Pissed at Indiana University--Pathology Lab

[matthias]

Having nothing better to do on a rainy, bleak Saturday in Atlanta, I decided to take a look at my credit reports. Check out annualcreditreport.com; depending on your state of residence, you are entitled to one free report per year!

ANYWAYS, come to look at my Equifax report: and lo' and behold there is an entry under Collections which apparently has a very negative impact on my once stellar FICO score. The entry is by IU University Clinical Pathology in the amt. of $175.

Piedmont Hospital, Atlanta, (I/O) fwd'ed my slides to IU for a second opinion. Much appreciated, so far, so good. I know that I never received a bill from IU, my health insurance never received a bill. Also, I was never called about any collection efforts. Just serendipiously I find out about all of this by looking at my credit report...

What the **** is IU thinking? Are they trying to do to my financial health what TC has not been able to do to my physical health. I am pissed!!!!

/M

[Scott]

I'd be mad, too. I hope you're able to clear it up without too much hassle.

[IowaBrian]

The best thing to do is contact them and get the bill set to your insurance company(be nice, your will need some help from them so don't say what you really want to say to them right off the bat ). Second if you have a good bank that you can go into and talk to someone in person, go in and ask them the fastest way to get this off the report and how much it is hurting your score right now. It could take months to get off the report just because of how the reporting is done. Once your insurance company pays the bill and it is cleared up with IU ask them to write a letter stating that it is now paid in full. If you call and ask them if there is a way to get this off as it would have been paid if you had the bill they might be able to do something with the collection company for you, I will tell you right off that the first person that you talk to won't be of any help just ask to talk to the supervisor after the first person tells you they can't do anything. Then keep calling trust me they hate phone calls from the same person as much as anyone else so keep the heat on them to get it resolved.
GOOD LUCK!!!!!!!!
Brian

[Russell's Mom]

one more idea

One more possible..
After clarification, have the credit report company write a letter explaining the correction for you so you can hand carry it with you for any further reference. Knowing the times....a residual thorn will stay within the system, that will not be uncovered now, but might surface in the future. Somewhat like getting cancer out of the body! If you have the document, you will not be at the mercy of computers and systems. Who wants to spend so much time finding the thorns in the beurocracy!!! Keep your energy on your well being!!! take care, Russell's mom, Sharon

[Rob2time]

Also, both at the AnnualCreditReport site and at the bottom of the report you can find a procedure to submit "your side" of the problem. Its best to do this after the account dispute is settled, as it shows you were proactive in resolving it once you knew about it. After you file this, any credit report issued with a negative report must also contain your explanation.

[nlferraro19]

Matthias,

That is not right! What was the outcome? Did you contact them? My fiance had his slides sent to IU for a second opinion on the pathology report also. We have not received any bills or notification from the insurance showing any charge for this service either. Looks as though we should contact them to be sure that we do not end up with this same problem. What a shame for such a reputable hospital, do gain such a reputation. Hope it worked out for you!

Lisa & Nick
(nlferraro19)