Do I owe for my daughters medical bills if I didnt sign them?

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Do I owe for my daughters medical bills if I didnt sign them?

My daughter had a baby before she turned 18, she didnt list my name on her authorization anywhere. She was insured under her fathers insurance at the time. When she didnt pay the bill they went after her father who sent them to me and they threatened to sue me, so I have been making payments on this bill for over a year. I have already paid the Dr office amount in full and what I am still paying on is all of the collection agency fees. Can I stop paying them, can they take me to court and hurt my credit for this?

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Do I owe for my daughters medical bills if I didnt sign them?

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Jul 26, 2010

Minor daughter's unpaid medical bills
by: Mary

Thanks for submitting your debt collection question on our Q&A page.

Your daughter was a minor when she incurred her medical bills. Therefore, as her parents, you and her father are legally responsible for paying those bills, which means that the debt collectors are entitled to try to collect whatever remains unpaid from you.

Also, it's likely that the past due medical bills have harmed your credit histories (To confirm, order free copies of each of your three credit histories at www.AnnualCreditReport.com.) as has the fact that the debts were turned over to debt collectors. However, such negative information can only be reported for 7 years.

Given the impact of unpaid debts on your finances, I would definitely pay whatever else you owe to the debt collectors as quickly as you can, assuming you can afford it. However, you might want to see if the collectors would agree to take less than the full amounts that you still owe to them. Although they may say "No", it never hurts to ask.

Please share what happens with your situation in the comments section for this question. We are very interested in hearing how this turns out for you, and your experience can help others who are struggling with debt collectors.

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Do I owe for my daughters medical bills if I didnt sign them?

Comments for Do I owe for my daughters medical bills if I didnt sign them?

Comments for
Do I owe for my daughters medical bills if I didnt sign them?