Are vague contracts enforceable in court?
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Are vague contracts enforceable in court?
My wife and I have been dealing with a billing dispute with a physician’s office. We were sent the first and only bill over a year after our visit, listing charges for services we were not made aware of during our exam. We sent 2 certified letters asking the physician’s office to correct the charges but have not
received any response. We only recieved a ‘final reminder’ giving us 2 weeks to pay and threatening
collections. Whenever we call the office for an explanation, the front desk says the doctor or billing person is unavailable. Attempts by us and our insurance company to get copies of our medical records to validate the charges or place a hold on the bill have been avoided by the office. We discovered
information symptoms they submitted for both of our ins claims were false, so I opened a case and investigation into the charges with my insurance company. We suspect some form of fraudulent activity has occurred. However, since I was given such short notice before a threat to collections and I was getting no answers or help from the office, I went and paid my bill in an effort to protect my credit. The office manager hand-wrote a statement on the bill stating the bill was,
Asked on July 11, 2017 under Malpractice Law, New York
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 7 years ago | Contributor
Vague contracts are enforceable IF the court could reasonable determine what the vague terms meant (if there is no way to determien what was intended, the court will not and cannot enforce it). In this case, from what your write and the context, the quoted language--
"Paid in full. Collection has been canceled and I agree not to take further action regarding this matter".
--would most likely and reasonable be determined to mean that the *doctor's office* will not take any more legal or collections efforts in regard to this matter. While that's not the only possible interpretation it does seem the most reasonable one, and should not bar you from looking into possible fraud or illegal billing practices.
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