[ksaun]

> > The collections agency had also put a black mark on my credit history.

> This doesn't seem to be true.

Maybe the situation has changed over the past couple decades. (I don't recall which of the three credit reporting agencies this was with.) It was true for me back then. :)

In my case, the collector didn't initiate contact. I learned of the situation because I checked my credit report and then it was I who contacted them. I didn't know who they were or why they thought I owed them money. They tried to convince me to pay them, saying they'd remove the mark from my credit report after I did so.

I had believed the medical service (a couple years in the past at that time) had been completely covered by insurance and didn't know that anyone thought money was owed. I don't know where the original miscommunication/mistake had occurred. I only know that the collector dinged my credit report and that I had documentation showing that my insurance had addressed the original claim (paying the medical provider), which enabled me to challenge the collection agency's assertion.

(Thank you for the additional information and context you've added about collection agencies. I knew little about them outside of my direct experience with this one.)