Legal Topics

Consumer Law — Debt Collection — Claim Or Attempt To Enforce A Debt With Knowledge That Debt Is Not Legitimate Or That Legal Right Does Not Exist — Hospital Did Not Violate Florida Consumer Collection Practices

May 16th, 2020 in News by admin

Consumer law — Debt collection — Claim or attempt to enforce a debt with knowledge that debt is not legitimate or that legal right does not exist — Hospital did not violate Florida Consumer Collection Practices Act by sending bill to plaintiff for emergency medical treatment for work-related injury where hospital did not have actual knowledge that plaintiff’s employer or employer’s insurance carrier accepted responsibility for medical bills — Hospital’s act of billing patient asserted a legal right that existed at time the bills were sent — Patient who is a workers’ compensation claimant shares responsibility with hospital to comply with workers’ compensation statute’s reporting requirements and must provide accurate information to enable hospital to submit claim to either employer or insurance carrier — Plaintiff’s statement to emergency room physician that injury happened at work did not impute actual knowledge to hospital that plaintiff’s employer or employer’s insurer accepted responsibility for injury