Collections Call About 2 Year Old Ambulance Bill

[AppleJacks]

My question involves collection proceedings in Philadelphia, PA

I have relocated, but recently received a call for an ambulence bill from 2007. I think I paid all the medical bills that were owed, but I don't think I can prove it. Do I have to pay the bill again?

[lealea1005]

My question involves collection proceedings in Philadelphia, PA

I have relocated, but recently received a call for an ambulence bill from 2007. I think I paid all the medical bills that were owed, but I don't think I can prove it. Do I have to pay the bill again?

Was a claim submitted to your insurance company? If so, you could call them and request a copy of their explanation of benefits which will detail whether or not it was a covered service and how much, if anything, was paid.

Did you request that the ambulance service send you a detailed invoice to your current address?

[dansoc]

Do not respond to a collection agency phone call. Write them a letter (cease and desist) telling them not to contact you by phone. Unless they send you something in writing, they don't exist.

Once they send you notice of the alleged debt, send them a debt validation letter. You need to do this within 30 days of receiving written notice. They have 30 days to respond with the particulars and must cease collection activities until they do so.

In the meantime, if you had insurance at the time, contacting them as advised above may help you piece it together. If you didn't, it's easy to imagine how one bill out of many possible providers may have fallen through the cracks. Obviously you had a medical emergency. On the other hand, I would not be the least bit surprised if the service never got the bill to you. I've had such things happen. Surprise!

If you didn't have insurance you might also contact the service directly and see what records they have. If you can get them to pull it from collections (if they can) it would be worth being as nice as possible and getting them paid.

Check your credit report. If it is on there try to get them to agree to remove it as part of the payment agreement. In writing. Google pay for delete. If it isn't on there, I would get it paid right away if it is shown to be a valid debt.