How to Remove Medicredit Collections From Your Credit Report
Have you suddenly found yourself with a Medicredit collection on your credit report and are receiving calls from their office?
No one enjoys being sent to collections, and it can be a stressful and complicated situation.
And if you are already struggling with your credit score, a Medicredit collection is the last thing you need.
It’s time to follow our comprehensive guide below to help get things sorted.
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Is Medicredit A Collection Agency?
Yes, Medicredit Corporation is a real collection agency. The Outsource group owns Medicreditcorp.
Why is MediCredit Contacting Me?
Medicredit is a for-profit organization specializing in bill collecting for medical debts referred to them by healthcare providers, doctor’s offices, and hospitals.
If Medicredit is contacting you, it is because they believe you have an outstanding debt that they need to collect on.
Now according to the Better Business Bureau, Medicredit does not purchase the debt. They are responsible for collecting unpaid debts on behalf of the Hospitals and doctors that have referred their clients.
Failing to respond to a Medicredit letter or phone call can result in the debt being reported to the major credit report agencies, which in turn will then appear on your credit report.
While Medicredit has an A+ rating from Better Business Bureau, luckily for them, their score does not rely on customer reviews as they are currently rated 1 out of 5 stars.
They also have had more than 165 customer complaints in the last three years with the BBB.
As they tend to be a little on the argumentative side when carrying out their collections duties, we’ve put together a guide to help you out with the task.
4 Steps to Take Now to Remove MediCredit from Your Report
1. Verify the Debt’s Legitimacy
When facing a collections agency, the first important step is to confirm that the debt is legitimate.
While the collection agency should not purposely provide false information, errors are not unheard of.
Simple issues such as a common name can cause debt collectors to receive the wrong information from the original creditor.
In fact, according to the FTC’s report on fair and accurate credit transactions, 20% of consumers discover issues that get disputed and end up being modified on a minimum of one credit report.
Medicredit is required to send you a debt verification letter (they have five days to do this after initially contacting you).
It is important to get started on the process right away. Review the document for any discrepancies, missing or inaccurate information.
If you notice anything wrong or need more information, you have 30 days to send Medicredit a letter requesting that they validate the debt.
It will then fall on Medicredit to verify and validate the debt. If they fail to do so, they are required to remove the debt from your credit report.
2. Dispute the Debt
You can try disputing the claim. Even if your debt is valid, you can still make an attempt.
While it is not very likely that your attempt will be successful, it is worth a shot.
Your dispute should be in writing (sent using certified mail), and you should include any supporting documentation to help validate your argument.
3. Medicredit Pay for Delete
If the dispute does not work out in your favor, the debt turns out to be yours, and Medicredit has indeed provided proof, your next step would be to negotiate a pay for delete.
What is a Medicredit pay-for-delete? A pay for delete is basically the process of negotiating a settlement with the collection agency.
The ultimate goal would be to negotiate a payment in exchange for the debt being removed from your credit report(s) without delay.
You can also try to reduce the amount of the debt, and we recommend starting at roughly a third of what’s owed and working your way up from there as needed.
During this process, you want to negotiate directly with the collection agency (Medicredit).
Although the debt appears on your credit reports, the credit bureaus (Equifax, Transunion, and Experian) are not in a position to remove the collections account.
It is highly recommended to do all communications in writing so that you have a clear paper trail.
If Medicredit agrees to remove the negative debt from your credit reports, make sure you have this agreement in writing before making your payment.
4. Seek Professional Help to Remove Medicredit from your credit report
If all else fails or you are simply not a fan of negotiating, you can hire a credit repair company to help handle the matter for you.
Collection disputes can be time-consuming and are not for everyone, so this is where the professionals come in handy.
You want to find a credit repair team that can challenge all three credit bureaus, has a high BBB rating, a great money-back guarantee, and fair pricing.
Can I Pay the Original Creditor Instead?
In most cases, once a collection agency is contacting you, it is because they have purchased the debt from the original creditor. In those situations, paying the original creditor is no longer possible as they no longer own the debt.
Some exceptions would be:
- Some creditors have their own in-house collections department. You would still own the original creditor in this case.
- The original creditor may hire out the collections process while still maintaining their ownership of the debt.
This brings us to Medicredit; as we stated in the beginning, Medicredit claims to not own the medical debt they are collecting on.
Make sure you get a written confirmation regarding who is the owner of the debt before making any payments.
Given their claims, we also recommend reviewing your credit reports to ensure you do not see double entries for the debt: the original creditor and Medicredit. If you do, it is best to contact both parties to dispute the debt.
Does Medicredit Report to Credit Bureaus?
Medicredit does report to the three credit bureaus: Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion.
If you’ve noticed Medicredit on one of your reports and would like to file a dispute, we recommend also verifying the other two reports. You want to dispute any Medicredit collection that appears on each credit report.
Each year, you are entitled to a free copy of your credit report from each of the three credit bureaus. You can request them here.
FDCPA Violations List
Based on the reviews found on the BBB website, Medicredit has allegedly ;
- Tried to collect debts from the wrong people.
- Contacted individuals at their workplace.
- Attempted collections on already paid debts.
- Harassing debtors with endless calls.
When dealing with a collector, it is always helpful to know your rights and enforce the legal boundaries set in place by the FDCPA.
- No phone calls before 8 am or after 9 pm unless you have previously authorized the collector to contact you at these times.
- You should not receive phone calls at your place of employment.
- Family members are not be contacted and advised of your debt.
- Collectors cannot lie about their identity nor the amount of the debt owed.
- Threatening, false legal actions (if the actions cannot be taken or are not intended to be taken).
Harassment and abuse are not tolerated. The debt collector (in this case, the Medicredit collections agent) cannot threaten violence towards you, your property, or your reputation.
They must also refrain from using profane or obscene language.
For the full details of the FDCPA Act, read more.
How Long Can Debt Collectors Legally Pursue Old Debt?
The statute of limitations depends on each state and the type of debt.
The statute of limitations can range between three to ten years, but the average tends to be within 3 to 6 years.
In some states, while the debt collector cannot pursue you after the statute of limitations has expired, they can still contact you by phone or mail to try and collect on the time-barred debt.
It is important to note that in some states, certain actions can cause the statute of limitation to reset. Some examples are;
- Acknowledging the debt as your own and agreeing to make a payment
- Making a partial or full payment on the debt
If you reset the statute of limitations on your debt, the timer starts from zero regardless of how close you were to the end.
How long do collections stay on your record?
Generally speaking, any account in collections will remain on your credit reports for seven years.
Something to keep in mind, in certain states, by making a partial payment, you can end up restarting the seven-year waiting period and the statute of limitations.
Medicredit Corp Contact Information
While Medicredit has six different branches, their headquarters are located at;
Address: 111 Corporate Office Dr Ste 200 Earth City, MO 63045-1506
Medicredit phone number: (800) 888-2238
Company website: http://medicreditcorp.com
Conclusion
While debt collections can be an annoyance, remember to not sit by idly while your credit score is at risk.
By addressing the issue from the get-go and following our guide above, you can handle the Medicredit collection agency once and for all and also repair your credit report.
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About the author
Clara is the founder of Credit Rise Up, an entrepreneur, personal finance expert, and credit repair enthusiast. She’s committed to helping her readers get on the right track and take actionable steps towards improving their credit by using the experience that allowed her to join The 800 Club. Find out more.