Medical Dispute & Pre-Hipaa Response

[cfox10]

Hello all,

I decided to create an account here seeing as most of the information I've gleaned has come from these forums!

I'm currently in the rebuilding phase for my credit and was hoping to get some guidance from everyone.

So far I've sent the Pre-Hipaa letter to 2 of the CRA (only 2 are reporting, TU and EX) I've yet to rec. a response from TU (although on their website it shows it's currently being disputer/looked into) and today I rec. a letter from EX stating the accounts are valid.

They didn't provide any supporting evidence, only advised me to contact original furnisher.

What step is next?

This is a medical collection from a Hospital. If any further info is needed I'll be keeping an eye on this threat.

Edited March 24, 2015 by cfox10

[cfox10]

This is the information Experian has mailed to me:

 

 

Dear xxxxxx x xxxx

If you question the result of our dispute process, then you may want to contact the furnisher of information directly or review the original information in the public record. Please refer to your original personal credit report for the furnisher or public records, office name, address, and phone number (if available)

 

The backside says it was intentionally left blank. It only contains my name, date, and report number.

 

 

Edit: I forgot to mention, I have opted out. I'm thinking my next step (once TU has completed their dispute) is to do the DV to the CA CMRR and then send a follow up dispute to the CRA?

Edited March 24, 2015 by cfox10

[kimbachelle]

Welcome!

 

Did you follow all the steps in the initial guide?

 

http://www.whychat.5u.com/GUIDEBOOK.html

 

And then you sent the initial dispute from the HIPAA guide?

 

http://www.whychat.5u.com/GUIDE%20HIPAA%20PROGRAM.html

http://whychat.5u.com/hipaadisp.html

 

If so, then you are correct. Once you hear from TU, you'll send the DV and follow up.

 

http://whychat.5u.com/ltrcavalhipaa.html

http://whychat.5u.com/ltrcavalhipaa.html#DISPUTE

 

But follow the links and study the instructions for each letter very closely. Every detail is important - for example, Why Chat specifically instructs to use certified mail, NO return receipt for the DV.

 

Don't worry about the blank letter from EX, all that really matters is that it was not deleted. Use the date from that "letter" in the follow up.

 

Good luck!!

 

ETA - it will help Why Chat if you can update with the date of medical service, as well as whether or not you were insured, and if you have any documentation from your insurance or bills from the OC.

Edited March 24, 2015 by kimbachelle

[cfox10]

Welcome!

 

Did you follow all the steps in the initial guide? Yes, I did.

 

http://www.whychat.5u.com/GUIDEBOOK.html

 

And then you sent the initial dispute from the HIPAA guide? Yes, completed this step for the 2 CRA's reporting - waiting on TU response.

 

http://www.whychat.5u.com/GUIDE%20HIPAA%20PROGRAM.html

http://whychat.5u.com/hipaadisp.html

 

If so, then you are correct. Once you hear from TU, you'll send the DV and follow up. Thank you, this was the part I wanted to make sure I was doing correctly.

 

http://whychat.5u.com/ltrcavalhipaa.html

http://whychat.5u.com/ltrcavalhipaa.html#DISPUTE

 

But follow the links and study the instructions for each letter very closely. Every detail is important - for example, Why Chat specifically instructs to use certified mail, NO return receipt for the DV.

I'm a little confused here though... how do I know when to send the next letter to the CRA's if I don't send CMRR to the CA?

 

Don't worry about the blank letter from EX, all that really matters is that it was not deleted. Use the date from that "letter" in the follow up.

 

ETA - it will help Why Chat if you can update with the date of medical service, as well as whether or not you were insured, and if you have any documentation from your insurance or bills from the OC.

 

The medical service was 06/12/2010

I was not insured at the time. I have no bills from the OC or any information from them. The only reason I know of this collection is because I want to build my credit and did my annual report for the first time.

 

The EX response has the date of 3/18/2015 - the 'investigation' from EX and TU both began on 3/9/15. I will update with information from TU as soon as possible. It shoes they have completed 6 of 7 investigations (the collection from one hospital is spread throughout several collection remarks on my report) and are working on the 7th. It's shown this status for several days now.

Edited March 24, 2015 by cfox10

[tweak]

 

But follow the links and study the instructions for each letter very closely. Every detail is important - for example, Why Chat specifically instructs to use certified mail, NO return receipt for the DV.

I'm a little confused here though... how do I know when to send the next letter to the CRA's if I don't send CMRR to the CA?

 

 

Certified Mail includes a tracking number.

You can track the CM letter online at usps.com.

 

When the DV letter is delivered, print out the USPS tracking confirmation from their website for your records

and proceed to the CRA dispute letter.

 

 

Good luck!

[cfox10]

 

 

But follow the links and study the instructions for each letter very closely. Every detail is important - for example, Why Chat specifically instructs to use certified mail, NO return receipt for the DV.

I'm a little confused here though... how do I know when to send the next letter to the CRA's if I don't send CMRR to the CA?

 

 

Certified Mail includes a tracking number.

You can track the CM letter online at usps.com.

 

When the DV letter is delivered, print out the USPS tracking confirmation from their website for your records

and proceed to the CRA dispute letter.

 

 

Good luck!

 

Thank you very much for the clarification! Now I'll wait it out until I get a response from TU.

 

On a side note, if these don't get removed through the dispute process...will these letter's change the date of when the accounts fall off?

[kimbachelle]

Disputing will have no effect on when they fall off. They can only be reported for 7 years from the date of service. IF you follow Why Chat's program to the letter, the chances of unpaid medical collections "sticking" are extremely slim.

[cfox10]

Disputing will have no effect on when they fall off. They can only be reported for 7 years from the date of service. IF you follow Why Chat's program to the letter, the chances of unpaid medical collections "sticking" are extremely slim.

Okay, great. What happens if I continue to only recieve automated messages back from the CRA's like I did with EX? I followed the guide, wrote the letter on thick colored paper with ball point pen. Is there a way to make sure they review everything? I've heard the response I got is pretty standard as they have to respond within a certain time.

[kimbachelle]

Ahh, patience. You've only fired off the first round of ammunition; Why Chat has given you far more than that. The big guns come out later

 

Just take it one step at a time, and update when you have all your responses from the CRA follow ups. Why Chat will guide you.

[cfox10]

Ahh, patience. You've only fired off the first round of ammunition; Why Chat has given you far more than that. The big guns come out later

 

Just take it one step at a time, and update when you have all your responses from the CRA follow ups. Why Chat will guide you.

 

So EX sent yet another letter in the mail - this time it's simply a more detailed version of the initial letter. The main difference between the two is this document shows each account opened with the CA including the account number. Still states that the document remains. I'm still going to assume I wait until TU completes the dispute and follow the next step.

[kimbachelle]

That was kind of them, I never got more than the blank page. Yep, just wait on TU so you know if your firing off one DV or two.

[cfox10]

So today I logged in to my Transunion dispute and every account shows as deleted. For my records I'm printing off the dispute page. Should I be keeping anything else or looking for anything else to make sure they stay off my records?

 

At this point only EX is reporting and refused to delete/sent a generic response. Is my next step a DV to the CA and another dispute to the CRA as soon as I see the DV as delivered? Everything should be CMRR correct?

 

Also after removal from my Transunion records my score went down significantly (24 pts). Is that to be expected?

[Why Chat]

So today I logged in to my Transunion dispute and every account shows as deleted. For my records I'm printing off the dispute page. Should I be keeping anything else or looking for anything else to make sure they stay off my records?

 

At this point only EX is reporting and refused to delete/sent a generic response. Is my next step a DV to the CA and another dispute to the CRA as soon as I see the DV as delivered? Everything should be CMRR correct? NO! medical dvs to CAs should be certified ONLY without the return receipt, otherwise they are not forwarded

 

Also after removal from my Transunion records my score went down significantly (24 pts). Is that to be expected?

How are you "logging in" to your TU dispute?? Did you dispute on line??

[cfox10]

I didn't start the dispute online - I sent the first letter in your program to Transunion and EX because they were reporting the collections. Transunion automatically started an online dispute so I logged in to check the status and it stated they were all deleted.

 

I'm going to get the DV ready to send out tomorrow certified only without RR. I'll keep my post updated as I continue this process. Once I've seen it arrive to the CA I'll send out the letter to CRA again. Hopefully EX will cooperate, I've heard horror stories about them in particular.

 

Thanks for all of the information - I've really appreciated how detailed the process write-up is.

[cfox10]

Question for anyone who has had anything removed...

 

Is it expected to have a big hit on your score? When TU removed the accounts my score declined significantly.

 

Still working on getting my credit cleaned up as much as possible.

[tweak]

Question for anyone who has had anything removed...

 

Is it expected to have a big hit on your score? When TU removed the accounts my score declined significantly.

 

Still working on getting my credit cleaned up as much as possible.

 

Sometimes your FICO score can initially drop when you start cleaning up your reports.

It will eventually rebound and then rise higher.

 

The reason is that FICO puts people in "buckets", where you are compared to other people with similar credit profiles.

You may have ranked higher in the "people with collections" bucket, as compared to the "people with no collections" bucket.

 

In the long run, it will definitely help your scores to clean up the negatives on your reports.

Don't worry about the short term FICO fluctuations.

 

(If you want to learn more about FICO scoring and buckets, you can post in the general Credit forum.)

 

Good luck!