I Got A Final Notice

Miss Frugal Spending Fast lady went and got herself a collections notice.

I was being a real-live responsible adult when I contacted my insurance company before I decided to get allergy shots. I wanted to make sure they would cover the cost before I decided to go forward and when they said, "Yes, we will". I believed them.

You can probably guess where this is going... turns out the bulk of the cost was not actually covered. 

When I realized I was stuck with the bill I negotiated a payment plan with the hospital where I would pay them $150 per month so I wouldn't have to pay the total due (approx $1,600!) right then and there. For a few months I paid the exact amount that I had arranged to pay and since I reactivated the Spending Fast I was able to send them even more sometimes. (Have I mentioned how cool it is to be able to tap on the Spending Fast when unexpected life stuff like this happens? Yep, it's cool.)

When I started to receive notices from the hospital about late/no payments on my bill I was all, "Say what? We had a plan hospital! We had a PLAN!" Like, I was some forlorn lover that got betrayed.

Turns out, things had gotten jacked up.

I've called the hospital a million times and they've assured me that my account won't be getting sent a collection agency, and as much as I want to believe them, I don't. 

I can't get over how I've done so much to get my financial life straightened out over the past couple years, how I've tried and tried and tried to NOT find myself in this situation and then it goes and happens anyway.

It proves that the reality of this situation (and of any situation really) is that I can only do what I can do. I can only do what's right in front of me and I can't get ahead of myself worrying about the future and future situations because then I'll just drive myself bat-sh*t crazy and the stuff I worried so much about might not even happen anyway! I've done what I can with the bill.

I'm going to pay it like I've arranged and now it's time to let it go. 

Have you ever been in a situation where you've felt completely out of control even though you've done everything you thought was right? How did you get past it? Or, have you been in the same situation as me? Got any tips?

Update on February 29, 2012 by Anna Newell Jones

And, as if on cue... look what arrived in the mail yesterday. It's like they knew I just wrote a post about it!

So, now the Payment Plan is officially in writing, which is a very good thing. I'm also going to check my credit report ASAP to make sure it hasn't been reported and then I'll go from there if it has. Dangit!

Thanks for all the good tips and advice on how to handle this! It's super helpful to get your opinions and suggestions!

Comments

[Maryl]

Anna, make sure - MAKE SURE - to check your credit report, because I can almost guarantee you they've turned it in already. Then you'll have to lean on these people like a batsh*t madwoman to get them to contact the credit score folk to get it removed, and they aren't going to want to do that. So in that respect, don't let it go. They will screw you over.

[Cait]

I have to agree with Maryl here and say that you should definitely check your credit report soon. That's so brutal though... everyone who reads this knows you've probably thought this was in-control. :(

I'm feeling out of control with the CRA right now (I'm Canadian). Long story short, they are wrong and I know I am right. I've sent in countless faxes, w/ all my forms in a line, and I'm still being challenged. But I won't give up. Neither should you!

Good luck.

[Dana]

So frustrating when you think you've got a handle on things!

Cait, fellow canuck here :) Did you happen to see W5 a week or two ago? It featured a couple of stories about regular folk who fought CRA. No easy battle for sure.

[Anna Newell Jones]

Thanks for the advice. I will look at my credit report soon. So frustrating!

[Maryl]

Glad to see they owned up to it. But still check your credit report ... they're so quick to pull the trigger but very slow to fix their mistakes.

[Anna Newell Jones]

So true Maryl...

[Rae]

I totally know how you feel. I've been super good about getting on top of my debt since the beginning of this year, and while it's been hard to not buy the things I would usually buy for myself to watch my spending all.the.time., I've been doing so well that I'm actually happy. And then I did my taxes and found out that I actually owed money. It was mad depressing, but it's just made me grit my teeth even harder to get over this hurdle.

[Tackling Our Debt]

What a huge hassle. Glad you got it sorted out and are on your way to having it paid off.

[Jess]

We had gotten a bill last year from a doctors office that was never submitted to our insurance company, granted it was only $175 bill but still, we pay for insurance and insurance would pay for the bill. While trying to get the doctor's office to submit it, the account went to 30 days past due and they sent it to collections! And neither the doctor's office or the collection agency will work with me to get it removed from my credit report (we had paid this doctors office over $2000 so it wasn't like we were skipping out on bills we actually owed)...and because it's so recent now my good credit is now a medium risk all over a clerical error and a $175...Anyways I hope for your sake they didn't send it to collections/credit already and definitely keep an eye on your credit report!

[Anna Newell Jones]

So sorry to hear that Jess! That's terrible!