Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in Illinois

I am dealing with a very large medical facility bill (in excess of $10,000) for a procedure performed in 2006. The current collection efforts are being handled by a third party - not a debt collector, but an external firm hired to address all of the accounts receivable. The bill is for multiple procedures and not all of the procedures billed were actually performed (I have compared the bill to my medical record). I also suspect a large portion of the total bill is due to duplicated charges from procedure "bundling" (although I have not confirmed this). The person on the telephone has hinted at a settlement of 10% of the original bill and encouraged me to make a counteroffer (an offer was not actually made, I did not accept or flatly reject the notion). Should I continue to dispute the bill as a whole and reject settlement offers or attempt to negotiate a minimal settlement? There are 15 months left to the statute of limitations for them to attempt to obtain a judgement. Thank You


Asked on 10/27/10, 2:10 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Thomas Moens Moens Law Offices, Chartered

First, your description certainly sounds like it might be a debt collector under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, since the entity collecting the debt is not the original creditor, and I would imagine they regularly collect debts.

Second, the statute of limitation is probably ten years.

Finally, regarding the settlement amount: While you claim that the bill is inflated, you seem to indicate that you are responsible for some of this bill. ?o you believe that 10% is a reasonable compromise? If so, why not get it done? Be certain the debt collector

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Answered on 11/03/10, 6:27 am


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