Discussions

I am not sure I can post this but I hope I can. Recently my husband and I went to get a loan and I was told that I have an outstanding bill with the city of Brandon. My husband and I moved back in 2008 to Ste Rose du Lac, MB before we moved we never received a bill from the city for anything. Our taxes we paid, our dog licenses were paid so we had no clue. Our credit was being fixed and 6 months ago when checking our credit there was no outstanding bills or debts. Now comes March 2016 and all of a sudden there is an unpaid bill for the city of Brandon. I called the city of Brandon who told me I owed an unpaid ambulance bill and I had incurred interest for nonpayment. I did not know about this bill and I am uncertain when it actually was for. I am willing to pay the debt but not the interest if it is actually my bill. I was told basically that all people say they never got a bill so basically telling me I am lying. We moved in 2008 and had our mail forwarded for 6 months and nothing came. The other curious thing is they have my last name as Cooper but I changed my last name back in 2006 when I received my divorce from my first husband and all my id and medical information was changed then. I found that there is a statute of limitations so legally they cannot put this on my record as of this year since apparently it was back in 2007 or 2006 and legally in Manitoba after 6 years they cannot pursue this mater. Like I said I was willing to pay the original bill if it is actually mine but I am not willing to pay interest for a bill I never received. I am so disappointed in Brandon on the handling of this mater all together and for the finance department accusing me of lying about not receiving a bill. My husband now and his brother lived with me and none of us saw a bill before we moved and nothing has come to our address here in Ste Rose from Brandon.  
The Federal and Provincial Governments have Limitation Acts which provide a limit on the time an unsecured debt can be perused by legal proceedings. If an unsecured debt is not collected, or payments are not made on the unsecured debt within these time limits, then legal action cannot be taken by the creditor or a collection agency. Only admitting to the debt in writing OR making payments of a debt resets the statute of limitations.  
 
Manitoba – Limitation of Actions Act, C.C.S.M. c. L150, s. 2(1)(g) sets 6 years as the limit for debt.  

I have 0 advice to offer, although I can say good luck. The city does not take responsibility or accountability for their mistakes and it is frustrating!!!! Everything is always your fault....never theirs. They also are not trained to handle customer complaints very well and offer no explanations for anything, or offer possible solutions/resources to assist you in resolving your complaints. Just a "this is how it is so deal with it" attitude. Again...good luck. Hope everything works out for you!

PLCoulter said "I am not sure I can post this but I hope I can. Recently my husband and I went to get a loan and I was told that I have an outstanding bill with the city of Brandon. My husband and I moved back in 2008 to Ste Rose du Lac, MB before we moved we never received a bill from the city for anything. Our taxes we paid, our dog licenses were paid so we had no clue. Our credit was being fixed and 6 months ago when checking our credit there was no outstanding bills or debts. Now comes March 2016 and all of a sudden there is an unpaid bill for the city of Brandon. I called the city of Brandon who told me I owed an unpaid ambulance bill and I had incurred interest for nonpayment. I did not know about this bill and I am uncertain when it actually was for. I am willing to pay the debt but not the interest if it is actually my bill. I was told basically that all people say they never got a bill so basically telling me I am lying. We moved in 2008 and had our mail forwarded for 6 months and nothing came. The other curious thing is they have my last name as Cooper but I changed my last name back in 2006 when I received my divorce from my first husband and all my id and medical information was changed then. I found that there is a statute of limitations so legally they cannot put this on my record as of this year since apparently it was back in 2007 or 2006 and legally in Manitoba after 6 years they cannot pursue this mater. Like I said I was willing to pay the original bill if it is actually mine but I am not willing to pay interest for a bill I never received. I am so disappointed in Brandon on the handling of this mater all together and for the finance department accusing me of lying about not receiving a bill. My husband now and his brother lived with me and none of us saw a bill before we moved and nothing has come to our address here in Ste Rose from Brandon.   The Federal and Provincial Governments have Limitation Acts which provide a limit on the time an unsecured debt can be perused by legal proceedings. If an unsecured debt is not collected, or payments are not made on the unsecured debt within these time limits, then legal action cannot be taken by the creditor or a collection agency. Only admitting to the debt in writing OR making payments of a debt resets the statute of limitations.     Manitoba – Limitation of Actions Act, C.C.S.M. c. L150, s. 2(1)(g) sets 6 years as the limit for debt.   "

I don't see mention of this anywhere in your post so I'll ask. Did you or someone from your household use Brandon's ambulance service while you lived here?  
 
If you didn't, it sounds like a mistake was made. If you did, maybe you still owe for it.

I did use an ambulance once but it was from work and should have been covered by workers comp. Whether it is my bill or not my point is I never received a bill and if I had known about it, it would have been paid if it was/is actually mine.  

Honesty if I was you I would maybe get some legal advice from a lawyer to see what your options are. Legal advice is usually free.  
 
Edited by The_Young_Man, 2016-03-28 11:25:53

There was a presidence in court that the statute of limitations of a bill is actually only valid from the date the person who owes the money states they are not paying.  
I do collections and have won in small claims court due to people not realising presidence on the statute

Like I said I will pay the bill if it is mine but I feel I should not have to pay the interest as I never received a bill in the mail. Up until this month nothing had shown on my credit file that I owed a bill to the city of Brandon.

I would check with WCB whether they paid it first of all. They should be able to go back that far, I would think. A few years ago I paid our taxes by putting it in the little slot on the door that they have. Funny thing was, the cheque was never found. And they tried to charge us the interest and we went to the higher ups.

and a cross reference with the original bill should clear it up. The City should have the original bill on file. If you challenge it is their responsibility to prove. I had to have the City correct an over charge on an ambulance bill once.

I have thought of that and will contact medical records in Brandon. I work in Medical records near where I live and funny thing I found is that ambulance billing will call my department to confirm address of clients and yet Brandon Could not find me when my address and everything had changed and was changed with Manitoba Health. One other excuse I was given was that Brandon has a new collection agency. My info for address is on file in Brandon as I have been there for MRI and to see a neurologist but yet the city of Brandon billing could not find me.  
 
 
 
Edited by PLCoulter, 2016-03-28 11:46:15

It sounds that there was confusion on both sides. If the bill was legitimate it needs to be paid with interest. Simple as that. Of course a compromise should be offered.  
 
If the WCB should have paid as you thought they should pay the interest as they got the Bill.  
 
If it was you or a person in your house who used the service and thought someone else would pay that is not the City of Brandon problem.  
 
The service was provided the city did that. The bill on paper may or may not been sent. I may have been sent and stolen or lost.  
 
The follow up on did the Bill get paid rests on the user not on the bill payee.  
 
If I was the city I would say here is your bill. Wave some or maybe all of the interest but in all fairness nothing in life is free. You Assumed the WCB paid. A follow up call or action was needed. By both sides. The City should have sent more than one notice. The User should have made sure. Compromise. To suggest no interest should be charged put 100 percent blame on the city. The city provided a service and interest collects for a reason.

Ask for a copy of the bill....

ask for a copy of the bill and phone wcb to see if they should be covering it then go have a consult with a lawyer to see where you stand, from there you can then go inform the city of what is going to happen

Read again was the bill actually mine, I said I did not even know there was a bill until this month. The bill supposedly is from 2006 or 2007 they could not give me the exact date the first person I talked to. Second person sort of thought the dates might have been 2007. Yet back then most bills were sent by paper. I never received a bill so if I do not know about a bill how can I pay it. Why should I be punished for a bill I never received and why should I pay interest on a said bill. On top of that up until this month it was not showing on my credit bureau, over 8 years from the stated use. I said I had 1 ambulance ride but that it was covered by WCB and not sure if that is in the time line or the bill they said. Either way as I never received a bill or knew anything about it at all until this month why should I pay interest? Question I have for the person saying I should have followed up do you follow up to see if you have a bill when all your credit reports are saying there was none. What else was I to do until my husband and I went to the bank we never knew it existed.

I am having the exact same issue with the city. I have not received any type of bill from them and I am being told that I owe 650.00 for an ambulance from 2009 which should have been covered by my insurance at the time. I get calls night and day from the collections on this. I just wonder why am I just being contacted now after all this time?

I will be contacting a lawyer and also getting my medical records from the time period they say and will go from there as the City of Brandon will not resolve this fairly. Like I said I have no problem paying the bill if it is mine but I do have a problem paying interest on something that I never was contacted about and how it has messed up my credit because the city did not follow through.  

I agree with you fully. I had no idea that this wasn't already covered up until about a month or so ago when I started getting harassing phone calls. Ill pay the bill if I have to but it should have been covered and I am not paying the interest either.

I am aware of a similar situation that happened to someone else. Call your former employer and get the WCB claim number. Then tell the collection Agency/City that it was linked to that specific claim. I guess it may depend on different circumstances but in the situation I'm aware of, WCB/the employer was responsible for the cost and the debt was wiped from this person's record.

Hate to say it, but Id defiantly contact a lawyer and see what your options are. The fact that the city doesn't even know when the ambulance bill is from and says it might be from 2006 or 2007 and still hadn't sent you a bill when you moved in 2008, and then the bill doesn't even have the right last name on the bill, is questionable. The city should know exactly when and where the ambulance was called to, right down to the exact date and minute. Also the Workers Compensation Board should have a record that they paid the bill and if no one paid the bill the city should of sent you a bill at the time and sent more than one bill over time or contacted you. Even if you moved from Brandon in 2008, the city should of sent the bill or contacted you within a few months or less of the ambulance ride to the hospital. Sounds like the city has issues. Good luck.  
 
 
 
 
 
Edited by The_Young_Man, 2016-03-28 15:27:36

TEN said "Do you know how often people use the excuse "I never got a bill"? to try to get out of paying for stuff they know full well they owe for? Plenty. That is why that reasoning falls on deaf ears.     Also, bills to the city or most other institutions/businesses do not usually show up on credit reporting until said business/institution turns it over to a collection agency.     I know this does not help, but perhaps clears up some questions. "

i agree but the city still should be able to give the op a copy of the bill, without it how do they even know what they owe

That is wrong I have proof that I never received a bill when living in Brandon and when I moved. Yes some people do not pay their bills and use that excuse. I know I did not get one or it would have been paid years ago not 8 to 10 years later and only by going to a bank to find out there was a bill in collection. Like I said I have checked my credit bureau that I did back in September good thing I keep the documents from then that did not show I had a outstanding bill. So all in all on my case Brandon dropped the ball by not following through when my information was readily available that is if the bill is actually mine and not a mistake.

I wouldn't just hand over money 9 or 10 years after the fact for a bill you don't even know is yours. It is likely true that it wouldn't hit your credit rating until it was handed over to a collection agency. I wonder what the city has for a collection policy, I would hope it's not to wait 9 year a before sending an outstanding bill for collection. There is no excuse for that. I would demand a copy of the invoice. This does being up an interesting thought. If the city bills you 9 years after the fact and it is indeed not yours, how do you go about proving that it wasn't yours. I don't remember where I was or what I was doing at a certain time last year, never mind 9 or 10 years ago. Call the mayor of need be, this is not right.

PLCoulter said "I have thought of that and will contact medical records in Brandon. I work in Medical records near where I live and funny thing I found is that ambulance billing will call my department to confirm address of clients and yet Brandon Could not find me when my address and everything had changed and was changed with Manitoba Health. One other excuse I was given was that Brandon has a new collection agency. My info for address is on file in Brandon as I have been there for MRI and to see a neurologist but yet the city of Brandon billing could not find me.         Edited by PLCoulter, 2016-03-28 11:46:15"

I understand the legal part of this "unpaid bill" needs to get paid - Most times the city sends a copy of the ambulance bill to "the said person" and it is up to you to then take it to the school, work, WCB to have it added to your claim the city does not know how it is being paid they send it to you and its up to you to add it to what ever is paying your bill....  
BUT...  
as you mentioned theres's a new collection agency collecting old debt at city hall trying to make a name for them self and there digging up old dirt obviously !!!  
We should all hope that they don't come knocking on our doors wanting to dig in our couches for pocket change that "we may not have put in parking meters" over the years cause we are all guilty of that !  
TO the city come on !

How do you prove you never received a bill at the time the service was used? Ambulance bills get sent regular mail-at least mine did-so I don't know how proof of non-receipt is possible?

JessieJay. I was thinking the same thing. How could the OP possibly prove that a bill was never sent ? Her whole argument crashed, in my mind, when she made that silly statement. Until now, it seems like she is quite content to have the rest of the taxpayers carry that burden.

standard standard h8r said "JessieJay. I was thinking the same thing. How could the OP possibly prove that a bill was never sent ? Her whole argument crashed, in my mind, when she made that silly statement. Until now, it seems like she is quite content to have the rest of the taxpayers carry that burden. "

Same time how can the city prove they sent a bill? Maybe because it was work related could it have been put through the company? Who knows. Why is it not on a credit report then all of a sudden it is? Is it one copy of invoice only before going to collections? Last I know of multiple attempts are usually done to collect money.

came 2x to me-I sent the first one to Blue Cross and then after the 2nd bill came I called and learned that Blue Cross had finally made payment. I would doubt that the City missed sending a bill initially and I doubt they would send only one if it was not paid.

If you moved an didn't upate the address on your MB Health Card it would have gone to that address.

should be is to how to clean up your credit rating and get the bill removed if that is how you found out about it.  
 
and as you say your willing to pay for the bill, but not the interest. if the city does not agree to forgive the interest now your fighting over a bit of interest and in the mean time your credit rating is at stake.  
 
i feel your frustration about not getting a bill why should you pay in the interest, ... but look at the big picture.. it that a hill you want to stake the next fight over.

With WCB. This recently happened to us but MPIC was supposed to pay. The bill was never sent to us or the next of kin that would have been on the ambulance report. Had a Ontario collection agency call which seemed a little fishy. I think the city is cleaning up old files. In our case MPIC checked it out and it was legit and they paid. Good Luck.