Two years ago, when I was 25 and under my father's insurance as I finished college, I had surgery. Apparently there was a bill insurance paid some on that I did not get after I moved out. So, almost two years after insurance paid on it, the anesthesiologist office called my father, asking for him by name regarding my debt. The office then spoke with him about the debt. Is this not a violation of collection act? I don't care that he knows, I just want them to abide by the rules. I have never heard of someone calling the person who had coverage on the patient to collect a bill. Especially when he has never been billed by name for the surgery or has ever paid on the bills. He didn't sign anything for responsibility either. Since I was an adult, how can they collect from him? Plus, it doesn't go on his credit report, it will go on mine.
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You do not have protection from 3rd party disclosure under the FDCPA if the original creditor is collecting. The FDCPA regulates bona fide debt collectors, attorneys who act as debt collectors, and original creditors representing themselves as a different entity (as in business, not a department such as accounts receivable). Check with your state's attorney general or consumer protection agency to see if there is a state law that covers this. Some states do, some do not. Simplified, the law states what a person must do, and what a person must not do. Anything not covered is thereby, legal--this is not the same as fair/moral/ethical/right/etc...