Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in Nevada
Old debt responsibility
My wife had laser eye surgery in 2004. She had subsequent eye exams from the same doctor in 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008. She was never charged at the time of the exams and we were never sent a bill. She has vision insurance and we assumed that they had paid the balance of each exam. We just received a bill that said we owe for the balance of the exams in 2005, 06 and 08. My question is: can they wait 2 to 3 years to send a bill and then expect payment? It is now too late to claim it on insurance and our flex accounts only pay for expenses incurred this year. Also, if we are responsible, can we pay a small amount each month without hurting our credit?
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Old debt responsibility
I believe that by their failure to timely send it to insurance, they have waived their rights to collect a portion of the payment. You should pay them whatever you co-pay is.
It is up to the creditor to decide whether to place it on your credit report; however, if they do, you could have a claim for violation of Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and Fair Credit Reporting Act.
Is this the doctor or a collection agency doing this, because it can make a difference?
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