Helping cleaning lady deal with collection notice

[Anonymous]

My cleaning lady received a collection notice for physical therapy she underwent last year. As far as she recollects, the only bill she received was for total of $900 which she paid. She claims not to have received anything else from them until this notice from a collection agency, which is for $14000! She is obviously freaked out. She called the number on the collection notice and said they didn't sound friendly. Any ideas on how I can help her navigate this?

[Anonymous]

She needs to call the physical therapist and ask why this bill exists.

[Anonymous]

Exactly. Call the PT billing office. It’s also possible the whole thing is fake. Clark Howard website has good advice on how to proceed too.

[Anonymous]

Tell her to assume they are recording the call, and she should not admit to ANYTHING. she should only collect information, not confirm or agree that she received services, anything about billing or money, just get information.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:She needs to call the physical therapist and ask why this bill exists.

This

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Tell her to assume they are recording the call, and she should not admit to ANYTHING. she should only collect information, not confirm or agree that she received services, anything about billing or money, just get information.

this is a helpful reminder to all of us

[Anonymous]

Agree with calling the physical therapist's office. I'm wondering if this "collection agency" is a scam and would not engage with them unless and until confirming that the physical therapist actually sent a bill to collections. Also the $14k amount seems strange.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Tell her to assume they are recording the call, and she should not admit to ANYTHING. she should only collect information, not confirm or agree that she received services, anything about billing or money, just get information.

this is a helpful reminder to all of us

+1 She should request (in writing) that the collection agency send her documentation of these charges. In the meantime, she can call the doctor’s office and ask the same.

[Anonymous]

She should not call the "collection agency". It's probably a scam. She should call the physical therapist.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:She should not call the "collection agency". It's probably a scam. She should call the physical therapist.

+1 She should not call or accept calls from the "collection agency." If for some reason she does get into a conversation with them, she needs to record the call herself (knowing that they are recording it also).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Tell her to assume they are recording the call, and she should not admit to ANYTHING. she should only collect information, not confirm or agree that she received services, anything about billing or money, just get information.

this is a helpful reminder to all of us

+1 She should request (in writing) that the collection agency send her documentation of these charges. In the meantime, she can call the doctor’s office and ask the same.

This is the only good advice. Even if the collection is legit, she only has to pay if they can prove she owes. Tell her under no circumstances to offer to pay one penny no matter what they tell her. Her only communication with collections is "send me the documentation in writing." She should call the therapist office from a number she has not one the collection agency might be "kind enough" to provide.