Can an unpaid medical bill affect your credit rating?
Posted by admin
shawn5552002 asked:
We don’t agree with a medical clinic’s bill (it was for some heart tests), and they refuse to adjust it. What happens if we don’t pay it?
Bass Fishing Tackle
We don’t agree with a medical clinic’s bill (it was for some heart tests), and they refuse to adjust it. What happens if we don’t pay it?
Bass Fishing Tackle
June 29th, 2010 at 6:31 am
absolutely. Normally medical providers don’t have the time nor the desire to do all the work to report it to the credit bureaus. So they will sell the debt to a collection agency who will immediately report the unpaid balance and the collection activity to the credit bureaus which will hurt your credit MORE than just a typical creditor.
July 2nd, 2010 at 4:28 am
yes it can…. sucks huh. pay the damn thing
July 4th, 2010 at 2:24 pm
yes definatley
July 7th, 2010 at 8:38 am
YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
July 7th, 2010 at 1:42 pm
you will be report and your credit goes down
July 9th, 2010 at 7:03 am
yes they report it to the creditors
July 9th, 2010 at 8:29 am
yes it can, you should pay it off
July 12th, 2010 at 11:06 pm
Yes it will appear on your credit rating as well as you could subject yourself to garnishment and court
July 13th, 2010 at 6:43 pm
It can have a negative rating on your credit report.Its not worth ruining your credit,so just suck it up and pay the bill.Better yet send the bastards 5 bucks a month until its paid off.
July 16th, 2010 at 3:33 pm
well yeah! Its one of the leading causes of bankruptcy!
July 19th, 2010 at 3:13 am
I work in disability claims. Why did they run the test? What was the original diagnosis? Was this an appointment or an ER visit?
July 20th, 2010 at 6:25 pm
oh yeah it can we tried to buy a house and they said we had some medical billds we needed to take care of in order to even think about a loan~! It really sucks~!
July 21st, 2010 at 12:04 pm
It could end up on your credit report if the outstanding bill gets turned over to a collection agency. The agency will give you one warning first just to give you the opportunity to pay the bill before they actually contact the credit bureaus - then it goes onto your credit report.
July 22nd, 2010 at 6:44 pm
Definitely yes it will affect your rating. Everytime a potential landlord, employer or credit issuer who runs a credit check will see all of your unpaid (uncollected) bills.
July 23rd, 2010 at 11:38 am
yes it can u have to resolve it try appealing higher and if its worth sue them
When getting a mortage i had to pay a bill that my insurance should have
July 25th, 2010 at 6:49 pm
medical clinics are not typical credit reporting members thus they alone do not have resources to hurt your credit ratings.
However they may send your bill to third party collection agency who may be a member and thereby affect your credit.
You can either paythe bills or take them to small claims court to see if the amount can be adjusted.
July 26th, 2010 at 5:54 pm
Yes, they will give it to a collection agency no matter the amount. Once it goes into collection, and you still ignore it then they report it.
July 29th, 2010 at 11:48 pm
It depends. If it’s for a mortgage loan, then no. They don’t count the medical stuff. But it could affect other creditors decision.
Best bet is to try and work it out in some way. Maybe talk to the Dr (or his/her manager) that ordered up the test for you to see if they could talk to them. We’ve had that experience with my mom and fortunately it worked out.
July 31st, 2010 at 6:08 am
When you don’t pay a bill, the delinquency, and eventually, the default are reported to the major credit reporting agencies. Since these are the folks who are responsible for calculating your ‘credit score’, they will certainly incorporate any delinquencies and/or defaults into the scoring formula.
However, you do have the right to place a statement in your credit history that details your dispute with any potentially “inaccurate” information contained in the report. The agency is responsible for investigating any items that you question - unless they consider your dispute “frivolous”. Once their investigation is complete, the credit agency must provide you with a written report of their findings. If the investigation does not resolve the dispute, you have the right to ask that the agency place a statement (from you) into your credit history file, and they must include that statement in future reports. You can also ask that they contact anyone who has recently received your report, updating the file with your newly-provided statement. You would generally be responsible for paying for any retroactive notice to prior potential creditors.
All of the information (and more) is contained in the Federal Trade Commission topic “How to Dispute Credit Report Errors” - I’ve linked it below.
Good luck!
August 2nd, 2010 at 5:51 pm
medical bills aren’t supposed to affect your credit. tell them how much you can afford each month (some small amount), and then pay that amount every month, without fail. that way you spread the pain over a long period of time.
August 4th, 2010 at 1:54 pm
Yes it will go as a negative account on your credit report. Once it has gone to collections, and the collection agency reports it to the credit bureau….it will stay on your credit report.
Even if you decide to pay it later, thinking it will then show as a good account on you credit report…WRONG…it will ALWAYS remain a negative.
Sometimes certain places when applying for credit will overlook medical bill issues…they will sometimes tell you when applying for credit that they are not concerned with the unpaid medical bills….BUT that depends on what your applying for!
Of course you should not pay for anything you are not satisfied with, especially when it comes to medical expenses. Talk to the hospital accounting department or a case manager within the hospital to plea your case. You’ll be surprised how they can altar the amount due when forced too.
Good luck!!!
August 7th, 2010 at 12:03 am
yes, unpaid medical bills affect your credit rating, but not as bad as you might think. unpaid medical bills in collection may become part of the public record, but the negative impact of that information accounts for only about 15% of the total factors that your credit score is based on.
check out for the complete breakdown on credit scoring. they have lots of good information that will help you.
in your case, if you actually had tests performed then you may be liable for the full bill or any portion that your insurance hasnt paid. if you feel that there are errors on the bill or if you believe that there are charges for tests that werent performed, then you could opt, at your own expense, to have your billing audited by a state certified independent medical billing auditor. if errors are present, your only recourse is to countersue for the reduction and be ready to pay the portion you legitimately owe if it goes to court.
in the event of non-payment, the outstanding billing can be sent to collection and you could potentially be sued and garnished.
you could also let it go to collection and elect not to pay. if they billing department doesnt legally pursue you, then after 7 years the debt is forgive in most states.
August 7th, 2010 at 6:04 am
Dispute the debt in writing. It is important that you do it in writing and not over the phone.
You mention that ‘they refuse to adjust it’. I take this to mean that you agree with some of the charges.
If this is the case, submit a letter that explains your dispute and that you are willing to pay the undisputed portion under the condition that they send you a revised bill that will reflect ‘Payment In Full’.
DO NOT accept any agreement over the phone!
It will be to your advantage to explain in your letter that you are more than willing to cooperate.
It is imperative that you receive all agreements in writing.
Review the link below to find out why.
Don’t let this go. Since your account is still with the clinic, you stand a much better chance to succeed in settling this account.
God Bless.
August 8th, 2010 at 10:36 pm
Then it will be a bad entry on your credit report. Keep fighting it, dispute it, keep the debt open.