Demanding a payment for services from over 18 MONTHS AGO,where do i stand ??

the_scarlet_woman88

Hey all really hope this is the right forum to be posting in as i need some advice on a matter im really stuck with !
In november 2009 I attended a private hospital to have tests done on 2 lumps found in my breasts, i chose to go private as i was only referred by my GP in the october, but the NHS wait was 10 weeks, and because of the stresses of christmas work etc I chose to go private to get it out the way.

when initially researching, I was told the approximate consultation fee would be 100. when I had the appointment at the private hospital I raised the subject of total costs during a discussion with the consultant, as I wanted to know how much it would be overall ( i dont have private health insurance so was paying out of my own pocket)
i was told approximately 600ish for the an ultrasound, fine needle aspiration and investigations of anything found.

all 3 were carried out.

The consultant concerned required payment of 320 which he recieved.
this was shortly followed by 3 invoices direct from the hospital, which had atleast repeated one treatment i had already paid the consultant directly for? the next day in a separate envelope i received a request to pay the hospital of approximately 350, which is what I expected to happen given that the estimated costs were 600, and the consultant had been paid 320.
The amount they requested was paid in full.
approxiamtely 4 weeks later i recieved a letter explaining i had an overdue amount of 390 to pay and if i didnt it would be passed to debt collecting agencies etc.

this was the first i had heard of owing further monies, given that they had sent invoices followed by a letter requesting 350, not 350 and 390 as amounts due combined.
Due to the nature of their letter i called and asked for an explanation from the financial department. they could not explain why i hadnt received a letter asking for 740, but just for the 350.
they explained they would treat it as urgent and be in touch with the private hospital concerned and they would be in touch within a week if further payment was needed.....As far as contact went I never heard from the hospital in the following weeks either by phone or letter.

so now that we are in APRIL 2011 I have received a letter asking me to pay the overdue amount of 390! I have called them to ask what has happened as i was told that they would be in touch if it needed to be taken further, a few errors on their part.....

1- the lady concerned with my query left in Jan 10
2-they have since changed systems used to log queries, but there is a lack of information from the old and new system
3- the financial deparmtent contacted the hospital for information,but they never picked up the query
4-Someone from the financial department closed the account without reason, hence the lack of contact

so now that someone has reopened the account, I am now left with the prospect of paying nearly 400 pounds, despite it being from 2009, being more than the quoted fee for the procedures carried out and the stress of it all,

are there any rules on how long a company has to charge you an amount, ie 12 months, within the same financial year of invoice etc?
have they left it too long, I did everything I said i would, they are the ones who havnt been in touch.

Do i have to pay it? Ive been misled into the total costs of the procedures......

please help as i am really stuck!

crafty*kate

Did you get a written estimate of the prices before you had the procedures?
Have they given you a statement of your account so far?
What was the outcome of your tests?

Tixy

I'm afraid they can chase you for a debt for 6years.
Have they provided a breakdown of the balance they say you owe? have you had a full breakdown of all the costs for all the treatment etc and does that take into account the amount you paid the consultant?

Hannah_10

There are rules about debts timing out, but this doesn't even come close to the time periods required for that. If there are rules about invoicing I don't know of them.

What there is though, is an obligation on the creditor to prove the debt, not on the debtor to prove the absence of the debt. So bringing this all back to square one and proceeding 1 step at a time, send them a letter to demand they prove it (this one is about as good as they get) and wait to see what they come back with. Don't call them again, read this.