A charge for a service you never received, found after your case settled

Attorney Answer

You can still raise it, and the first step is the same whoever sent the charge: get an itemized record of what was billed and compare it with what actually happened. What comes next depends on who charged you — a medical provider whose bill was paid out of the settlement, or a cost your own lawyer deducted on the settlement statement — and on when you first noticed the problem, because the clock on a fraud claim in Florida runs from discovery.

Find out who charged you. After an injury settlement, a charge for something you never received usually sits in one of two places: a provider's bill, paid from the settlement, for treatment or a service that was never given; or a cost listed on your lawyer's settlement statement. The two lead to different people and different steps.

If it was a provider's bill. You are entitled to the paperwork. For a hospital or other facility licensed under chapter 395, Fla. Stat. § 395.301(1)(e)1. provides:

Upon request, and after the patient’s discharge or release from a facility, the facility must provide to the patient or to the patient’s survivor or legal guardian, as appropriate, an itemized statement or a bill detailing in plain language, comprehensible to an ordinary layperson, the specific nature of charges or expenses incurred by the patient.

The initial statement is due within 7 days after discharge or after your request, whichever is later. For a doctor or other individual practitioner, Fla. Stat. § 456.057(6) provides:

(6) Any health care practitioner licensed by the department or a board within the department who makes a physical or mental examination of, or administers treatment or dispenses legend drugs to, any person shall, upon request of such person or the person’s legal representative, furnish, in a timely manner, without delays for legal review, copies of all reports and records relating to such examination or treatment, including X rays and insurance information.

Compare the itemized bill with your own record of every visit. If it lists a service you never received, dispute it in writing with the provider and ask for a correction and a refund of anything paid for it. If an insurer, such as your PIP carrier, paid any part of that bill, tell the insurer as well; insurers review billing for services that were not provided.

Your settlement release. Read it before assuming the matter is closed. The Florida Supreme Court has held that whether a general printed release discharges wrongdoers other than those it specifically names is a question of fact about the parties' intent: Hurt v. Leatherby Insurance Co., 380 So. 2d 432 (Fla. 1980). So what your release says, including whom it names and which claims it gives up, and what the parties intended by it decide what it covers, and a lawyer should read it with you.

If it was a cost on your lawyer's settlement statement. Ask your lawyer, in writing, for an itemized accounting of every fee and cost taken out of your settlement, with the bill behind each cost. Most questions about a settlement statement are answered that way. If a cost still is not explained, The Florida Bar, which regulates lawyers in the state, takes complaints about how a lawyer handled a client's settlement money.

How long you have. A claim that a charge was fraudulent must be brought within four years under Fla. Stat. § 95.11(3), and Fla. Stat. § 95.031(2)(a) sets when that period starts:

(2)(a) An action founded upon fraud under s. 95.11(3), including constructive fraud, must be begun within the period prescribed in this chapter, with the period running from the time the facts giving rise to the cause of action were discovered or should have been discovered with the exercise of due diligence, instead of running from any date prescribed elsewhere in s. 95.11(3), but in any event an action for fraud under s. 95.11(3) must be begun within 12 years after the date of the commission of the alleged fraud, regardless of the date the fraud was or should have been discovered.

That discovery rule is limited. The Florida Supreme Court has held that starting the clock at discovery applies only where the Legislature provided for it, and it refused to extend that rule to other claims, a claim for unjust enrichment among them: Davis v. Monahan, 832 So. 2d 708 (Fla. 2002). So the way a claim is framed can change when its clock started, and the date you first noticed the charge matters.

What you can do

1. Request an itemized statement from any hospital or facility involved, and copies of your records from each doctor or practitioner who billed for your care.

2. Get your settlement statement and release from your file, and list every deduction and every bill paid out of the settlement.

3. Mark each charge you believe was for a service you never received, and note what your own records show about it.

4. Write to whoever issued that charge, whether the provider or your lawyer for a cost on the settlement statement, asking for an explanation and a correction. Keep copies.

5. Note when and how you first noticed the problem; that date can matter to the deadline.

6. Even if you are handling this yourself, you would be best served by a brief phone consultation with a local Florida attorney before you act. Most lawyers offer a short initial call at no cost, and a few minutes on your specific facts — and on how your court actually handles this — is worth more than any general guidance, including this page.

⏱ Time limits apply. A fraud claim must be brought within four years under § 95.11(3), Fla. Stat., counted from when the facts were discovered or should have been discovered, and never more than 12 years after the alleged fraud itself under § 95.031(2)(a). A claim framed another way may run from the charge rather than from its discovery. Have a Florida attorney check the dates against your records now — no page can compute them for you.