Intrum Justitia

Seanachai

I'm getting text messages and letters from Intrum Justitia over an unpaid A&E bill, I'm not in the position to pay it until July and I heard that they can't pursue you for a debt under a certain amount. I still won't engage with IT, I'm just wondering what power IT actually have in this regard. I will pay directly to the hospital when I can, does anybody know if this is the case?

Lux23

They can probably pursue you for any amount, it just might not be worth it. Still won't stop them texting and calling, I owed about €30 on a broadband bill and they kept it up for months even after I paid it to the original company.

Seanachai

Lux23 wrote: »

They can probably pursue you for any amount, it just might not be worth it. Still won't stop them texting and calling, I owed about €30 on a broadband bill and they kept it up for months even after I paid it to the original company.

I've heard they operate in a fairly grey area and they will just keep trying to contact you so they can tell the company they're collecting for that they're doing their job. Do they keep adding extra charges as time goes by?

They can send a collector to the house I live in all they want, you can bang on the door night and day and the tenants won't answer.

Cork2015!

Had a friend in this exact same position, tried to pay the hospital a few months later and he was told they won't accept the payment that he had to contract the debt collection agency

Seanachai

Cork2015! wrote: »

Had a friend in this exact same position, tried to pay the hospital a few months later and he was told they won't accept the payment that he had to contract the debt collection agency

If they adopt that attitude then nobody will get the money, especially not if IT are highly unlikely to pursue somebody for €100. What process would they have to follow if they were to do that anyway, the small claims court?

Cork2015!

Seanachai wrote: »

If they adopt that attitude then nobody will get the money, especially not if IT are highly unlikely to pursue somebody for €100. What process would they have to follow if they were to do that anyway, the small claims court?

Think he phoned up IT in the end and paid them, he tried to ignore it but he said the level of harassment was actually too much to bear and wasn't worth it

Seanachai

Cork2015! wrote: »

Think he phoned up IT in the end and paid them, he tried to ignore it but he said the level of harassment was actually too much to bear and wasn't worth it

I have my phone on silent all day so the calls don't bother me, might even get an app to block private numbers, I need to for Irish Water in any case. I just shred the letters and put them in the compost, they'll never get to my flat in the house unless they get cops with a battering ram.

Mr. Incognito

Fille the letters in the bin.

If they call, just ask them to hold for a moment then put the phone down and let them waste away there till they hang up.

These people are leeches who operate on intimidation and threat but ultimately have no powers to come after you.

Fred Swanson

This post has been deleted.

Seanachai

Fred Swanson wrote: »

This post has been deleted.

So they can't turn around in six months time and say that you owe us €100 + €600 for our costs and penalties?

hullaballoo

Penalty clauses are unlawful and their "costs" are not recoverable in any way known to law, so they can turn around and say what they like but you tell them to keep turning around until they can see the sign for fcuk off.

L1011

I wish there was some way of restricting them from using such a legalese-ish name that makes people think they actually have some solid legal basis.

NUTLEY BOY

Seanachai wrote: »

I'm getting text messages and letters from Intrum Justitia over an unpaid A&E bill, I'm not in the position to pay it until July and I heard that they can't pursue you for a debt under a certain amount. I still won't engage with IT, I'm just wondering what power IT actually have in this regard. I will pay directly to the hospital when I can, does anybody know if this is the case?

Probably dealt with already but are you sure that you owe it ?

If by chance you attended the ED with a letter from a doctor there should be no charge. Otherwise, the fee is owed.

I only mention it because I attended ED four years ago with a letter from my GP and they still sent a bill - they then cancelled it.

pedroeibar1

Intrum Justitia has been around for decades, respected co in the business, Swedish, did a successful IPO about 2000. Periodically they will issue legal proceedings to recover debt, just to prove they mean business. They inevitably win, and you get stuffed with the debt and all the costs. Why don't you just pay your bill, after all you did go to A & E?

hullaballoo

They do not have the capacity to issue proceedings. Unless you mean that they tell their clients to issue proceedings?

They don't inevitably win either... they don't have any interest in a case for the result to be considered a win, no matter what way it goes...

For clarity, I also mean that their clients don't inevitably win when they institute proceedings where IJ are unsuccessful.

pedroeibar1

hullaballoo wrote: »

They do not have the capacity to issue proceedings. Unless you mean that they tell their clients to issue proceedings?

They don't inevitably win either... they don't have any interest in a case for the result to be considered a win, no matter what way it goes...

For clarity, I also mean that their clients don't inevitably win when they institute proceedings where IJ are unsuccessful.

That's obvious. It depends on the model in use. If they have bought the debt they can and do issue proceedings (not sure if they do this in Ireland, they did when they operated in the US). Should proceedings issue on something as straightforward as an A&E bill the hospital will win.

It is stupid to advise anyone to have no contact with/ignore a debt collection process. Why advise a guy on how not to pay a bill, the result of which will be picked up by the taxpayer? Why not say "Answer the call from IJ, pay them say €25 and say you'll pay the rest in a month"?

L1011

If they pay the hospital the state gets all the money, not reduced by the debt collectors hefty commission

Fred Swanson

This post has been deleted.

Carawaystick

L1011 wrote: »

If they pay the hospital the state gets all the money, not reduced by the debt collectors hefty commission

Most hospitals are privately owned and state subsidised, so the state doesn't get anything.

L1011

Carawaystick wrote: »

Most hospitals are privately owned and state subsidised, so the state doesn't get anything.

Not outside Dublin they're not. Those in Dublin (with A&Es that bill the standard, state-defined fee after use, rather than charge up front) are generally charitable also.

Seanachai

I've started a payment plan withe the hospital, I'd always intended to pay, I just needed more time. I find the tactics used by the likes of IJ to be very shady and I can see how they would cause some more timid or elderly people a lot of stress.

whomitconcerns

But if you paid your bills they wouldn't have to contact you? They are providing a necessary service in a country where not paying bills is seen as 'sticking it to the man' ridiculously. Not saying this is you op by the way.

L1011

whomitconcerns wrote: »

But if you paid your bills they wouldn't have to contact you? They are providing a necessary service in a country where not paying bills is seen as 'sticking it to the man' ridiculously. Not saying this is you op by the way.

There are many companies/services that, rather than contactor someone themselves, let the first point of contact be via a debt collection agency due to thinking it'll get a better response. So there is a rather high chance they were never asked by the hospital at all.

Seanachai

whomitconcerns wrote: »

But if you paid your bills they wouldn't have to contact you? They are providing a necessary service in a country where not paying bills is seen as 'sticking it to the man' ridiculously. Not saying this is you op by the way.

We're living in a country where people are still struggling to make ends meet, that's even if you are working. Companies like IJ only serve to increase pressure and stress on people that may already be on the edge, I have a special interest on the mental effects that debt is having on Irish people. Some of my neighbors from home have been cut down from ropes because of money problems, I often wonder were they hounded by groups such as IJ?

whomitconcerns

So I should just stop paying my bills also? I have first hand experience also of the mental effects of this but that doesn't mean the overriding sense of entitlement some feel in Ireland of 'why should they be pursued for their bills' but as said I'm not saying it's the Ops issue. Just that intrum justicia and their ilk have a very valid role to play and are not leechs