by Guest » Fri Apr 27, 2012 11:05 pm
Someone claimed that I parked too close (street parking) to his car and damaged his rear bumber. He contacted his insurance company, who contacted me. I gave them my insurance info. My insurance carrier denied the claim and now I have received a letter from a recovers service demanding payment of damgaes ($1278).
The other driver provided no proof of fault - no police report, etc. It was word against word.
By the way, there is absolutely no damage to the front bumper of my car; I submitted photos to my agent, which likely helped them decide not to pay.
Should I be concerned about the demands of the recovery company? What should I do?
Thanks!
The other driver provided no proof of fault - no police report, etc. It was word against word.
By the way, there is absolutely no damage to the front bumper of my car; I submitted photos to my agent, which likely helped them decide not to pay.
Should I be concerned about the demands of the recovery company? What should I do?
Thanks!
Posted: Sat Apr 28, 2012 04:37 am Post Subject:
Should I be concerned about the demands of the recovery company? What should I do?
Someone has turned this over to a collection agency, and you absolutely need to be concerned about it.
You need to send a letter to the "recovery" company IMMEDIATELY stating that you are exercising your rights under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) to (a) deny knowledge or responsibility for the amount they claim you owe -- that the debt is not yours, and (b) to demand that they cease all communication with you. Indicate that any future communication by them with you except (c) to inform you that they have dropped the matter or (d) to give you notice of pending legal action will be treated as a violation of federal and state consumer protections laws and will subject them to being sued by you. Additionally, be sure to mention (e) that any derogatory information posted by them to your credit bureau consumer report will be considered a civil tort on their part and will subject them to litigation for compensatory and punitive damages.
Send the letter via USPS, Certified Mail with Return Receipt Requested (will cost you about $5) to the "recovery" service. And then get on with your life. You should also go to the Federal Trade Commission website and file a complaint against the "recovery service" for the deceptive acts and practices they are committing against you and others. Not that the FTC will do anything about your complaint, but a preponderance of similar complaints may causes them to respond with a full-on investigation of the claim.
If you are sued, then you go to Small Claims court and fight the case with your solid evidence. Your insurance company owes you a defense, and could choose to remove the case to Superior Court from Small Claims (because no attorneys are supposed to be there) or to pay the claim to avoid the time and expense of a trial.
Posted: Sat Apr 28, 2012 01:14 pm Post Subject:
Legally there are very few things a collection company can do as it an unsubstantiated debt. Turn the letter over to your carrier. Your carrier will provide you with a defense should the collection company want to pursue this in any way. You don't need to fight anything... your carrier will address anything that needs to be done.
If it's just a letter at this time, the collection company has every right to send you a letter. You may want to read up on your rights when someone accuses you of a debt that is not owed (I think you can send them a certified letter asking them not to contact you, that can't state it's a debt you owe, etc).
Again, you don't defense yourself (in court)... your carrier does. You just need to let your carrier know if any info your are mailed.
Posted: Sat Apr 28, 2012 06:35 pm Post Subject:
Your carrier will provide you with a defense should the collection company want to pursue this in any way. You don't need to fight anything... your carrier will address anything that needs to be done.
This is true if the matter goes (or is removed from Small Claims) to Superior Court.
But it does not address the need for the individual to write an FDCPA response letter to the collection agency. The insurer cannot do that for the OP. Failure to preserve one's rights under the FDCPA can become a bigger issue if the matter goes to court.
While this may never make it to court in the first place, failure to respond to the collection letter can allow the alleged debt to find its way onto the OP's credit report where it may stay for seven or more years. That's job one.
Everything else tcope has said about the insurance company defending its insured is correct. But it is a different matter.
Posted: Sun Apr 29, 2012 03:54 pm Post Subject:
This is true if the matter goes (or is removed from Small Claims) to Superior Court.
Which is the first thing the insurance company attorney will do... unless they simply want to roll the dice in small claims court. But even in small claims court they can file paperwork on behalf of the insured. They will also "defense" in paying the judgement should it come to that.
But it does not address the need for the individual to write an FDCPA response letter to the collection agency.
The collection company can do little to nothing as this is not an established debt. About the only thing they can do is ask the OP to pay an amount. This is not a first party collection where the amount is owed under contract. It's not been established that the OP owes anything. Unfortunately about anyone can report anything to a collection company. The OP can dispute that but it also opens up the collection company as well. They are not allowed to just report anything. They would need to be able to support it in some legal way (contract, judgement, etc).
Posted: Mon Apr 30, 2012 03:17 am Post Subject:
This is not a first party collection where the amount is owed under contract. It's not been established that the OP owes anything.
I am in absolute agreement with this. But we all know that credit reporting bureaus and even creditors put stuff on a person's credit report that has no business being there. [[ I just discovered that on my wife's credit report, Bank of America reported a "30" last October (2011) on a credit card account that was closed and paid off more than five years ago. It caused her to be declined for a charge card she really doesn't need, but it's now being disputed. ]]
The collection company can do little to nothing as this is not an established debt
Nothing except screw up a person's credit standing unfairly for a while. That's why writing the FDCPA letter, even if it's totally a bogus matter, is important. It (1) lets the collection agency know that they are dealing with someone who is informed and they will not pursue something they have no legal right to enforce, and (2) it establishes the dispute over the derogatory item that can be the basis for an unfair practices lawsuit.
It will also, as it should, cause the matter to die, quickly, or escalate it to litigation if it is a valid obligation (which we both reasonably believe it is not).
Posted: Mon May 07, 2012 01:24 am Post Subject: FDCPA
Subrogation claims are excluded from FDCPA requirements in most states
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