Question for people who have legal knowledge or experience dealing with this stuff: I just got a call from my sister, a collections agency called her today saying they've been trying to get a hold of her for a while, leaving messages and sending letters. They are charging her $2,500 for Anesthesia services for a procedure she had on 5/12/09 (a little over 4 years ago). I found this online:
Statute of limitations on medical bills in Florida
SOL in Florida for an Open Account is 4 years and a Written Contract 5 years. Medical bills are normally considered written contract, but it could be one or the other. If the contract is signed under seal, it may have a longer time.
Note that other factors will determine when the SOL begins to be counted.
I've asked her to:
- talk to Sprint to get all records of incoming calls since she hasn't received one from them till today
- demand proof of postage from the collections agency
- talk to the Dr to verify she didn't sign anything, as to be considered a legal binding contract (she says she didn't, she was 18 at the time. Also asked her to verify with my mom.)
- try to find out if the contract is valid from the time the Dr said she needed the surgery (Nov 2008), when the Dr issued the order (before May 2009) or when the surgery actually took place (May 2009)
It was a knee surgery, replacement\fixing ACL. Does anybody know if that kind of surgery\procedure is considered a legal contract? My ex-father in law's insurance paid for it at the time.
Any help\insight is appreciated.