I am being sued for $60??!?
I'm not sure if they are actually sueing me or not. Here's the deal. Back in 2004, I was pregnant. For atleast 6 mos of my pregnancy, I was on private ins. and paid my ob/gyn his fees and my usual office charges with each visit. In my 7th month, I was approved for Medicaid and from then on, all of my expenses were covered. Several weeks after my delivery, I recieved a refund check from the dr's office, I don't even remember the amount but it was less than $100. When I called, the business office there told me that it had to do with my being on medicaid and the money that I had already paid to them prior to me getting on medicaid. I paid in way over $500, not sure why I only got back less than $100, but I didn't question it. I have continued to see my dr. on average of once each year since then with no mention of me oweing them anything, and I always paid for my office visit charges with each visit. About exactly one year ago, I recieved a bill from them for $70. I called to see what the charge was for since I hadn't been in the office in 11 mos. The lady tells me that she is the new office manager and the old office manager quit and since she started there, she got to looking through the files in computer and came across my account and saw that refund and that I was not suppose to get the refund, and therefore I owe it back to them, no other explanation. I didn't agree with her, but I went on and told her that I'd pay it a little at a time, as I could and I sent in $10.00. But then I got to thinking about it, and it just didn't seem or sound right to me. I then asked her to send me something that showed me what the charge was for, but I got nothing but a monthly bill stating "balance $60.30" nothing else. I didn't pay them anything else. I continued getting bills for a few months, and I continued calling and asking for an itemized statement and sent letters as well. The bills stopped coming for about six months, then month before last, they started again. Once again, I sent a letter. No response. With the last bill I got in the mail two weeks ago, I finally decided to give in and give up. It's obvious they are not going to back down and I decided to go on and pay them a little at a time again. I sent them about $10.00. Yesterday, I get a letter from an attorney, saying they are representing this dr's office. At the top of the letter it says the dr's office name vs. my name and a court case, although no court date is ever mentioned in the letter. It is merely worded like a collection letter. Attached to this letter is a statement from the dr's office...it's not like the one they send me each month, but it's also not an itemized statement. The letter does state that I can dispute these charges, and I do intend to do that, but I'm unsure of how to go about this. It says that I should not have any further contact with this dr's office...does that mean I can no longer see my ob/gyn? What about my medical records? All I ever asked them to do was provide to me something that showed me exactly what this amount that they say I owe is for. Oh and what happened to the money that I sent them two weeks ago? It is not reflected in this balance that the attorneys are now charging their fees to...which brings my balance up even more. I know this is long.but please help. Thanks so much in advance.
Answer:
Send the Attorney listed on the letter the following letter along with a copy to yourself (it should remain unopende) and a copy to the Dr's office. Send all of them CERTIFIED (RRR).
[YOUR ADDRESS]
[ADDRESS OF RECEIVER]
Date: [DATE OF YOUR LETTER]
Re: Acct # [ACCOUNT NUMBER ON THE LETTER]
To Whom It May Concern:
This letter is being sent to you in response to a notice sent to me on [DATE OF LETTER]. As I do not recognize the debt in question, I am exercising my rights under the FDCPA to demand validation of the debt.
If this has already been reported to my credit report, I expect you to update the reporting to show that the debt is disputed, as required by law.
I look forward to working with you to resolve this issue and will be eagerly watching the mailbox for the validation I requested. I trust that you will have the documents mailed to me within 30 days of receiving this letter and will, of course, cease all collections actions until validation is provided.
Warmest Regards,
[YOUR NAME]
hello just pay the $60.00 and you will avoid all this big bills from lawyers, that eventually you going to end up paying.
First of all, you can contact the Dr"s office if you like. There is no legal reason for you not to do so. Next, demand exactly what the charges are for and accept nothing less than an accecptable reply. Do not let them push you around, just because they claim to be attorneys. Stand you ground. No court would rule against you, if you are in the right. Pursue it to the limit.
just pay it and avoid all the trouble!!
the time you paid ten dollars the first time was like a unspoken agreement that you owe them that money. You created a contract that you would pay 10.00 a month by doing that. You have been in breach of contract since then. You should pay the bill afterwards, you should have a consultation with a lawyer about suing the dr's office for fradulent charges.
It sounds as if it is a collection letter. If you want to continue seeing this OB/GYN, then I would for sure pay the $60.00. Is this OB/GYN office an office for just one doctor, or a group of doctors? If it is an individual doctor, you may want to just talk to your doctor about the situation the next time you go in for a visit. Even if it is group of doctors, you may still try talking to the doctor about why they did this to you. Sometimes they have no idea about what is going on with business side of the office, but if they become aware of the situation they may diffuse it for you.
You are not getting sued yet, you are in collections. $60.00 is not much and you are probably receiving a generic collection letter from their lawyer. Ask to see a billing statement showing why you owe the money and state that you will not pay unless this is provided. At this point paying the bill does little to help you with your credit score. But a lot of times there are bookkeeping errors that will show a balance left to be paid. I have gotten bills from doctors for small amounts before, and told them that if I do not receive a statement for the service provided that shows why I owe this I will not pay it. State laws vary but I think that if the bill is older then three years they can not collect on it. Meaning that they have to start trying to collect on a bill three yearsafter the first due date. If they started the process before that date they are aloud to continue.
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