If a collection agency tries to collect an unpaid medical bill that you never received from the hospital should you pay the agency or try to pay the hospital directly?
Most of the time you can pay through either, but I recommend paying the collection agency. The client usually has a contract with the collection agency to report any payments within 30 days or so, so that they can update it in their office and on their credit. Either way the account will be reflected through the collection agency and as activity on your credit. If you pay straight to collection agency you have a better chance of keeping it from going on your credit if paid promptly or having it updated more quickly to the credit bureau as a paid collection. Plus there could always be a few payments that slip through and dont get reported to the collection agency and then you are sitting there with an unpaid collection on you credit. As for collection agencies being able to take collections off your credit if you are mean or nice enough to talk them into it by promising payment in exchange for removal from credit, well this is called credit bartering and is against collection laws, not
Related Questions
- If a collection agency tries to collect an unpaid medical bill that you never received from the hospital should you pay the agency or try to pay the hospital directly?
- Isn the Library spending more money using a collection agency than by try to collect overdues itself?
- May a doctor or hospital refer an overdue medical bill to a collection agency?
