Mistakenly cashed a check that shouldn't have been sent to me.?

Question

I received and cashed a legal check made out to me from my health insurance company..only to realize after the fact that the check was actually for a medical claim so it probably should have be sent directly to my doctor instead. Since the error is technically my health insurance's fault, will I still be forced to pay them back the $106?

Answer 1

Yes, you will. You either need to call the doctor and find out if they got paid for the visit - because the insurance WILL tell them YOU got their check, and in which case, you are liable. OR call the insurance company and let them know the error and ask what they want you to do. Most times, they send you a letter right away asking for the refund.

If you don't, you run the risk of being sent to collection by the doctor's office, thereby screwing your credit, or getting sued by the insurance company, and they'll win, because technically that's a stolen check.

Answer 2

Re-ask the question with actual facts. 1) "mistakenly sent to me by my employer" + "called them to see if the check was valid and they told me it was and i had 3 days to cash it." = liar, liar pants on fire. If it was a mistake, they would NOT have told you to hurry and cash it, but to send it back. 2) You knew what, if anything, you had coming. Maybe not an exact amount but you had a good idea if you should have expected a check or not. Call to see if the check was a mistake? Maybe. Call to see if it was valid? Roughly a 0% chance that's true. 3) "The store i cashed it at has informed me that the check was no good." + "Will I go to jail?" = You know the issue with the check is what YOU did. The check didn't 'bounce' or the problem would be with the person/company who WROTE the check, not with you for passing it. Now, marvel at my deductive powers: You stole a check from your employer, forged it and cashed it at this store which later called to tell you "you're busted," right? So now you're worried about exactly how bad is the trouble you're in. Yeah, NOW you're worried about it but you gave it no thought before. Maybe jail will help you kick heroin. Good luck with that.

Answer 3

Check the details of your insurance policy. As far as the insurance company is concerned, they paid the claim and can prove that you cashed the check. Even before the doctor's office submitted the bill for payment, YOU were responsible for the bill.

If you're contemplating committing insurance fraud by keeping the money and not paying the bill, ask yourself whether $106.00 in your pocket is worth risking your future insurability. Heaven help you if you have a really large medical bill that they won't pay because of your deception.

A clear conscience has no price tag. Call the insurance company and ask them how they'd like to handle it. My guess is they'll tell you to write a check for $106.00 to the doctor.

Answer 4

Sure. Getting any type of payment, deposit, etc by mistake does not entitle you to keep it.
A few points.
You are responsible for the payment of any medical bills, regardless of insurance. So even if you were paid by mistake, when the doctor does not get paid, they will bill you.
Call the insurance company to get this straightened out. Letting these things seem to cause problems if not taken care of rigth away.
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Answer 5

The doctor will want his money and the insurance company will prove they sent it to you. So just pay the $106 to the Doctor and everything will be cool.

Answer 6

for $106 the will call if you owe them. there was a check to go to my dentist and they called me (i didn't have it, honest) and then they called the insurance company. the check was missing because it was sent to a wrong address. 3 options. #1: send it back because you owe them #2keep it because its yours. #3 keep it even though its not yours (throw your hands up in the air---cause you just dont care) let the insurance company bill you (your signature is on the back of the check= address and phone numbers and financial related material etc.) you say no i wont and they throw it on your credit as a medical charge (I dont think the marks are as bad as say auto repo). the choice is yours grasshopper

Answer 7

Yes, you will have to pay it back because the check did not belong to you. Even if it was a mistake you should want to do the right thing. The money is not yours so you should return it to the insurance company.

Answer 8

Call your doctor and see if the claim has been paid to them first. Then call the ins. co. and explain what you found out. If it's legit you better pay it back. Maybe you overpaid something (deducible)? Was there a letter of explanation attached? Honesty is the best policy (turns out Mom was right!)

Answer 9

If the cheque was made out to you, as long as you pay the medical bill, you won't have a problem. If you don't pay the doctor's bill he could sue you, and your insurance co will not support you, as they' already paid out on it.

Answer 10

Keep it and don't mention anything to anyone. Your doctor probably don't care about $106 and thus wouldn't make a complain to the insurance company.