him this bill has been paid by the Insurance. Then he asked to send him a copy. I did, sent him the copy when saw the total amount that was paid to Obstetrix? Which was $1,178.40 because the difference was my discount. THIS IS HOW HMO INSURANCE COMPANY WORKS However, the collector told me: â?? Not, you need to pay the difference then, I said: If you have any questions, please call the insurance. So, he told me that he will check it out. On 01/23/2008 6 Months later I received a garnishment letter from the company I work for that Legal Action involving employee wages will be against me. So, I contacted the collector and asked him: â??Why Do you keep bothering me with this? This bill has been paid before back on 05/07/2007â?? He replied: â??Not, it Hasnâ??tâ?? you are responsible for the difference of the $1,178.41 plus interest. Then I said â??noâ?? you still donâ??t understand.! Ok, Iâ??ll find out thru my insurance and the obstetrix Medical group to see what they are after me for? So, I called the Insurance PacifiCare and explained them the situation and they said: â??Well, we donâ??t understand why this people is bothering you, this bill has been paid back on 05/07/2007 call for some Legal help. I called the Obstetrix Medical Group Headquaters in Arizona at the Phone Number: 1-877-737-4546, I talked to the guy â??that helpâ??which he didnâ??t want Give me his last name or any reference number. Anyways, He told me that my wifeâ??s account has been closed back in 05/07/2007 With satisfactory results that he didnâ??t understand why collection still working on this. He even told me that he will send a letter to collection to stop this but this will take Some time to get there and stop it. But collection is already on my employer against my wages. Later, I faxed these two statements from the calls to the collector and called him After works to tell him that nothing is left to be paid. He said â??Noâ?? you need to pay the remaining balance plus interest. So I told him, fine Iâ??ll contact my Company benefit representative, then he said, â??Okâ?? So, I called my company benefit representative and explained her the problem. She said: â??Bring me copies of everything you gotâ?? She called the California Business Bureau and asked for some one in charged For the particular matter. So, spoke a lady there, they went thru the Problem and they came out that They were making a mistake. That they thought I was in the PPO Plan because the HMO Plan members donâ??t owe Any difference and that the fees will be waved. So, The lady will send a document via Fax to my company benefit representative and that She will send this copy to my company payroll so they can stop this. WHY WE HAVE TO GO THRU THIS?? WHO IS PAYING ME MY TIME FOR THIS?? WHO IS PAYING MY FRUSTRATION FOR THIS?? WHO IS PAYING FOR THE BAD MOOD Iâ??VE BEEN WITH MY FAMILY?? WHAT ABOUT MY CREDIT REPORT RATE?? PLEASE, HELP First, I'm not a book writer to decide how much should I put in my text.! I'm just an individual trying to survive from my attackers.! Some people here in these answers are not undertanding the subject. I said: This place was in the Insurance Network under my company website. We checked it at the doctor's office that day, that's why we went. Now when the collection started their collection letters? I called them to let them know that the bill has been fully paid and nothing was left to owe. But, this collector was so stubborn about it and said to me many times: "No, it's your responsability to pay the difference and I will collect this money" Now, my company sarted to take money from my check.! and my company Benefit representative is working on the issue that it's wrong and she asking letters to the collector to send them to my company to stop this as we're speaking.! I'll appreciate more help and where to go exactly to see if I have a case or not.

Public Comments

  1. Of course you can sue...contact a lawyer
  2. I would contact an attorney in the area who specializes in medical cases. I am sure you can sue the collection agency, but I don't know how.
  3. first, try typing a little less, i got board about 1 1/2 paragraphs in. also, you are not explaining yourself well because you are irritated and are skipping words. next, you don't get paid for frustration. figure it out and stop looking for a hand out!
  4. Unfortunately your time, frustration and bad mood is not something you can sue for. You can talk to the company to get the bad credit remark removed from your credit history!
  5. if you have proof that these have been paid the collecton agency can;'t take your money like that i would call a lawyer give him all the paper work and let him handle it for you,, that is wrong,, they have you these insurance companies you have to go thru so much do this look here ,see if they are in net work a doctor and medicine you need they need to pay regardless
  6. You can sue anyone you want...whether or not you will be wasting your money is up to you. Make sure you find a lawyer that only gets paid when you get paid...in those cases they only take it if they think they will win...and on that note...make sure they dont say something in the agreement where you get paid they get paid but either way you still have to pay for travel, letters, etc...they can get you that way.. As far as you credit ratings go you can write a letter to all three credit companies and let them know that there has been an error...It takes awhile but it can be reversed You family is paying for the bad mood that you have been in. I know what they are doing is completely wrong. But you could end up losing a lot of money trying to sue them. They could put you through so much paper work spanning out 2-5years. The longer they stale the more likely you give up or take a smaller settlement ~Good Luck~ by the way....be extremely careful when you ask a dr office "Do you take 'such and such" insurance...they will almost ALWAYS say yes....because they will....what you need to ask is "Are you guys in the approved network with this insurance"
  7. Contact a Lawyer about a lawsuit. Contact Satae Attorney General 's Office and Insurance Comissioner's office to file compliant aginst Companies involved. Send copy of this letter to the credit bureaus to have them put in their files on you!
  8. The collection company has indeed broken federal collections laws. Go to an attny and file a law suit against the collection company for harassment of a paid dept. There are federal laws that will protect you against these type of predators. Hope you have the collection guys name and his id#. Your attorney should be suing them for the Fair Dept Collection Practices Act, 15 USC 1692c. If the collection company was not within the rules of the FDCP act then you have fun with the collection company. But from what you have writen in here and if you have everything confirmed then there actions are againt the FDCP Act. Best of luck
  9. All you have to do is sent an email to the Better Business Bureau in your city. They will jump on this right away. Contact the television station in your city; we have several in this area and they will do a special report on television. Send certified letters to the hospital, insurance company, better business, owners of the hospital, medical groups, etc. I did this with DiskNetwork and I got results.
  10. You go through this, because someone else is paying the bill for you. No one pays you for your time for this. Just like no one pays ME for MY time, answering these questions, or chasing down MY bills or health insurance. You are not ENTITLED to someone paying you for your time, to live your life. This is part of life. Oh, and you can sue whoever you want here in the US, but you'd have to prove that they were deliberately harassing you - and it sounds like it was an honest mistake that just hasn't been fixed yet. So you'll have to pay for your lawyer up front, probably $5,000 or so should do it, and you'll probably end up paying for THEIR defense costs if you lose. No one pays for your frustration. No one pays for your bad mood. This is life. Bad moods happen. Ignore it, and be nice to your family. Show your children that annoying things happen, and you just have to deal with it. You can write to your credit report to dispute the things that are wrong. And you can get a free copy at www.annualcreditreport.com
  11. It is your responsibility to make sure that any where you have services rendered accepts your health plan. It is not your referring doctors responsibility. If you don't know the terms of your own health plan - how is your doctor -who sees hundreds of patients a year - supposed to know the details of your health plan. You bear responsibility for not checking if the facility was in your network. Not understanding how your health insurance works is not an acceptable excuse. All it would have taken was for you to call the facility and say "hey ....are you in the Pacificare HMO network?". If they say no - you call your health plan - find out who in network performs that procedure and call your doctor and let him know you need to go to another facility. You have to go through this because YOU made a bad assumption at the very beginning and did not take the 10 minutes it would take to check with the facility or your health plan to find out if they were in network. You have now learned a very expensive lesson and I'm sure will make sure that your providers are in network in the future.
  12. do you have legal aid in your area, its a legal program with a group of lawyers you might have to pay a small fee or not based on your income .
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