Rules for Medical Collectors..?

[shelia]

I got a call on April 16th at work from MAF Collections for a medical bill I was not aware of. I never got a bill nor notice from my insurance, so I told her I would check with my insurance and see if I actually owed that. In the meantime I got a "30 day" letter from them, which was ok. I called the original medical facility and they faxed me the bill and I checked my insurance and it was part of my deductible. So before I could call them back and mail a check, they called my office on Friday and left a voice mail on the general voice mail box and the message gave my name, their name and said they were collecting a past due bill for XXX and left a call back number. On saturday the exact same message came in and was left on the general mailbox for our office. Is this legal? Isn't this 3rd part notification or does that not apply to medical collections? I was livid when I got those messages. I was the first one in this morning so I checked the v/m altho it could have been anyone who checked it. I claled to tell them the check went out and to STOP calling my office and remove the office number from their records. If they had my work number then they had my home number, both were listed on the patient form at the medical provider.

Can they legally call and leave messages like that?

[hiblues]

I think that MAY be illegal ... check out

the top of this page.... click on FDCPA and look at the act.

look at section 804... seems to fit your situation, maybe???

although it wasn't used to locate you...hhmmmm

You saved the message right?

[rjnjr1019]

no they are not aload to call your place of work.....

[buckeyechick1219]

They are able to call your place of work unless they have reason to believe otherwise. A simple "Don't call my work number" should be enough to make them stop calling (althought it's not always.)

I received a call from a CA on my work phone and called them back the same day to tell them not to call that number, that all correspondence was to be in writing, and I didn't receive another phonecall from them.

Here's what the FDCPA says:

§ 805. Communication in connection with debt collection [15 USC 1692c]

(a) COMMUNICATION WITH THE CONSUMER GENERALLY. Without the prior consent of the consumer given directly to the debt collector or the express permission of a court of competent jurisdiction, a debt collector may not communicate with a consumer in connection with the collection of any debt --

(1) at any unusual time or place or a time or place known or which should be known to be inconvenient to the consumer. In the absence of knowledge of circumstances to the contrary, a debt collector shall assume that the convenient time for communicating with a consumer is after 8 o'clock antimeridian and before 9 o'clock postmeridian, local time at the consumer's location;

(2) if the debt collector knows the consumer is represented by an attorney with respect to such debt and has knowledge of, or can readily ascertain, such attorney's name and address, unless the attorney fails to respond within a reasonable period of time to a communication from the debt collector or unless the attorney consents to direct communication with the consumer; or

(3) at the consumer's place of employment if the debt collector knows or has reason to know that the consumer's employer prohibits the consumer from receiving such communication.

[shelia]

Thanks for the replies. The first time they called I was totally caught off guard because I had no clue about this past due amount. So I told her I would check and pay it if owed. I was so surprised I never thought to tell her not to call me there. I did not mind the call very much, but it is the recorded messages they left for me on the general voice mail for my company. A requirement for my job is financial stability and I could have lost my job had someone else heard this message. I probably could have explained the mixup, but why should I have to. As I said if they had my work phone, they had my home phone, because both were listed on the patient info page. I checked on it, I did owe the amount and I paid it, but they left the messages before they gave me a chance to pay it. Bunch of jerks anyway.

[divemedic]

Leaving a mesage in a general voice mailbox, where anyone could hear it, is a violation of the third party disclosure section.

[shelia]

Thanks divemedic that is what I thought. I did not save the mesage though so not much I can do at this point. I just wanted to be sure it was a violation. I could not save it in the general mailbox and was not sure how to forward it to my voice mailbox.

If I had of saved the message, how would I have proceeded with the violation or can I proceed without the actual message? I could use some extra $$ about now.

[whocares]

Check them on the BBB website...