When Capio Partners suddenly contacts you and tells you about unpaid debts, you may be surprised, right? You may feel that you never owed them anything at all. They do, however, have an accurate report of your past-due debts.
If this happens, it’s best for you to do a cross-check first to ensure whether or not you really have debt. After you discover that you really have a debt, you may wonder why Capio Partners is collecting your debt, although they’re not the lender.
Okay, here are several things you should know about Capio Partners!
What is Capio Partners?
Capital Partners, LLC, is a third-party medical and healthcare debt collection agency. Their office is headquartered in Sherman, Texas, and have been operating since 2008. They specialize in collecting past-due debts from people across the United States.
Technically, Capio Partners collectors will contact you via debt collection letters, telephone calls, and comments on your credit report.
Who Does Capio Partners Collect For?
When you cannot yet pay off your medical bills, the health provider may give you looseness within a certain period. But it doesn’t mean that you can just be careless. Of course, you still have to pay it since they actually determine the maturity date of your debt.
Then, if Capio Partners contacts you, they’re collecting your medical debts that you have from a healthcare facility, doctor’s office, or hospital. In short, they work with any health provider where you get medical care.
This happens when your medical bill is due and you haven’t paid it at all. Then, the health provider sells your account and debt report to Capio Partners, which ultimately takes over their debt collection.
That’s why Capio Partners collects your debt, not the medical facility you visited.
Is Capio Partners Legitimate?
Although not accredited by the Better Business Bureau (BBB), Capio Partners is a legitimate medical debt collection agency. Even so, BBB rates Capio a “B” grade. But that doesn’t prevent them from having a lot of consumer complaints; almost 500 complaints were recorded, giving them a rating of 1.16/5 stars.
The majority of consumers complain regarding the performance of Capio Partners, including:
- Capio sometimes tells consumers about debts that they don’t even have or that aren’t their own.
- Capio doesn’t notify consumers regarding how they validate their debt. And it includes account information and the original debt contract.
- Capio doesn’t provide legally mandatory debt dispute information.
For your information, more than 1,200 consumer complaints about Capio Partners have been handled by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).
Further, many consider that these complaints actually represent that the company violates a federal law called the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), which states that third-party debt collectors are prohibited from harassing or defrauding debtors.
In addition, this law also requires debt collectors to notify debtors regarding debt validation in a timely manner, and this includes details on how to dispute the debt. While these customer complaints and reviews highlight relevant issues, they are not sufficient to represent the entire consumer experience.
What Should You Do When Capio Partners Contact You?
Even though Capio Partners is a legitimate medical debt collection agency, you must still be careful when they’re contacting you and telling you about your past-due debt.
After receiving your debt information, validating the debt is a first must-do. You can ask them to give you a debt validation letter that includes the name of the original creditor, the date of the debt, and the amount of the debt. Make sure not to give them any information before they verify your debt.
If they have verified your debt, you can choose one of two options:
- Paying off all debts
- Negotiating a payment plan. This is to avoid lawsuits, so they can determine a payment schedule that works for you.
If you have entered into negotiations, you have the right to refuse telephone calls from Capio Partners or other types of communications. This is just a way to avoid being bothered by collectors; it doesn’t mean your debt is written off. Of course, you still owe money and are obliged to pay it according to the agreement between both parties.
As long as your debt has not been paid in full, be careful when certain parties charge you again after negotiations. This could be a scammer using the name Capio Partners or the name of another legitimate collection agency to get money from you.
It’s important to figure out signs of fraud, such as if they ask for your account number or your Social Security number.
Why is Negotiating Your Debts with Capio Partners Important?
Negotiating with Capio Partners is very important, especially if you cannot pay your debt in full. This is also a way to have your credit report removed, so it doesn’t reduce your credit score. If your credit score is low, this will make it difficult for you to get loans in the future.
There are several tips you can use to negotiate your debt with Capio Partners, such as:
- Make sure that the debt is yours by contacting the lender—in this case, a health provider.
- Assure them that you have previously addressed your medical debt issues with creditors before entering into negotiations.
- Always record all your communications with Capio Partners, including the date and time of the conversation as well as what was discussed.
- Don’t give out your bank account information.
- Don’t allow them to make automatic withdrawals until settlement is complete.
- Make sure to always confirm anything in writing.
- Pay off some of your debt, even if it is a small amount.
- Make sure you meet the payment terms as agreed.
- Be patient, as negotiations may take several rounds to reach an agreement.
- Confirm payment and settlement terms in writing that your debt account has been settled with Capio Partners.
If they don’t remove the item from your credit report after the agreement, you have certain rights to ask them to have your debt removed from your credit report. This right is contained in the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA).
What If Capio Partners Doesn’t Remove Your Credit Report?
It is very risky. Why?
This will potentially affect your credit score. Although medical bills under $500 will not be reported to the credit bureaus, when combined with medical bills and accounts, they will be more than that amount, which can make it difficult for you to get credit cards, loans, or mortgages in the future.
Why does it happen? When Capio Partners takes over someone’s debt, it will be on their credit report as a collection account. For seven years, the collection account will remain if they do not pay the debt. Of course, this can lower their credit score by up to 100 points.
That’s why it will be difficult for you to get a loan back in the future.
To note: If your debt collection account is inaccurate or it is not validated, you can dispute it by filing with the credit bureau and requesting the entry be removed from your credit history.
