About Kathleen Eads Expertise Having spent almost a decade with a Commercial Collection agency, Kathleen
can answer questions related to collections~calls, motivating debtors to pay,
skip-tracing. She now works for National Skip Trace Network (NSTN), providing
premier technological Directory Assistance to the collections (www.nstn.net)
industry via the internet.
Experience
Past/Present clients Travelers Insurance, Nationwide Insurance, CNA Insurance, USF & G, Liberty Mutual, ACS, Asst Acceptance, Pinnacle, Penncro, Superior Asset Mgmt, PRM, Collins Financial, CBE Group
Question Our credit report shows four medical accounts unpaid. West Asset Management is the coll.agency that reported those accts. We had medical coverage at the time of service, however the provider did not billed the insurance. W've tried for a prolonged period of time to solve the issue. BCBS is willing to pay, but the coll. agency refuses to submit the bill to them.We have proof that BCBS never rec'd statements for the serv. in question.These items were reported several yrs. ago and now on 3/06 again.The service dates were in 2000. Is it legal to report these acts. again after 6yrs? what about the status of limitation. Please advised.
Answer Jose,
I would send the bills directly to the insurance company to see if you can get them paid. If BCBS pays the claims, the agency has nothing to pursue. Document everything to the insurance company, letting them know the matter has escalated to collections.
I don't know why they would be reported again, but you can dispute the entries with the credit bureaus. (www.transunion.com, www.equifax.com, www.experian.com). The original creditor must justify the date or the entry will have to be removed. I would document everything to the bureaus as well.
Keep in mind, a creditor can technically try to collect a bill forever; however, there is only so much time allotted for legal recourse. That is what statute of limitations is. You can read more about statutes at the following link: http://www.cardreport.com/laws/statute-of-limitations.html
