Removing Medical Bills from Your Credit Report: This paper aims to provide the complete comprehensive guide on the topic.
Are you concerned with medical bills that appear on your credit report as unforeseen or unpaid costs, impacting your credit rating adversely? You're not alone. If you are struggling to pay your medical bills, then you will find that medical bills are some of the reasons that can lead to a low credit score. Fortunately, a lot of this can be removed from your credit report in most cases. This guide will explain how to do it in both detail and with an example.
Medical debt is an issue that has affected many households and institutions across the world today primarily because of the high cost of health care.
The bills that have been written off and sent to collections agencies can remain in your credit report for seven years. This may result in you not being able to access loans, credit cards, mortgages, rental, and so on. This is why a single unpaid medical bill can drag your score down by 100 points or even more.
On a more positive note, credit bureaus and lenders have certain leniency when it comes to medical bills compared to other collection accounts. Credit seekers with poor medical bills have the chances of having it deducted from their score as compared to overdue credit cards or loans. And they are easy dissolve through the help of disputes and goodwill letters. Below, you will find a set of instructions to follow that will help you complete this task.
It is wise to conduct a credit report from Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion before disputing medical bills. The details of your reports can be obtained and it is free from annualcreditreport.com, at least once a year. Look through the reports for the medical collections or for the delinquent accounts. These are the targets that you would want to remove.
It is always advisable to pay off medical bills through direct negotiations with the healthcare provider who has taken you to the collections. Tell them to try and remember the conversation that took place with the collection agency and be certain to come up with a sensible way of repaying what is owed. The straightforward method of reducing, eliminating or even paying the debt can have it removed from your credit history.
If you cannot afford to make the payment towards the medical bill, then you should challenge the credit reporting agency regarding the debt entry. Collections agency, on the other hand, requires the debtor to conform or challenge it. The fact is, if they cannot back it up with evidence, they have to pull the item, whether it be online or in-broadcast. You can respond through the internet or by sending a letter. Be persistent – it may take multiple attempts before the topic of dispute becomes a non-issue.
Because there is no reason for every potential lender, employer, or insurance company to suffer due to one’s bad credit history, one can send ‘goodwill letters’ to the healthcare provider /collections agency asking them politely to delete the negative item. Stress the inability to generate enough income to meet basic needs because of the medical problem. If they do not wish for the account to be deleted you could kindly ask them to close the account because it was for medical purposes. Non-medical goodwill is actually one of the most effective means to deal with medical collections.
In case the above strategies do not yield the desired results, it is advisable to negotiate and settle for some or all of the medical bill, to be removed from the credit report as full and satisfactory payment has been made. It is always wise to start low especially when you are a new player in the market. After payment is made, contact them to confirm that they are taking the pay for delete agreement seriously by deleting the tradeline that has been collected. Always agree with any person on any deal in writing before you pay anything to him.
It may be impossible to completely avoid using credit in your lifetime but it is still important for you to maintain control of your credit.
Any outstanding medical bills on your credit report can harm your credit, but it’s within your ability to delete them and improve your credit ratings. Read through the following step by step guide to challenge errors, confirm debts, and request for deletion. If you have the time and the energy to wait, you can finally expunge those medical collections from your credit report.
The first important step that you need to take is to obtain your free credit reports. As soon as you have this information at your disposal, you are in a position to start clearing medical bills to bring up your credit rating. Do not waste time anymore – you have the right to correct the mistakes related to your credit history. Get started today!