What's The Statute of Limitations For Past Medical Bills?
Depending on the state, the statute of limitations for medical bills is around 7 years. What does this mean for your medical debt? While you are still responsible for paying the debt, creditors cannot sue you over it. Creditors can continue contacting you past the expiration of the statute of limitations. Do not pay these bills right away because agreeing to the terms and conditions will reset the time elapsed on the debt. Instead, you can do the following:
- DEMAND WRITTEN NOTICE OF THE MEDICAL DEBT: According to the Fair Debt Collections Practices Act (FDCPA), any debt collection agency is to provide written notice of debts. In the case that an acceptable written notice is not provided, the proposed "debt collector" may be considered a scammer.
- VERIFY THE MEDICAL DEBT IS WITHIN THE STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS: It is very important to confirm if the debt is within the statute of limitations because you can defend yourself from legal pursuance if it is past this date.
- MAKE SURE THE MEDICAL DEBT IS VERIFIED: As with everything in our world, records of debt are not always correct. You have the right to make sure your debt is verified by the said collection agency, otherwise, you may dispute it.
- PROCEED IN DISPUTING THE MEDICAL DEBT: In the event that there is no evidence suggesting the debt belongs to you, it should be disputed with the credit bureaus. Start by sending a dispute letter to the bureaus with proper evidence, otherwise work with a credit repair expert, like The Credit Lion, and fight to remove unverified medical debts from your credit report.
Why Disputing Inaccurate Medical Bills Is Important?
Having unrecognizable or inaccurate medical bills on your credit report can be very consequential. This is why it is so important to dispute these accounts and remove them. A great credit score can help with things such as:
Better options for personal, automotive, and mortgage loans
Obtaining access to better interest rates
Quicker loan approval (great for financial emergencies)
The Credit Lion disputes information that is inaccurate, incomplete, outdated or unverifiable. Accurate, timely information can't legally be removed, and results vary by file.
