Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in Nebraska

Insurance Fraud?

We got a call from a collection agency asking for payment on a medical bill for my husband's 20 year old (at the time of service) son. According to the caller, my husband's ex-wife put his name as the guaranture. We have not been responsible for the son's medical bills since April 2006. This was no accident, this woman is not happy unless she's making someone else miserable. We will not be paying this bill, but we don't want our credit scores affected either. Is this some form of fraud? Do we have any recourse?


Asked on 8/12/08, 9:33 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys

Re: Insurance Fraud?

If the son is not a dependent of your husband's and there is no court order requiring support, then his ex cannot make him a guarantor without his permission. You can try telling the collection agency all of this (it will very likely ignore you), but also demand debt verification documents under the Fair Debt Collection Practice Act. If the agency can't produce anything with his signature on it, it may report back to the original provider it can't collect from him. In the meantime,you should monitor his credit report closely to dispute any reporting of the debt should it appear. If he gets sued, this should be a successful defense, but the bill is going to be paid by someone, so it will turn the collection agency's attention to your husband's son. I'm not sure what you mean by insurance fraud since nothing was reported to an insurance company. If the ex forged his signature, there was fraud involved in that, but the action would be against her not the medical provider or the collection agency.

Read more
Answered on 8/13/08, 10:03 am


Related Questions & Answers

More Credit, Debt and Collections Law questions and answers in Nebraska