Hi pparker

You sound like a very frustrated and annoyed poster and I can certainly sympathize with you. You have asked a straight-forward simple question and have received a convoluted half-baked answer. It's no wonder that you are so upset. There are many bloggers on this website who have trouble explaining a simple answer to a honest question.

As I understand the situation, your partner visited a dentist to have some dental work done and was lead to believe that this procedure was covered by some dental plan, therefore there would be no cost to your partner. Subsequent to the work being performed, your partner received a bill from the dentist for $200 which was not paid. The dentist has turned this bill over to an agency for collection. If this is the situation, contact the collection agency, preferably by registered mail and tell them that you dispute the charge and suggest that they begin legal proceedings against your partner. What this does is it prevents the collection agency from contacting you by phone and thereby making illegal threats to collect on this disputed debt. The collection agency is then left with two options. Either they begin legal proceedings ( i.e. they will begin a lawsuit in Small Claims Court by issuing a "Statement of Claim" { which is highly unlikely due to the amount in dispute}), or they can only contact you in writing. If you wish to offer them a sum of money, then that's your choice. I would suggest that you try to work out a settlement with the collection agency. Otherwise, if the collection agency is going to play "hardball", they will simply report this debt to one or both credit bureaus ( i.e. Equifax and TransUnion ) and this will show as a "collection account" on your credit report and remain there for 6 years from the date of delinquincy. This will seriously affect your partner's credit score. After reflecting on these options, you may be further ahead by paying the $200 and chalking it up to a bad experience and move on with life.

Regarding your question about "judgements" When a debtor is sued by a creditor for an unpaid debt, the matter is usually heard in Small Claims Court, much like going to traffic court when a police officer charges you with a traffic offence and you wish to dispute the charge. At trial, the creditor will present their case and try to convince the judge to issue a "judgement" against the debtor for the unpaid debt. If successful, a judgement will be issued by the judge in favour of the creditor. At this point, it is only a piece of paper. That judgement is valid for 10 years but can be renewed for a further 10 years before the original judgement expires. A judgement is of no value until the creditor applies to the court to have it enforced such as garnishment of wages of the debtor, including bank accounts and seizure and sale of assets. If the debt is not satisfied within the 10 year period ( i.e. the debtor is unemployed and owns no assets that can be seized ), then the creditor can apply to the court to have the judgement reissued for a further 10 years.

I trust that I have provided some insight into your question

Good Luck and have a GREAT DAY

Don't worry about a judgment -- they haven't even filed paperwork or served you for the bill....going to court is a threat collection agencies use because they know most people will get scared and just pay them. They tell everyone they're going to sue them, it's easier to say than having to actually sue someone.

For $200, they are very unlikely to waste the time and money required to obtain a judgment against someone.

Send them a letter disputing the bill (if you dispute the balance) or try to work out a settlement with them for $100 if that's what you believe is owed.

Obviously I was unsure what it meant otherwise I wouldn't ask. I didn't understand what it meant that the judgement is valid for ten years and then can be renewed. So it will be on file that we had to pay or didnt have to pay? Why would one renew a judgement? Sorry if these seem like stupid questions to some...looking for some help thats all.

What do you mean, what do I mean by 'judgments'?

That's what people go to court to obtain right?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judgment_%28law%29

If you send them half they are going to apply it to your balance and come after you for the other half. If you feel you don't owe them anything why give them anything.

What do you mean by "judgements"?

I heard of these dirty tricks by dentists from my friends.

Just mail them the letter disputing the balance (registered mail)

The 'court costs' they're talking about are approximately $50 in BC small claims court. Even if they did sue, someone needs to appear for them and waste a couple hours of their day for this, and there is no guarantee that they would win.

Maybe contact the dentist and try and work something out or at least get a breakdown of where the costs are come from.

Judgments are good for ten years in BC, but you can renew for another ten when they expire.

You don't really need to worry about that though since this is $200 we're talking about, really doubt they'd go through the trouble of suing.

My partner saw a dentist last year. When he was there they said they were pretty sure his treatment was covered. It wasn't until after he had the procedure that they sent him a bill for over $200. Needless to say a year later we receive a letter from collections. We had moved and my partners phone was broken so we were only aware in the last couple months that the dentist was going to send him to collections. We tried to come to an arrangement where we would pay half as their employees gave misleading info and didnt do their job. We received a letter from collections saying that if we don't pay that they would take him to court and he could be responsible for court costs and that it would be on record for 20 years! As far as I am aware i thought it was only on record for 7 years and could he be responsible for all court fees? Would like some advice before we respond to the collections agency. we were going to send them a cheque for half the amount and a letter stating that is all we could afford and feel we shouldnt have to pay anything. Also thinking about filing a complaint against the dentist(that is irrelevant to you, i know). Any guidance would be so appreciated.