How can you get an incorrect debt report off your credit report?

Question

My husband carries insurance for his kids that live with their mother. A couple of years ago the oldest child broke her ankle and the mother used the insurance card and put it in my husband's name and gave her address. She never paid the bill and has since then moved. We had no idea that she had done this until we checked his credit report. We've filed a discrepancy, and they didn't remove it. We've spoken to the credit collector and and they wouldn't do anything about it. We've also have spoken to the hospital and the emergency medical office that the bill came out of and they know that it is not my husband's bill but won't do anything about it. What can we do to have it removed?

Answer 1

Dang...what a wretch. anyway contact the credit bureau and ask for 'debt validation' they have 30 days to prove that the debt is indeed your husband's which they won't be able to. Since they can't they have to remove it . If they don't report it to the FTC

Answer 2

There is not much you can do, because the debt actually happened, (i.e. is not false). She signed his name, so all the peperwork will "prove" he did it. You would legally have to go after the mother for the money, and submit the court document to the credit bureaus.

The cheapest, and most likely best course of action is to pay the bill, so it shows up as "paid" on the credit report. Medical bills do not deduct the same amount of points from your credit score as bad debt, and will not hurt your future credit score.

Answer 3

If the bill has been turned over to an outside collection agency, send them the debt validation letter cited as my source. They won't be able to provide validation, so wait 30 days and then dispute it to the bureaus. If they come after you for it without validating, wait until they do it six times and then sue them for $6000.

If the debt is still with the hospital and you have just been dealing with their collections department, then you need to go to an attorney and have the attorney send them a very threatening letter about how they are violating several laws by pursuing a debt against you that they KNOW is not yours. I suspect they'll cave the moment they read it.

Answer 4

Unfortunately your husband is between a rock and a hard place.  The insurance policy is in his name, he is therefore responsible for any amounts not covered by his insurance.

As a convenience for you, most medical providers will offer to bill your insurance company. Accepting their offer does not relieve you of the responsibility of ensuring the medical bill gets paid. It's not uncommon for medical providers to submit medical bills after an insurance company's deadline for filing. In some cases, the provider may, for a number of odd reasons, not submit the medical bill at all. Regardless of the reason, the bottom line is that the consumer is still responsible for paying off the medical debt.

He would probably be better off to pay the debt, then bring suit against his ex for damages due to the fact that she lied on the admittance form at the hospital.  If he can prove he was never notified of the debt due to her negligence, then he can dispute with the CRA's and have the debt removed from his reports.

If she knew his insurance was no longer valid, and used it anyways, then he can seek civil damages as well as criminal intent for utterance of a false document.   But that all depends on how mad he is at her!

Hope this answers your question.

LEGAL DISCLAIMER:  The advice contained herein is for informational purposes only.  It is not to be construed as Legal Counsel nor Legal Advice.

Answer 5

see if you can get something in writing from the hospital.  If you can, I would make a copy and try sending that to the credit reporting agencies.  At this point, I would not call the credit bureau - I would do everything in writing.

Also, what was the reason they would not remove it when you reported the discrepancy?

Answer 6

Sarge goes into great detail about how insurance works, and responsibilities......none of which applies here.

The mother signed the release and takes on responsibility.  It may be that the court has ordered the husband to handle medical bills (the reason for him paying insurance), but this is a "contract" between them....not the hospital.  

For this reason the creditor/collection agency has no right to go after the husband and needs to drop this.

OK, back to square one..how to do that?

Send a certified letter to the credit bureau and dispute this as "not mine".  Very important!

Also send a certified letter to the collection agency demanding that they validate this debt.  They MUST send you something in writing proving you have a legal obligation to pay this debt.  Remember, the fact that you are paying the insurance doesn't cut it.....if you owe anybody it's the wife, so she can pay the debt.  You have NO obligation to pay the creditor directly.

If you still don't get an answer within 30 days, you have a good enough case to sue them for FCRA violations.