LEGAL CORNER: My physician’s office is holding over $500 in credit. What should I do?

Lake Charles, LA (KPLC) - Legal Corner answers viewers’ questions about civil legal matters.

QUESTION: My physician’s office is holding over $500 of credit balance and will not return it to me. I have asked three times with no luck. What should I do next?

ANSWER: Before doing anything rash, make sure there is not a valid reason for the physician to keep your money.

Read all of the small print to see if there are any “outs” for the provider. Send written requests for accountings and explanations.

If that fails, send a formal demand with the threat of litigation by a certain deadline. If that fails follow through on the deadline with a lawsuit in city court or justice of the peace court.

Make sure that you have the right defendant. Many medical bills come from third-party providers. You may have to sue multiple defendants.

The advice of a lawyer should probably be sought out.

You may want to review the Louisiana Medical Review board website and see if there are any administrative remedies there.

See:

The owner of a movable wrongfully converted and subsequently destroyed certainly has the right to recover the property’s value” at the time of conversion. Dual Drilling Co. v. Mills Equipment Investments, Inc., 721 So.2d 853 (Sup. Ct., La., 1998)

QUESTION: We bought a new A/C window unit at a local store with a four-year service agreement. It quit after two months. When the tech finally came out, he said the part needed is on back order for weeks. It’s hot. We are all ladies over 50. One of us is on oxygen. We finally replaced the unit ourselves. The broken one is sitting on our floor. All we want is the unit gone and our money back. Can we sue the store and the service agreement company?

ANSWER: Suing might not be worth the trouble. The court costs alone will consume the cost of the air conditioner.

But suing is likely your only recourse. Again, look out for small print arbitration clauses.

If you do sue, try to do so in a city court or justice of the peace court.

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