How can I get creditors (mainly hospitals) to lower the amount I owe them?

Question

I have a few unpaid medical bills and also a $550 power bill that I never paid. I was told I could contact them and ask them to lower how much I owe. Any advice on the best way to do this? Also, I visited my power company one day to inquire about the unpaid balance and the lady told me that I didnt owe them any money, but after ordering a copy of my credit report it is still showing there. I know i didn't pay the bill but when i attempted to I was told there was nothing to pay. What should I do?

Answer 1

The power company may have sold off the debt or just wrote it off. If it has been longer than 4 years since you did not pay on it, you would be out of the collecting SOL.
Send a dispute to the CRA's for that account. Since the power co. claims you don't owe anything they probably will not verify it. If they don't verify it, it will be removed.

As for the hospital, you might go in person and speak to them. They generally have lists of charities that help pay hospital bills for low income people.
You can also ask the hospital to waive a portion of the amount and to set up a payment plan for the remainder.

Answer 2

You'll have to get the credit report corrected. First, you'll need to get something in writing from the power company and then you'll need to find the correction procedures for the credit bureau in question. (You'll also want to check to see if the error is showing on more than one report.)

Follow those correction procedures to the letter and keep copies of everything you submit. If you call about your request, document the name of the person with whom you spoke as well as the date and time.

As for persuading creditors to take less than the amount for which they've billed you... keep in mind that they generally make 10 cents on the dollar for anything they sell to a collections agency. Offer to pay them more than that (in one lump sum) and they'll likely take you up on it. Keep in mind, though, the same rules do NOT apply if you expect to be able to make payments over time (and the longer the payments are expected to take, the higher percentage of return they're going to expect on the original billed amount.) Think about it -- essentially, they're loaning you money if you are paying over time and there's always a cost for that.

Good luck!