Can a company charge a client for missed services after the invoice has been concluded and paid?
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Can a company charge a client for missed services after the invoice has been concluded and paid?
My former employer (a veterinary clinic) recently went through all my animals physical records and compared them to the computer system, adding any item that was not originally charged for as long as 2 years ago. They racked up over $1000 in extra charges. Staff are not allowed to enter their own charges, so other staff review and enter charges which are then reviewed by the office manager. Many of these added charges are from invoices that have other correctly entered charges. They refused to talk to the people who entered the charges stating it was my responsibility to check.
Asked on June 8, 2012 under Employment Labor Law, Wisconsin
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 12 years ago | Contributor
There is no law saying that a business cannot charge customers for additional amounts or services later, if it discovers that it had previously failed to bill them for everything. There are going to be specific cases when they might not be able to, such as--
- the debt is too old to enforce, since the statute of limitations has passed;
- the employer had previously sent an invoice or bill stating that paying the indicated amount would be "payment in full" of all amounts outstanding or of the account--in that case, if the customer paid pursuant to that bill or invoice, it might be held that the employer contractually gave up the right to charge more in relation to those services
--but other than that, the business should be able to do this.
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