Received debt collection letter UPDATE!!

[Marcos8]

For the first time today i received a debt collection letter from an attorney. They said they represent an orthopedist that I saw many years ago for a car accident...probably back in 2006-2007. The bill is for a flat fee of $500.00 even. I did see this doctor one time (unsure of date I have to check) and I never returned. He was given my insurance at the time of service and I have never received anything from them ever regarding an outstanding balance of any kind. There is nothing on my credit reports anywhere regarding this debt, nor any collections at all, or judgements etc... SOL in NJ is 6 years I believe. Is a DV my first step?

Because this is medical and because I supplied my insurance do I request proof that the insurance was billed appropriately, in a timely way? Do I ask them to prove that this bill for services is not in excess of the fee schedule which would be illegal in NJ?

Any help on how to handle this would be awesome. Thanks everyone

[2b2rich]

Sounds like  a JDB 

Read the fine print on the letter, it should admit somewhere on there that because of the age of the debt they can not sue you or report you to credit bureaus.  

[gdale6]

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@Marcos8 wrote:

For the first time today i received a debt collection letter from an attorney. They said they represent an orthopedist that I saw many years ago for a car accident...probably back in 2006-2007. The bill is for a flat fee of $500.00 even. I did see this doctor one time (unsure of date I have to check) and I never returned. He was given my insurance at the time of service and I have never received anything from them ever regarding an outstanding balance of any kind. There is nothing on my credit reports anywhere regarding this debt, nor any collections at all, or judgements etc... SOL in NJ is 6 years I believe. Is a DV my first step?

Because this is medical and because I supplied my insurance do I request proof that the insurance was billed appropriately, in a timely way? Do I ask them to prove that this bill for services is not in excess of the fee schedule which would be illegal in NJ?

Any help on how to handle this would be awesome. Thanks everyone

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Debt that old cant even be reported to the CRAs, max time is 7.5 yrs from the OCs DoFD. It is well past SOL as well so its a "zombie". I woud either send them a FOAD letter if you dont want to hear from the collector anymore or you can make an offer of 10 to 20% to settle it in full while not taking any responsibility for the debt. Just verify it in fact was in 06 to 07.

[Anonymous]

I still love that term.....FOAD letter. :-D

[RobertEG]

I would send a DV for two reasons.

First, it will impose a total cease collection bar if sent within 30 days of theri dunning notice, which is more comprehensive than a cease communication bar that you could send under the FDCPA.

Second, it will remain in effect until they provide debt validation, which may by useful in the event that you wish to challenge the debt.

Expiration of SOL and of the credit report exclusio period does not negate the fact that you still have someone out there asserting that you have a delinquent debt.

It would still be useful to resolve that issue, if for nothing else to avoid any issue of disclosure should you apply for credit and be asked to list any unpaid, delinquent debt.

Personally, I would not simply send a cease communidation letter and forget it.

[Anonymous]

Zombie Debt makes me giggle a bit. By the time a collection is 6.5+ years old I imagine the debt has been bought and sold many times and is bought for less then $0.01 on the dollar. These are often the the least "reputable" debt collectors and will do anything and everything possible to intimidate/scare/harass you into paying it. Not to say we shouldnt all pay our debts but we should all abide by the law

[Marcos8]

Thanks for the responses so far. By tomorrow I will know the exact date I saw this doctor. In regards to a medical bill, what is considered the DoFD? Is it the date of service or some time after that? Just trying to pinpoint the exact beginning date to calculate my 6 year SOL and 7.5 reporting date.  Thanks again everyone

[2b2rich]

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@Marcos8 wrote:

Thanks for the responses so far. By tomorrow I will know the exact date I saw this doctor. In regards to a medical bill, what is considered the DoFD? Is it the date of service or some time after that? Just trying to pinpoint the exact beginning date to calculate my 6 year SOL and 7.5 reporting date.  Thanks again everyone

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If you're billed for services, it's usually the missed due date (or 30 days after services rendered).  If you want to be technical though, if you go to the doctor and payment is due when services are rendered and the paper work you sign states this also, then if you want to pick at the bone, you can point out that the SOL is going by the contract you signed and the contract states it was due that day.  Most of the time, you won't get back to see the doctor unless you've paid up front, so a situation like that would be a balance that your insurance company didn't cover completely or something.

A good rule of thumb otherwise is 30 days from date of services rendered.  

[Marcos8]

Just spoke to the adjuster at my auto insurance today. They indicated that for the claim they had open for me for the 2006 mva that the doctor never billed them at all... and by law he had up to 2 years from the date of the last payment on file for me to submit his bill which would have been by December 2009. 

[Marcos8]

Ok. I received a letter in response to my DV today. The response makes no sense! It is basically an itemized statement listing 3 charges for interpretation of a cervical, thoracic, and lumbar MRI all dated 9/17/10. As I said in the first post I saw this doctor only once no later then back in late 2007. It says he billed the insurance on 10/26/10 (my PIP claim was closed by Dec 09) and is still awaiting payment.  

What do I do now? There is no way possible I saw this doctor on 9/17/10. I have no idea where that date came from and I'm lost as to what do do next. If this dr is saying I saw him on that date it is straight fraud...but I'm not sure if the date on the statement is the date of service or what because it does not say. I want to call this guys bluff but I don't want to acknowledge the debt. What should I do? 

Thanks