Advice regarding Overseas debt and Collection

Han1892

Hello,
I went to The US in September last year. I required hospital treatment and was fully insured. Unfortunately, the insurance refused to pay out as my treatment was not covered. I was dehydrated and was in the hospital for no more than 3 hours.
I have three bills: ambulance, doctor and hospital fees.
The fees accumulate up to $4,000.
I am a student and I have made offers to make sensible payments, which have been refused as the offer is too low. I physically cannot afford more and do not want to make my situation worse by defaulting on agreements etc. The hospital have sold one debt to a Swedish collection agency, who have refused my offer of small monthly payments and have asked me to complete a form highlighting my disposable assets ...

So I would love some advice:
Do I have a legal obligation to pay overseas debts?
If I cannot pay, will it go against my credit rating?
I have heard bad credit lasts 7 years, is that correct?
Can a collection agency come to my house? As I live with my parents and do not want to affect their financial situation.


Thanks, I really appreciate the help.

FireWyrm

Han1892 wrote: »

Hello,
I went to The US in September last year. I required hospital treatment and was fully insured. Unfortunately, the insurance refused to pay out as my treatment was not covered. I was dehydrated and was in the hospital for no more than 3 hours.
I have three bills: ambulance, doctor and hospital fees.
The fees accumulate up to $4,000.
I am a student and I have made offers to make sensible payments, which have been refused as the offer is too low. I physically cannot afford more and do not want to make my situation worse by defaulting on agreements etc. The hospital have sold one debt to a Swedish collection agency, who have refused my offer of small monthly payments and have asked me to complete a form highlighting my disposable assets ...

So I would love some advice:
Do I have a legal obligation to pay overseas debts?
If I cannot pay, will it go against my credit rating?
I have heard bad credit lasts 7 years, is that correct?
Can a collection agency come to my house? As I live with my parents and do not want to affect their financial situation.


Thanks, I really appreciate the help.

Tricky one.

OK. You are a British citizen and resident here which means any collection activity will fall under British law. This means that they will have to employ normal collectors here and you can treat them the same way we normally treat unsecured debts and they must adhere to the same guidelines. They can probably get a CCJ, they can certainly ding your credit file, but I'm pretty sure you wont find yourself under rendition and on your way to GitMo. The dings against your credit file will last for 6 years unless they get a CCJ first, in which case, it is never statute-barred, it just drops off your credit file after 6 years.

However, the Americans are pretty hot on this sort of thing, so if you do give them the brush off, they will quite possibly black list you from the country. If you never intend to return, well, that's no bad thing - most of the world dont actually want to be American, whatever they may think. Likewise, I would steer well clear of anywhere even remotely connected to them. There have been cases of people who stop off in America on there way to elsewhere who were arrested!:eek:

Han1892

Thank you. The idea of being blacklisted worries me, as I do wish to return to the USA in the future for recreational purposes.
I don't want to run away from my money problems but they are not budging on the lower payments.
I'm thinking of visiting the CAB, if I can get an appointment, for more advice.
I'm thinking because the collection agency is in Sweden, do they have any power?

Thanks for the advice, I haven't got a clue about CCJs etc.

iolanthe07

I required hospital treatment and was fully insured.

You might want to take this up with the insurance ombudsman then. Insurance companies will always try to wriggle out of meeting claims, but if you really were fully insured and you are persistent they will have to pay out eventually.

FinanciallyUnsavvy

Yes, I agree with iolanthe. My first port of call would be to fight the insurance company. It seems like you went to hospital for a fairly routine and simple reason and I can't see why they would refuse that. Dig out your documentation, give it a good scrutinise, and get writing letters to the insurers.