Anytime you are injured, the costs for medical bills can be mind-boggling, and you can’t afford to pay everything in full.
Last year, the total costs for healthcare were over $4 trillion, and 30% or $1.24 trillion covered hospital expenses.
You don’t realize how much everything is until you receive the bills in the mail and start paying. For most people, these costs are unaffordable, and you have the choice of paying your medical bills or not taking care of food, the car, house payments, and other expenses.
You try to work with the healthcare provider, but they refer the bill to a debt collector, and the harassment begins. You receive letters, phone calls, and pressure to pay these bills or face the consequences. These practices are illegal, and you have rights to prevent debt collectors from engaging in high-pressure schemes. Here is how to stop medical bill harassment in Delray Beach by knowing your rights.
What is Harassment?
Even when the bills are legitimate, you are under no obligation to respond to debt collectors and prevent them from contacting you.
The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act states that you are not to be harassed or threatened through misrepresentations. Harassment includes threats, repeated phone calls/letters, publishing lists of people who don’t pay their debts, and refusing to state who they represent. Misrepresentations are doing things the bill collector knows they can’t do such as, claiming to be an attorney when they are not and the amounts you owe.
Any of these tactics can lead to legal action against the debt collector and healthcare organization. You have rights, and under the law, the minute you notify the bill collector not to contact you, they must comply.
The Law Offices of John Mufson can help if you are experiencing debt collector harassment or misrepresentation. We specialize in these cases and know how to force bill collectors to comply with the law. Don’t become a victim of these practices and stand up for your rights to prevent a repeat of them in the future.
Steps to Stopping Harassment
Stopping harassment requires documenting that you want the bill collector to no longer send you letters, make calls, or contact you. You should follow specific steps to demonstrate that you communicated with the collector under the law and the company refused to comply.
Send the Debt Collector a Letter
The first thing is to send the debt collector a letter stating that you want them to no longer contact you. In the letter, you can inform the company you are dealing with the healthcare provider directly, dispute the bills, plan on paying them or filing for bankruptcy.
In any of these situations, the debt collector must stop contacting you and comply with the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. Keep a copy of the letter for your files, record all phone calls, and maintain anything the debt collector sends you notifying them. You want to build a mountain of evidence showing that you told them to stop, and the company failed to comply with your request.
The Law Office of John Mufson can stop debt collector harassment with our knowledge and experience in working with these cases. We will fight for you and hold the bill collector and healthcare provider responsible for failing to follow the law.
Contact John Mufson
If the bill collector continues to contact you, call the Law Offices of John Mufson right away. We will sue our legal recourses to hold the company accountable to include filing a lawsuit, complaints with the Attorney General’s office, and the Federal Trade Commission.
Harassment is never acceptable under the law, and you can use other another debt solution in Delray Beach for your medical bills. Know your rights, and stand up for them the moment the debt collectors and healthcare providers cross the line.
You can stop medical bill harassment in Delray Beach by knowing how to fight for your rights. Call the Law Offices of John Mufson today at 561-272-1003 and let us help you work your way through the mountain of healthcare bills.
You have numerous options and don’t have to tolerate harassment or abuse because of an illness/injury. The law is here to protect you, and we will make sure that these companies are following everything to the letter. We are located on the west side of Interstate 95, near the Delray Swim and Tennis Center.