Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in Georgia
Statute of Limitations
In 2000 I had carpel tunnel operation in New York state hospital, bill was $3300, I paid remainder of doctors bill insurance did not cover and never received a bill from hospital. I moved to Georgia in 2004 and in 2006 received a bill from hospital stating I owed them $3300 this was first bill I received. I called hospital to see what was gong on and was told that insurance paid bill then insurance company sent letter to hospital stating that bill should have been submitted to NYS Workmans Compassion so hospital sent money back to insurance company & sent bill to NYS Workmans Comp. which denied it in the year 2005. I was not aware of any of this. The company I worked for was self-insured and went out of business in 2001 with that went the insurance. I was working with the hospital for about a month to see if I could resolve this matter then bill was turned over to collection. I do not work with collection agencies. Now my credit rating went from 809 to 719 and I am being called from collection about 4 or 5 times a week. Would like to know if SOL is up,because I moved to Georgia, if so what recourse do I take to get my credit rating back up where it belongs, and the collections agencies off my back.--- Thank You
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: Statute of Limitations
You are mixing up the terms. The "SOL" is a defense to a lawsuit, which does not appear to be an issue. The credit report has a time after which entries age off, which is usually 7 years but that starting date is often not clear cut. Finally, and largely independent of the other two, collection efforts may go on indefinitely if not handled properly.
Re: Statute of Limitations
A bill from 2000 CANNOT be on your credit report (no bill over 7 years old can be there), so challenge any incorrect reporting on the date. Your credit score is thus not affected at all.
You will have to ask a NY lawyer what the statute of limitations is on the debt. A NY lawyer can also tell you if you if you have any rememdies about the insurance, but it sounds like you may have waited way too long to get a lawyer there in which case you may have lost your rights to appeal a denial of coverage.