Unpaid A&E bill & have now received a debt collector & solicitor letter

mydiscworld

I was in A&E a while back & a bill for 100euro was posted to my family home. I no longer live there & only saw my post now.

Some crowd called Intrum Justitia wants 100euro of me. Threatening stuff.

Then got solicitor letter off Bill Honohan & Associates. Threatening to issue legal proceedings. All over 100euro!!

Seems madness. Basically, I'm wondering what would happen should I fail to pay this?

Morally I would always pay it but I'm inclined not to now considering the harassment over a tiny sum & Intrum's false claim that they'd send a collector to my door which is illegal (I believe only the county sheriff can do that on foot of a court order).

So should I just ignore it?

Jesus christ just pay the bill

dudara

Contact the hospital and settle your bill with them.

dudara

bazza1

Pay the bill and move on with your life!!

phog

What address did you give when attending the A&E? Si thi where the bill was sent? Were you aware that you would be reqired to pay €100 for attending A&E?

How much has the cost of chasing you for the money cost me? Please pay up, the country needs every bob it can get.

kelle

You gave your parent's address when registering, it's not the hospital's fault the bill got delivered to their address. You should be keeping a check on post that gets delivered there if you always do this.

Like Dudara said, call to the Accounts Dept of the hospital and pay your bill.

mikom

mydiscworld wrote: »

a tiny sum

Pay it then.
I presume your ailment that caused you to visit A&E was bad enough to not be considered "tiny" or insignificant.

jor el

mydiscworld wrote: »

Morally I would always pay it but I'm inclined not to now considering the harassment over a tiny sum & Intrum's false claim that they'd send a collector to my door which is illegal (I believe only the county sheriff can do that on foot of a court order).

They sent 2 letters, hardly harassment. Also, noting illegal about sending someone to collect on the debt, they just can't legally force you to pay without the court being involved. A bailiff/sheriff would be required to re-possess, but anyone can collect a debt.

mydiscworld

jor el wrote: »

They sent 2 letters, hardly harassment. Also, noting illegal about sending someone to collect on the debt, they just can't legally force you to pay without the court being involved. A bailiff/sheriff would be required to re-possess, but anyone can collect a debt.

This is my point.

I'll likely pay it but their letters infer they have more powers than they legally do, ie to call & force me to pay, which only the sheriff can do.

Guess their misleading letter has just annoyed me. Plus pretty sure they'd never actually enforce this via the legal route; just chancing their arm with strongly sounding letter to see how many pay up.

Just seen this older thread on a similar topic with same debt collector
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055219927

Has anyone actual experience with this crowd?

dudara

mydiscworld wrote: »

Has anyone actual experience with this crowd?

Don't deal with them. Contact the Accounts department of the hospital and settle directly with them.

CarrickMcJoe

Bet if you were sent a cheque, you would have got it!

Pay up.

Kristopherus

mydiscworld wrote: »

This is my point.

I'll likely pay it but their letters infer they have more powers than they legally do, ie to call & force me to pay, which only the sheriff can do.

Guess their misleading letter has just annoyed me. Plus pretty sure they'd never actually enforce this via the legal route; just chancing their arm with strongly sounding letter to see how many pay up.

Just seen this older thread on a similar topic with same debt collector
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055219927

Has anyone actual experience with this crowd?

If you take the course of action you are contemplating, you'll end up paying a lot more than €100. Why can't you just swallow your pride/stubborness and pay the hospital directly as Dudara has advised?

ShooterSF

Pay the €100 to the hospital. Don't deal with the debt collectors then write a letter of complaint to the HSE/Minister for health about the actions of the debt collectors if they did threaten to illegally come to your house and take the money, if you feel inclined.

3DataModem

mydiscworld wrote: »

Guess their misleading letter has just annoyed me.

You not paying has annoyed me. Pay up.

amdublin

mydiscworld wrote: »

Morally I would always pay it but I'm inclined not to now considering the harassment over a tiny sum & Intrum's false claim that they'd send a collector to my door which is illegal (I believe only the county sheriff can do that on foot of a court order).

So should I just ignore it?

WTF :mad:

Just pay the bill willya.

mydiscworld

ShooterSF wrote: »

Pay the €100 to the hospital. Don't deal with the debt collectors then write a letter of complaint to the HSE/Minister for health about the actions of the debt collectors if they did threaten to illegally come to your house and take the money, if you feel inclined.

I like this idea.

Sorry if I've annoyed people. Reading over this my ethics aren't looking great!

I was just hoping someone has had previous dealings with them (or similar collectors) & to give me their experience from a legal/procedural point of view.

For example, yes, they would pursue you because they'd get a commission;
or no, they get a set fee for sending out letter & too small a recoupment to be worth the hassle;
or even if they wanted to pursue you, no court would bother accepting the case because waste of court time over 100euro plus fees, etc)

jor el

mydiscworld wrote: »

For example, yes, they would pursue you because they'd get a commission;
or no, they get a set fee for sending out letter & too small a recoupment to be worth the hassle;
or even if they wanted to pursue you, no court would bother accepting the case because waste of court time over 100euro plus fees, etc)

They wont pursue you through the courts, regardless of the threats, because it would cost in excess of the debt amount to take you to court. They can and will keep writing letters to you, and in some cases ring you (if they have your number) or send someone around to your house to ask for the money. This has happened to people, and in the end you either pay, or they may perhaps get tired and leave you alone.

The debt exists though, so it should be paid. But as was said, I'd only deal with the hospital, and not the collection agency. If you have an invoice from the hospital, send a cheque/PO off with that to the hospital's accounts dept.

Lenny

ShooterSF wrote: »

Pay the €100 to the hospital. Don't deal with the debt collectors then write a letter of complaint to the HSE/Minister for health about the actions of the debt collectors if they did threaten to illegally come to your house and take the money, if you feel inclined.

More than likely the hospital is not dealing with it no more, so they may refuse the payment

bryaner

Don't bother paying the bill, those nice doctors and nurses that helped you out are working for nothing..

the_syco

Pay the hospital. Also send chocs to the staff in the A&E.

BrianD

mydiscworld wrote: »

I was in A&E a while back & a bill for 100euro was posted to my family home. I no longer live there & only saw my post now.

When you say a "while back" - how long was it between visiting A&E and opening the letters?

holystungun9

Is the plan to annoy everybody here into having a whip round or getting us to do a sponsered walk or something???

1. Do you dispute that you availed of some service at the hospital?

2. If not, do you believe that a cost was incurred and therefore payable for the service?

3. If you agreed that you availed of some service and it does have some monetory value, who do you expect should pay for said service?

aulhan

Sounds like alot for an emergency service in a Socialist State.

Im surprised that vitually all the comments are about they OP's lack of payment and none bout the fact that 100 euros is, for many people, alot of money.
Especially for something they may not be able to avoid (like an accident, or possibly a medical emergency).

Perspective is powerful stuff.

In Spain, you get sick you go to a Doc.
You have an accident you go to A&E.
Also the equipment is new, queues are short and the quality of care, high.

You pay your tax.
You get a service for that payment.

At no point whatsoever does money (or threats) come into play.

I wonder how many people could get medical treatment for the cost of one consultant, or even an agency nurse?

vampire of kilmainham

mydiscworld wrote: »

This is my point.

I'll likely pay it but their letters infer they have more powers than they legally do, ie to call & force me to pay, which only the sheriff can do.

Guess their misleading letter has just annoyed me. Plus pretty sure they'd never actually enforce this via the legal route; just chancing their arm with strongly sounding letter to see how many pay up.

Just seen this older thread on a similar topic with same debt collector
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055219927

Has anyone actual experience with this crowd?

yes i have over a bank loan im paying them back an amount evey month they sent me a solicitors letter a few weeks back saying i owed them money which i dident as i had the receipts for payments made they all make threats just to scare people but they can bring you to court if you refuse to pay alltogether...

holystungun9

aulhan wrote: »

Sounds like alot for an emergency service in a Socialist State.

Im surprised that vitually all the comments are about they OP's lack of payment and none bout the fact that 100 euros is, for many people, alot of money.
Especially for something they may not be able to avoid (like an accident, or possibly a medical emergency).

Perspective is powerful stuff.

In Spain, you get sick you go to a Doc.
You have an accident you go to A&E.
Also the equipment is new, queues are short and the quality of care, high.

You pay your tax.
You get a service for that payment.

At no point whatsoever does money (or threats) come into play.

I wonder how many people could get medical treatment for the cost of one consultant, or even an agency nurse?

What aspect of this did the OP raise?

sandin

aulhan wrote: »

Sounds like alot for an emergency service in a Socialist State.

Im surprised that vitually all the comments are about they OP's lack of payment and none bout the fact that 100 euros is, for many people, alot of money.
Especially for something they may not be able to avoid (like an accident, or possibly a medical emergency).

Perspective is powerful stuff.

In Spain, you get sick you go to a Doc.
You have an accident you go to A&E.
Also the equipment is new, queues are short and the quality of care, high.

You pay your tax.
You get a service for that payment.

At no point whatsoever does money (or threats) come into play.

I wonder how many people could get medical treatment for the cost of one consultant, or even an agency nurse?

In Ireland, if you get sick and go to a doc and the doc refers you to hospital, you pay nothing.

The €100 fee is to try and stop people coming into A&E for scratches on their knees and other non accident & emergency stuff.

In the USA, they check insurance - if you don't have it and can't provide a form of payment in advance, they don't treat you unless you go to one of the community hospitals (they are to be avoided:D).

ztoical

aulhan wrote: »

Sounds like alot for an emergency service in a Socialist State.

Im surprised that vitually all the comments are about they OP's lack of payment and none bout the fact that 100 euros is, for many people, alot of money.
Especially for something they may not be able to avoid (like an accident, or possibly a medical emergency).

Perspective is powerful stuff.

In Spain, you get sick you go to a Doc.
You have an accident you go to A&E.
Also the equipment is new, queues are short and the quality of care, high.

You pay your tax.
You get a service for that payment.

At no point whatsoever does money (or threats) come into play.

I wonder how many people could get medical treatment for the cost of one consultant, or even an agency nurse?

Having been into hospitals in Spain they certainly don't all have new equipment, short queues and a high quality of care. 100 quid for an A&E vist is not massive when you consider a trip to an A&E in somewhere like the US could cost several thousands. The OP doesn't state what the visit was related to and the OP has never questioned the amount of the bill, in fact they call it a tiny sum which would imply they have the means to pay it. If they could not they should be talking to the hospital to arrange a payment plan.

Hospital care in Ireland is not 100% covered by taxation - A person may be required to pay a subsidised fee for certain health care received depending on income, age, illness or disability and Emergency care is provided at a cost of €120 for a visit to the Accident and Emergency department so the OP has been let of 20 quid.

keithclancy

ztoical wrote: »

Having been into hospitals in Spain they certainly don't all have new equipment, short queues and a high quality of care. 100 quid for an A&E vist is not massive when you consider a trip to an A&E in somewhere like the US could cost several thousands. The OP doesn't state what the visit was related to and the OP has never questioned the amount of the bill, in fact they call it a tiny sum which would imply they have the means to pay it. If they could not they should be talking to the hospital to arrange a payment plan.

Hospital care in Ireland is not 100% covered by taxation - A person may be required to pay a subsidised fee for certain health care received depending on income, age, illness or disability and Emergency care is provided at a cost of €120 for a visit to the Accident and Emergency department so the OP has been let of 20 quid.

+1, The Healthcare here in Germany is fantastic, but taxes are high and mandatory health insurance is between 2000 and 2700 euros depending on how much you earn.

Nothing is free.

dudara

@aulhan - This forum is for Consumer Issues, not comparing healthcare across the different states.

@All Posters - No further off-topic posting please.

dudara

Mom2Be

Hi there OP,

I have had the same as you recently over a Vodafone bill. They are bullies and nothing short of it. After the first letter and phone call i phoned them back and offered them what i could afford weekly.
They want 4 times that amount and refused to take my offer.
Then another letter stating that i ignored the chance to sort this out ~ They obviously forgot about the phonecall between us.

Anyway, I emailed vodafone about it and said i would deal with them directly as my contract was with them etc.
Then i emailed Intrum and told them i was awaiting a reply from vodafone and would appreciate if they did not contact me again.
Intrum replied stating they would confer with their client (being vodafone)
Havnt heard a thing back from the "fantastic customers service" department in VF. Also havnt heard anything from Intrum either.

About a month now and still havnt heard anything. Dont get me wrong, its my debt, i am not refusing to pay it, im just not able to afford what they want per week.

Have a look here ~ http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/1997/en/act/pub/0026/sec0011.html#sec11

Bella mamma

Assuming that you have no complaint with the service you received, like any service that has a charge, you should pay (when possible) without complaint.

You would have been advised of the charge at the reception desk if/when you checked in.

I'm wondering why you would not have given your current address, at that time, if
- you were not checking your mail at your family home
- you were to expect a bill and
- how long a "while back" was? It takes a good while to get to the current stage, and easily €100 of manpower has been spent on persuing monies owed to date.

PS Send me those chocs and I'll deliver them. Or a voucher. Whatever's easier