Consumer complaint received 2018-01-26
Company: Continental Credit Control
State: CA
Product: Debt collection
Sub-product: Medical debt
Issue: Written notification about debt
Sub-issue: Didn't receive enough information to verify debt

Complaint:
My complaints are regarding 2 companies : 1st : XXXX ( XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX ) and 2nd : Continental Credit Control. 

I had a medical examination provided by XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX that was billed to my insurance company for {$910.00}. I believed the bill was in error because XXXX was ( & still is ) in network with my insurance company and there was no 'provider responsibility ' or write off on the statement or EOB as I had ALWAYS seen in the past with all in-network providers that provided a lowered patient responsibility portion. ( For example, quite often I have had to ask XXXX XXXX to re-submit a claim to my insurance for a variety of reasons and every single time, it turned out that the original amount I was billed for was highly reduced or actually found that I was not liable for it ). So I assumed this was also the case for XXXX, as I could not believe that the full amount that was being charged was 'allowed ' and all of my financial responsibility. Thus, I called XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX and requested they re-submit the claim, which apparently they did according to XXXX 's records. I was told I would expect to receive information as to what was found and resolved. I never received another bill from XXXX nor any EOB from my insurance company, thus I believed the matter was handled. Until I received for the first time ... suddenly ... a letter/statement from Continental Credit Control dated XX/XX/XXXX, literally 20 months after I had the last conversation with XXXX! Upon receiving this collection notice, I called XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX and was told my case would be sent to " XXXX XXXX XXXX '' but not to expect any response until mid-XX/XX/XXXX as they were experiencing a high volume of cases due to faulty invoicing ( this information was also on their recorded message during the long hold ). I then called that same day, the representative for Continental Credit Control listed on that statement " XXXX '' ( her initials ) and informed her of the situation and what XXXX told me. I asked her to please put my account on hold until I heard back from XXXX. The representative " XXXX '' from Continental was very cold, abrasive and unwilling to do anything for me. Thus, by early XX/XX/XXXX when I had not heard anything from XXXX, I called numerous times and asked to be connected to a supervisor, and each time I was either disconnected or put through to leave a voice message and NEVER received a call back! I even asked for the head billing supervisor of the whole company and was given a number of 2 men in Texas, whom I also left at least 3-4 messages for and did not receive a call back until XX/XX/XXXX. By then, on XX/XX/XXXX, I had finally reached a 'live ' supervisor at XXXX I will refer to her as " XXXX '' ( her initials, as we are supposed to exclude personal information ). " XXXX '' confirmed with me that my record had shown my conversation on XX/XX/XXXX and that the bill was re-submitted to the insurance. She also provided me with the dates that XXXX mailed me a bill for the {$910.00} service and they were ALL prior to my call on XX/XX/XXXX ( the last one they sent was on XX/XX/XXXX, which prompted my call to them ). She said they last heard from my insurance company denying the claim onXX/XX/XXXX but that no other bill was then sent to me to collect the payment! The insurance company also did not send out another EOB. 

Thus my chief complaint is that XXXX really should 've sent me another statement following the response they received from the insurance company in XX/XX/XXXX. Since I never received any subsequent bill from XXXX nor an EOB from the insurance, I assumed this was taken care of. If I had received a bill following the resubmitted claim, then I would 've paid it then or at least started a payment plan. 'XX/XX/XXXX ' told me it is in XXXX 's billing practices not to ever send out more than 3 statements, however, those were sent to me prior to the claim being re-submitted in XX/XX/XXXX. 'XXXX ' said it was not their responsibility to follow up for payment, which seems absurd to me. ( If you owe the gas company or phone company money, you keep getting a monthly bill, you are n't suddenly 'off the grid ' for 20 months and then sent to collections! ). As stated earlier, I left at least 4-5 messages with supposed 'supervisors ' inXX/XX/XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX of XXXX too and never heard back except from one, finally after 2 weeks of my leaving messages. 'XX/XX/XXXX ' did, to her credit, offer to reach out to Continental to see if there was anything that could be done about the interest, and when I spoke with her again on XX/XX/XXXX, she told me there was nothing they could do about the interest charged by Continental . She informed me that they, XXXX, were going to file an appeal on my behalf with the insurance again, although I 'm still not exactly sure why or what that would accomplish. My conversations with both companies in the past 2.5 months have been regarding the issue of not receiving any bill or notification after XX/XX/XXXX and then suddenly being sent to collections with interest 20 months later! The issue is not with being liable for the amount of {$910.00}, now that I 've been made aware that the full amount was/is my responsibility. Had I been billed again in XXXX, I would n't have had this additional interest amount to pay AND my credit would not be tarnished because of their poor billing and communication practices. 

As I stated in the beginning, my 2nd complaint is with Continental Credit Control, CCC. The representative assigned to my case " XXXX '' has been very cold and unwilling to assist on any level each time I have called her. I feel I should 've been granted a 'hold ' on my case as I called them right after receiving their first letter and explaining to her my dealings with XXXX in XX/XX/XXXX. Today, XX/XX/XXXX I spoke with the chief collections supervisor of CCC as I did not want to speak with " XXXX '' anymore. He, " XXXX '' ( supervisor initials ) was just as cold, very dismissive and unwilling to hear my case. I asked him for the notes and details of my case as I wanted to write down what he said but he kept interrupting me, even from the beginning, by saying " this conversation is getting funky. '' I asked him how was the 10 % interest rate determined, from when did it commence, who drafted the terms of the collection ( was it XXXX or CCC ), if there was anything that could be done about the interest, but he was very condescending in his responses and I can guarantee I was maintaining a professional voice. 

Two things of particular really alarmed me from the conversation with " XXXX, '' he said he could tell from my credit on XXXX that I had $ XXXX of credit available to simply put the whole {$1100.00} amount due ( {$910.00} principle + interest ) on a credit card. I immediately asked him if he just looked up my credit without my consent and he defensively replied that he was looking at what was pulled on XX/XX/XXXX when they acquired my account from XXXX as a 'soft ' inquiry. Is that even allowed? Why does he still have that information in front of him in XXXX from something pulled in XXXX? How can he dare assume we would put more debt on high rate credit cards? I informed him that we ( my husband & I ) do not have $ XXXX available in credit, that for a fact we have nearly $ 20K in credit card debt and to put another {$1200.00} on a credit card was not a casual choice nor option! He disputed what I said as if I was making up my own indebtedness!! Secondly, he stated a couple times " as a courtesy '' if I paid the full amount ( principle and interest ) he would " remove as a credit rating '' the debt as so it would not show up to the 3 credit bureaus. I asked him to clarify this as I assume once you pay off a debt, that it should be automatically removed to show as paid - this is one of the instances where he was very condescending and short in his answer as I was trying to understand what he meant by this statement. He asked me to make a payment online, to direct all future correspondence with the company just in writing, he was hesitant in providing his last name to me and HUNG up on me while I was asking a question. Again, I kept a calm voice throughout the conversation. 

I believe that the CFPB and the California State Attorney General office should create a rule that require medical providers to mail patients statements, following correspondence with insurance companies and letters to inform patients that if the account is not paid, then the matter will be sent to collections. This was not the case with XXXX, as I never received a subsequent bill nor a letter that this was being sent to collections as stated above. As 'XXXX  ' of XXXX informed me, they have a billing practice of not sending out more than 3 statements, even though a case is pending or in transition with an insurance company, seems unprofessional and unfair to the patient. I will certainly NEVER again utilize them for any service. I also believe there should be a grace period for patients before collection agencies can charge interest. I read the Civil Code 3289.B, however to charge interest from a statement 3 years ago that I honestly believed was taken care of between my insurance and XXXX is unfair and excessive. I would 've paid this off if I had been informed that it was my obligation. To be required to pay interest on a debt I did n't even know I had is in my opinion, criminal. Thank you for your time and patience in reading through this long statement.

Company public response: Company has responded to the consumer and the CFPB and chooses not to provide a public response
Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation