Legal Question in Business Law in North Carolina

I am desperately seeking for information on how to legally charge for missed appointments.

I am an independent insurance agent, and work out of my home. I receive "leads" which are called, and an appointment is set...usually about 4-5 days out and about 1.5 hours from my home. Like other professionals, I bare a huge cost from missed appointments, and this cost will soon drive me out of business. I know as a professional, I have the right to charge for missed appointments, but how can I make sure this is legal to send them an invoice for "gas and time?" I only schedule over the phone, so they cannot sign anything. Is it safe to assume I can charge them a reasonable fee without getting them to either consent over the phone or in writing? If I ask for consent over the phone, I would have virtually NO appointments, as people would fear forgetting and thus not schedule. Thank you for your time.


Asked on 7/13/10, 9:32 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Bob Bollinger Bollinger Law Firm PC

How are you going to collect it? You could bill it all day long, but without a contract no court is going to help you collect it. And you don't want to sue prospects for this anyway.

I am not sure whether you can legally charge for it. Better check with your compliance folks.

My suggestion would be, figure out a way to make them keep the appointments. Give them something of value for free for keeping the appointment.

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Answered on 7/14/10, 2:57 pm


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