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Health insurance issue

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  • 26-11-2013 6:36pm
    #1
    SuprSi
    Registered Users Posts: 6,935 ✭✭✭


    Earlier this year my wife had her wisdom teeth out. She required general anesthetic and a hospital stay, but AXA (our health insurance company) agreed to cover all of the costs. My wife organised with the consultant to send the bills directly to AXA, providing him with all of the relevant information.

    A month or so later we receive a letter from a debt collection agency, requested by the consultant, for the collection of an unpaid debt. Obviously taken aback, we called AXA and they admitted a mistake on their part which they promised to resolve.

    Another month or so later we get a knock on the door from an actual person collecting bad debts - AXA hadn't paid the debt and we now owed the original fee of around £500 plus over £250 in interest and admin fees.

    We have since gone back to AXA who are claiming that they never pay anything other than the cost of the treatment, but we are pursuing them for the additional £250 as quite simply we shouldn't have to pay for their mistakes. As expected, they're kicking up a big fuss and I wanted to see whether this is something we should seek legal advice on?

    I know we could have checked with them after the first failure and don't mention why the consultant would go straight to a debt collector without even attempting to make contact with us first - that's the part I can't figure out. Anyway, any help appreciated.


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    #2
    Pat Mustard
    Registered Users Posts: 9,554 ✭✭✭Pat Mustard


    SuprSi wrote: »
    As expected, they're kicking up a big fuss and I wanted to see whether this is something we should seek legal advice on?

    If you receive legal proceedings or a solicitor's letter, you should get legal advice.

    I wouldn't put up with a debt collector either. Guards.

    I would hope that this would get ironed out eventually. However, if any of this is upsetting you or your wife and you need it sorted sooner rather than later, go and see a solicitor.


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    #3
    SuprSi
    Registered Users Posts: 6,935 ✭✭✭SuprSi


    They're not pushing this at all as they'd be quite happy for us to forget it and move on, so I'm more interested in whether we should go to a solicitor if they refuse to pay the £250 that came about because of their mistakes. They have asked my wife to compile a timeline with all the information about when the relevant communications happened but we both feel they'll just refuse to pay up.


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    #4
    Pat Mustard
    Registered Users Posts: 9,554 ✭✭✭Pat Mustard


    I would be annoyed about the attitude of the insurance company, where it didn't cover the expense promptly, and a debt collector came knocking. Especially where a further amount is now being demanded.

    It is possible to make a complaint to the Financial Services Ombudsman, with one hurdle to jump first:
    You need to make a formal complaint to your financial services provider before making a complaint to this office.

    That said, from what I read in your post, it doesn't seem as though urgent action needs to be taken, at the moment.


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