When I was 16, my friend was taking me home from school because I missed the bus and she made a bad left turn and we were hit by a car. It hit the passenger seat, I was in and we both walked away (very sorely).
And they put me in an ambulance, because my parents couldn’t make it in time to tell them no. Anyways, her dad said that his insurance was going to cover everything, like it should, and that was the end of it.
When I turned 18, I started getting letters saying I owe 15 dollars! Then a woman started calling saying that I owe the money for the ambulance bill. I kept giving the letters to my friend’s dad who swore his insurance paid for it, but now my credit is on the line because of an incident that was entirely not my fault.
I have no money, I just got out of school, and I’m so scared right now. My parents disowned me and are no help and she keeps calling! I don’t know what to do! It doesn’t even sound right to me! Really, her dad should be paying the money, right?
No? T_T
Update:
BTW, the woman works for a collection agency. She calls nonstop and I keep telling her that I barely have ANY income. 🙁
Update 2:
Oh, I live in Tennessee, if that helps.
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First of all, a collection agency, BY LAW, cannot call you more than once a week, AND they can only call you between the hours of 8. a.m. and 8. p.m.
Calling you MORE than once a week is harassment, and that too is against the law.
Secondly, you were a minor when the “debt” was incurred, and that means that means that at the very least, your parents are responsible, and not you.
Start keeping a notepad by the phone. Write down EVERY time she calls you. Phone call from (name) at 7:15 a.m. on Monday, September 13th; at 2:30 p.m. on Tuesday; at 12: on Wednesday, etc., etc. Get her name EVERY time, and the date and time EVERY TIME. If she threatens you with legal action — which is illegal — write it down. If she speaks to ANYONE other than you, get them to write it down. That too is illegal. Write down everything she says to you. If she identifies herself as a collections agent to ANYONE other than you, write it down. That too is illegal.
After you have a week or so of this, you call her manager, telling them that you are filing a complaint of harassment, and you’ve got telephone records and a diary to prove it. Then DO file the complaint. Each act of harassment, I do believe, results in a fine of $10; so if you’ve got a diary of, say, 10 incidents of harassment that you can prove, you CAN exact fines from them to the tune of $10,0. There are attorneys who will take cases like this on a contingency basis, which means if they can secure a settlement for you, they may take 40% of your winnings, but hey, $6,0 is not a bad way to start off adulthood. Furthermore, you can demand that this item be removed from your credit, if in fact it’s there.
The debt has been paid, dear, because the collection agency paid for it when they bought the debt. You do not owe the debt, legally, and if you can prove it. You were a minor, and therefore, you are not liable for the debt, period.
Legally, your parents should have paid it and then gone after reimbursement from the other party.
Since you were a minor at the time, tell the “woman” that (likely, a collection agency) and not to contact you again. If it shows up on your credit reports, dispute it based on your age at the time.
if your friend was at fault her dads ins. should have paid. if they didnt then the bill was his responsibility. he keeps saying his ins. paid it. then he should have some proof of payment.
your bills should also have been charged to your parents medical ins. if they had any.
since you were a minor your not responsible for it. they cant go after you.
state that in a cease and desist letter and then dispute the negatives on your credit reports if they are on there.
Tell that woman to f*ck off before you call the police for her harassing you. And then hunny, call the hospital they brought you to, and ask for the billing department. Tell them your name, and ask if they can bring up your incident number and file and if it was infact paid in full by your freinds fathers insurance. If It wasn’t, please contact your friends parent and ensure his insurance covers it. If he wont, you might have to take them to court and sue for liability unless you want to pay yourself. There are programs you can set up with hospitals for payment plans, but thats not fair what happened, and you should ask for proof it was paid for, and Make sure you tell that woman who calls you that If she doesn’t stop, you will report her to the police, they cannot chase you down if you can’t pay for it, thats not right. Good luck hunny, and I hope this helped a little. *hugs*
And the person who hit you should have covered your insurance… Unless it was your friend fault, In that case her father or her needs to cover it legally. 🙂 Good luck again and take care
It definitely isn’t your fault. Maybe you should get a lawyer and take it to court or arrange some type of meeting with the people sending you the letters and demanding the money, to sort it out
You need to write a letter to the collection agency to stop harrassing you, here is a link that has an example of what is should say.
Hope this helps.