Consumer complaint received 2015-11-15
Company: United Consumers Inc
State: VA
Product: Debt collection
Sub-product: Medical
Issue: Cont'd attempts collect debt not owed
Sub-issue: Debt is not mine

Complaint:
XXXX mailed to me a statement dated XX/XX/XXXX ( copy attached ) in the amount of {$45.00} due for services rendered XX/XX/XXXX. I checked this billing against my Claim Details with XXXX ( copy attached ), which indicated that I owe nothing, zero ( {$0.00} ) for those services. I chatted with an XXXX representative XXXX XXXX XXXX online XX/XX/XXXX, who contacted XXXX by phone at XXXX. XXXX told the XXXX rep. that she would have my " account adjusted to remove the patient balance of {$45.00}. She asks that you allow up to 45 days for completion. '' I hoped that the matter was resolved, but having had to contact CFPB in the past about XXXX, I suspected further trouble. 

I was correct. On XX/XX/XXXX I received a new statement from XXXX ( copy attached ) indicating that the {$45.00} charge had indeed been removed, but now XXXX was billing me for {$1100.00} for the very same services rendered on XX/XX/XXXX. Once again, sometime XX/XX/XXXX, I chatted online with an XXXX rep. XXXX XXXX XXXX, about the {$1100.00} that XXXX Claim Details had already indicated were not due. The XXXX rep. phoned XXXX at XXXX and advised him that I am not " responsible for the {$1100.00} that they are billing [ me ] for. Per XXXX request, '' said the rep., " I have e-mailed a copy of the explanation of benefits ( EOB ) for this claim to the address that he gave me. The EOB will show them that you are not responsible for this claim. Once they receive the e-mail it will be forwarded to their accounting department so that they can review and update file. '' Now I was really worried, for, as noted, I have had to get CFPB to investigate XXXX in the past to remove a similarly undue debt that the company had reported to the credit bureau. Now I suspected a whole lot more trouble XXXX. 

Again, I was not mistaken. XXXX continued to bill me {$1100.00}. So yet a third time, I chatted with an XXXX rep. ( XXXX again ) online XX/XX/XXXX. The XXXX rep. phoned XXXX at XXXX ; XXXX stated that " she sees a coding error on [ my ] claim. She sees the notes from XXXX call back XX/XX/XXXX. She apologized XXXX did not catch this at that time. She is sending your file to the reviewer to get corrected and re-filed to XXXX. She has taken your claim out of pre-collection status. '' Of course, I continued to worry. Every time an XXXX rep. contacted an XXXX rep. the XXXX rep. had a different story. I suspected a stall tactic. I also suspected that XXXX story would change. 

Again, of course, I was correct. The statements asking for payment of {$1700.00} continued to arrive in the mail. On XX/XX/XXXX I contacted an XXXX rep. XXXX XXXX XXXX for what I decided would be my final time. One : I had XXXX coverage with XXXX that would expire the next day ( XX/XX/XXXX ) ; and, Two : I had promised myself that I would contact CFPB if XXXX persisted, something I should have done from the beginning. The XXXX rep. phoned XXXX at XXXX, who stated that XXXX feels " the denial of the {$1700.00} charges XXXX was not correct and they state they have appealed with XXXX on! XXXX. '' The XXXX rep. said " the account is currently in a 'hold ' status until they receive a response to their appeal from XXXX XXXX '' To determine if XXXX was telling the truth, the XXXX rep. checked the appeal records. '' However, the rep. " did not find an appeal in the appeals system. '' The rep. concluded : " I am not so sure they have submitted the appeal, XXXX did n't sound so confident. She added that she needed to 'reach out ' to another department to find out the status of their request. '' The XXXX rep. finally concluded : " '' I regret to inform this seems like it will be an ongoing issue until they can get their billing in order. '' Once again, I knew XXXX would persist. 

Once again, I was correct : I received a collection notice from United Consumers , Inc. ( UCI ), dated XX/XX/XXXX ( copy attached ), for the {$1100.00}. This is the last straw.

Company public response: Company chooses not to provide a public response
Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation