Question
Is it legal for medical bills to be on your credit report?
My husband was in a car accident 2 years ago and had no insurance to pay the hospital bills. The bills were so high (over $50,000) and he wasn't working, due to the accident, so they ended up not getting paid. This was before I met him. Now we are trying to get a mortgage and a new (used) car and his credit score is only a 408! That is horrible! Is it legal for those medical bills to be on his credit report? I've heard conflicting stories... Is there a way to get them taken off? And please don't tell me to pay our bills. We are in the process of starting new jobs, have a new baby, need to move, and as we all know, the price of gas and just about everything else has gone up. We can't afford to pay them. They are all with different agencies too, so even with payment plans, it would be too high because we would have to pay, say $100 to 4 different agencies instead of $100 to just one. (Ambulance is with one, hospital with another, dental/facial surgery with another... and so on)
2 years ago - 5 answers
Best Answer
Chosen by Asker
Unfortunately yes, it is legal, and without at least some money to pay there really isn't much you can do. If you did have the money, you could negotiate pay for delete agreements. The good news is medical bills can usually be settled for around 50% of the balance owed. Keep in mind that collection accounts can only report for 7 years, which starts at the date of service for medical accounts. Unfortunately that doesn't do you alot of good as he's only 2 years in. The other good news is that collection accounts lose importance (in the scoring) as time goes on, so the worst damage has already passed. As time goes on his score will only get better, assuming he doesn't have new collections placed on there. One trick you could try is negotiating a pay for delete agreement with the smaller collection accounts that you can afford. That will get *some* of the collections off there, which will help his score.
by crazyjester9
2 years ago
Asker's Rating: 
Other Answers
yes-not paying the hospital is just like not paying on a credit card. you may be able to back track and call the hospital and say that you want to work out a payment plan-even if its only 10$. they dont charge intrest like a credit card as long as it hasnt gone to someone else. than you could talk about theym taking it off your credit you could try to apply for the loan by yourself. if you have the ablity-they wouldnt look at your husbands credit
by Leslie B- 2 years ago
Hospital workers are very valuable to our society and need to be paid. It's not fair to them for them to do all this work of saving your husband's life and not get paid for it. Hospitals are not charities. You need to get medical insurance. Certain insurances people could live without, but medical is a necessity. After all, those workers probably have student loans to pay too.
by xbluebellax- 2 years ago
Of course it's perfectly legal for collection agencies to put unpaid medical bills on your credit file. Further, you should put the dream of buying a house on hold till these bills are cleared up. Aside from the horrid credit score, no mortgage company will aprove a loan till all the derogatory items are resolved. The good news is that you can settle medical bills for less than full balance and get the item deleted. The older the debt, the smaller the settlement. Lump sum gets the best deals. Payment plans have to be short term. Save up and start with the smaller bills. Most will probably accept a 50% settlement. At the 3 year mark, offer 25%. Be sure to get any settlement offer in writing and keep it along with your payment proof, forever. Do not give the collection agency direct access to your bank account. Your husband probably could have worked out payment plans and reduced fees with most of the medical providers back at the time of the accident. Even if he didn't have medical insurance, his car insurance should have kicked in to pay at least some of the medical expenses.
by bdancer222- 2 years ago
To be honest, it is going to be terribly hard to get a loan of any kind with a score of 408. Most loans require a score of 650 to even get considered. And, any bill what-so-ever that is not paid will show up on your credit report as a negative. Anything from cell phone bills and electric bills, to dentist and doctor bills. You might be able to get a decent used mobile home sold and financed by the owner. It would be a good place to start and when you are on your feet again, you can sell it, and use that money to put down on a house. In the mean time, if it is only his score that is bad, and you are in good standing, consider building your own credit. You will have to seperate your name from his credit report if you are on it by disputing any charges that you did not sign for.
by latebreakfast- 2 years ago