Recent Feedback
I have a question about my dentist. They want to take me to small claims court for services from 2010. I recently found out they weren't billing my insurance company correctly, didn't send me invoices and then a couple years later I get a large bill saying they were close to taking me to small claims court. I've received regular services from then since 2010 and they never acknowledge an issue until March of this year. Since then we've been trying to get things "figured out", and turns out they're saying it's partially my fault. They're also blaming this on a past employee, but are sticking to the idea that I owe them all the money plain and simple. I switched jobs last August (i.e. new insurance) and my old claims can no longer be processed through my old insurance which is making this all the more challenging. Do I really owe them the money that my insurance company would have covered had they ran it correctly? Will I lose in small claims?
Optional Information: Country relating to Question: United States Already Tried: I've only spoken with the dentist office and they are not willing to negotiate or remove the charges. No other actions have been taken.
Did you ensure that the dentist had all of the correct information for your insurance? Was it entirely their obligation to submit everything to the insurance company or did you have any responsibility?
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Thank you.
Initially they didn't have the correct info. I've seen them a total of 4 times (10/18/2010, 12/27/2010, 6/28/2011 & 3/05/2012). I got things corrected on my 6/28/11 visit and they've had the correct information since then. I was not required to sent anything to insurance myself. They didn't realize there was a problem until early this year and then went back through and did an audit of their accounts and that's when they discovered the issue.
As you kept them informed of the insurance information and it was their obligation to submit everything to the insurance company, then you should not be held liable for the amounts that would have been paid by insurance. If the dentist sued you, my expectation would be that they would prevail only the amounts that would not have been covered by the insurance company.
Please let me know if anything requires clarification.
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Experience: I have 15 years experience in the legal field, currently specializing in criminal and family law