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This series of articles looks at some of the clauses in a British vehicle insurance policy. We are looking at the "Emergency Treatment" clause and it sorts out who is responsible for any medical treatment needed following a motoring accident. Current UK laws dictate that you must pay treatment fees to the first medical practitioner to treat you following an accident. This is incorporated in the Road Traffic Act. People have been known to call this a charge for an ambulance. In reality this is not true but in reality it is normally the ambulance medical staff that offer the treatment and the bill is sent to to you from the N H S hospital that sent the ambulance and its crew. YOU MUST PAY THIS BY LAW irrespective of who was to blame for causing the accident. Your insurance company will meet the cost under this section. Just send the invoice on to them and they will pay it straight to the N H S trust. Or pay it out of your own pocket and request your insurance company to repay you. Sometimes in a hectic insurance environment, the claims staff can overlook the account if you have sent it in with other papers. Indeed you might receive a reminder from the N H S trust that the account is still outstanding. Tell the N H S Trust who your insurance company are and telephone their claims office. Be forceful but please don't be angry. Payment of this account will not in fact affect your no claims bonus. It is not regarded as a claim. So, in the very unlikely event your insurance company were to pay this and nothing else your bonus would remain intact. But in a road traffic accident where someone is hurt, it is highly improbable that there is no other types of claim to be dealt with. Theoretically, if someone else is at fault for the accident you can send this account on to their insurer but you are just asking for unnecessary hassle. I would advise you not to bother. It makes no difference to you whichever way. Following recent alterations to the law, hospitals now also charge insurers for treatment given to third party accident victims, with certain limitations applied. These are paid to the hospital in cases where you have been negligent and a third party has had treatment for an injury you caused. This change in the law has definitely contributed to the increase in motor insurance premiums. Some of those inside the insurance industry consider that this is a further case of "stealth tax" taxation by the Government.
Article Source: http://www.financemanual.com
This article on hospitals charging for emergency treatment was written by Trevor Dace. He has many years of experience working in the claims office of a number of UK car insurance companies. His website www.instant-online-insurance.co.uk offers Direct Line insurance with online quotes and secure online payment.
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