OK here is the story. My son had a dental procedure done in March and the bill was $3700. Unfortunately I have been laid off and I didnâ??t realize that my dental insurance ran out at the end of February. I made my COBRA payment though and the dental insurance became valid retroactive to the end of February. I called the dentist in early June, explained what happened, and that they could now file their insurance claim. At the end of June, I received a call from a collection agency and they demanded the $3700 + $1500 collection agency fee in full. I called the dentist back again and they said that did not have any record of me calling in early June before the account was turned over to the collection agency. They processed my insurance claim successfully and said that they would contact the collection agency. I assumed that everything was fine at this point, but now I am being informed that the dentist office told the collection agency that they should still collect their fee. So now I am being harassed by the collection agency for their full fee since it is past the 30 day window to appeal the charge in writing. I realize now that I should have gotten something in writing from the dentist office, but what should my next step be? Any help would be greatly appreciated.
If the CA wants their fee, tell them to call the dentist. The CA isn't working for you, why should you pay them anything? The CA works for the dentist so they should try to collect the fee from them. Tell them to go away and leave you alone. The "30-day window" sounds like smoke to get you to cough up some money. It sounds like they're just trying to shake you down.
I certainly agree with BOB on this. Simply put, the dentist has a contract with the debt collector which says that their client agrees not to accept any money from the debtor but rather refer them directly to the debt collector to resolve the matter so that the debt collector can collect their fees. The doctor failed to comply with his contract with the debt collector and now don't want to pay what he owes but rather wants you to pay it instead. In short, the doc hates deadbeats (those who don't pay him) but don't mind being one himself. On the other hand, the debt collectors don't want to alienate their customers by making them pay what they owe the debt collector so they go after the consumer instead. As BOB said, the debt collector works for the doc not you. Let them go after the doc for their money. If it has been 30 days or less since you got the first communication from the debt collector then send a validation letter regardless of what they tell you. That 30 day window can be stretched a few days too. It can easily be stretched into 35 days since it isn't the date on their letter that counts. It is the date you received it that counts. That might easily be stretched by maybe as much as a week. Isn't that just about always the truth of the matter?
