A medical bill sent to collections: ask them to prove it

Before you pay or agree to anything, send the collector a written request to validate the debt. Keep a copy.

In your own words Optional. What looks wrong, as you would say it.

Your nameYour mailing addressCollection agencyIts addressTheir reference numberOriginal creditor they name

Your name, addresses and numbers stay in this page. Only the words in "In your own words" leave it, and only when you press Polish my wording: they go through our server to an AI that fixes spelling, grammar and tone, and are not saved. It adds no facts and no advice.

[Your name]
[Your mailing address]

[Today's date]

[Collection agency name]
[Collection agency address]

Re: Account [Reference number on their letter]. Original creditor named in your notice: [Hospital or doctor named].

To whom it may concern:

I am writing about the account referenced above. I dispute this debt and request validation. Please send me:

the name and address of the original creditor;
the amount you say is owed, and how it was calculated, including any interest or fees;
an itemized statement from the original provider for the services billed;
a copy of any agreement that gives you the right to collect this account.

Please stop collection activity on this account until you have sent this information. Please do not report this account to a credit bureau while it is in dispute.

This letter is not an acknowledgment that I owe this debt. Please communicate with me in writing only, at the address above.

[Your name]

General information, not legal, medical or financial advice. Ask a lawyer before acting on it.

What this letter does

It asks the collector to show who the original creditor is, how the amount was worked out, and the itemized charges behind it. It does not say that you owe the debt. The federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau explains your rights when a collector contacts you on its debt collection page, including the time you have to dispute in writing.

On the phone

If a collector calls, you can ask them to send everything in writing. Avoid agreeing to a payment or confirming that the debt is yours until you have read what they send.

Send it so you can prove it

Mail it by certified mail with a return receipt, and keep the receipt with your copy of the letter and their notice.

For the phone calls

The Medical Bill Fight Kit

A 9-page PDF you print: the order of steps, word-for-word call scripts for the billing office, your insurer, financial assistance and a collection agency, five letters with blanks (the three free ones here, plus a financial assistance request and a payment agreement confirmation) and a call and mail log.

$9 Buy the kit

If the file doesn't work or isn't what this page describes, write to us within 14 days for a full refund.

A medical bill sent to collections: ask them to prove it

What this letter does

On the phone

Send it so you can prove it

The Medical Bill Fight Kit

More guides

Itemized bill

Wrong charges

Out-of-network

Over the estimate