Owing money is scary, embarrassing and overwhelming; once those debts go to collections, it’s even more so. That’s what one Everence® member recently experienced when she defaulted on her student loans and had several medical debts that had gone into collections. This was when she first accessed LSS Financial Counseling provided by Everence.
Her LSS Financial Counselor helped her create a budget, decide how much she could put towards her debts prioritizing student loans and understand her rights. Her financial counselor also helped her consolidate the students loans out of default and get them into an income driven repayment plan so she could be back in good standing.
During a six month follow up call with LSS, she said someone had tried to serve her for a debt owed. She and her counselor called the creditor together so she could learn what to say, and she was able to work out a settlement on the debt about to go into a judgement.
As a result of financial counseling, this Everence member learned the tools and the language to effectively deal with creditors – she felt empowered to handle her medical debts on her own moving forward.