Bill sent to collections while on payment plan. How to proceed?

[craig1746237]

Hello,

I had a medical bill of $6000+ and I went on a 12 month payment plan. My payment plan ends in Feb 2024. I used to pay a little more every month when I had some extra cash. By end of June of 2023 I paid off most of my bill with only $320 left. I paid most of it early as I was going back to school for rest of the year and wouldn't have any income. I thought I will pay off the remaining $320 once I get a job starting next year.

 

Lo and behold, today I get a collections letter for the $320 amount. I thought I might have miscalculated the dates and was afraid I screwed up. But NO. I looked at my statements and it said that my payment plan was until Feb 2024. In fact I got an email in early Sept saying that my debt was "paid in full"  and my account is being closed. I still have payment plan statements and screenshots of the email. 

 

I called the hospital and they said that they sent it to collections as I did not make any payments since July. I told them that I had paid off my July to December EMIs in June and it reflected in the account balance. In fact, when I logged into my account in August, it showed that my minimum payment was "0". But they insisted that I should still have made payments and since they did not receive anything, they sent it to collections. However, they said they try to see if they can get it back from collections and it could take upto 3 months. 

 

Meanwhile, I am not sure how to deal with collections. I don't want an accounting error ruin my credit. This is the first time any of my debts have gone to collections. What should my response to the collector be? Dispute or try to explain the situation to them?

 

Thanks.

Edited September 22, 2023 by craig1746237
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[MarvBear]

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This will NOT affect your credit as medical accounts under $500. are no longer being reported

The major credit reporting agencies have initiated a change so that medical bills of less than $500 will not show up on your credit report after going to collections.