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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to ask you all to please help me out here. My mother is insisting this is true ...

94 replies

fluffyraggies · 09/10/2012 16:40

..... that if you get hospital treatment as a result of a traffic accident you have to PAY for it. And if you cant pay for it you have have to claim off your car insurance.

Ay ???????

I have never in all my days heard this ?!?!? I was Confused and Hmm when she said it.

I've been driving for years and have always sorted my own car insurance and have never ever come across this in any of the paper work. She doesn't drive and never has. But she is adamant she's correct on this.

Am i being really thick here?

OP posts:
Poledra · 09/10/2012 16:42

You can get charged for the ambulance transport. Some years ago, a friend of mine knocked a seriously pissed pedestrian who stepped out in front of her. My friend got a bill from the hospital for the ambulance Shock

She passed it onto her insurance, and it was dealt with by them.

WinklyFriedChicken · 09/10/2012 16:42

In the UK? On the NHS? As a UK national or someone with leave to remain? No of course not! not yet anyway

MyLastDuchess · 09/10/2012 16:43

Nonsense. If that was the case everyone would be suing each other for medical expenses, and people would lie to doctors about how they sustained their injuries.

doinmummy · 09/10/2012 16:44

NHS - it's all free

ThreeEdgedSword · 09/10/2012 16:44

Nope, total rubbish, car insurance wouldn't pay for hospital treatment (hence CAR insurance, not car crash insurance). Besides, this is why we have the NHS, surely a traffic accident is an accident and/or emergency...

sausagesandwich34 · 09/10/2012 16:44

yes it is true -I got billed for it and passed it on to my insurance about 7 years ago

my friend had an accident last year involving some traffic lights and got billed for the ambulance and the traffic lights!

CheeseandPickledOnion · 09/10/2012 16:44

Absolute bollocks.

Original poster
fluffyraggies · 09/10/2012 16:44

Yes, the UK! Yes, as a UK national!

Oooh Poledra - was that in the UK?

OP posts:
sausagesandwich34 · 09/10/2012 16:44

it's not for the hospital treatment, just the ambulance

doinmummy · 09/10/2012 16:45

You do not get billed for hospital treatment

doinmummy · 09/10/2012 16:45

If that was the case then the NHS would not be in such financial trouble

LittleprincessinGOLDrocks · 09/10/2012 16:46

No, treatment at A and E is free for everyone regardless of why they are there. You can be charged for an ambulance if the injury is deemed not serious enough for an ambulance though.

Original poster
fluffyraggies · 09/10/2012 16:46

sausage? really? Was that private medical care though?

I've heard about people getting billed for road damage...

OP posts:
GoldenLlama · 09/10/2012 16:46

I was in a road accident years ago and I got charged for getting checked out by A+E (I didn't go in an ambulance). It wasn't much (£20ish) but it was 20 years ago now so my memory is a bit hazy.

scurryfunge · 09/10/2012 16:46

I think the NHS can recover costs if injury compensation is awarded from the insurer.

Whitecherry · 09/10/2012 16:47

I have heard of this too ( being charged for the ambulance)

Poledra · 09/10/2012 16:47

Yup, in the UK. He tried to sue her for his injuries too, despite that fact he was sooooo pissed he could barely string two words together. Luckily, a pair of wee wifies who'd been waiting for the bus nearby were more than prepared to testify that there was nothing she could have done to avoid him as he waltzed out into the traffic. His case didn't make it to court...

doinmummy · 09/10/2012 16:47

There would be checkouts at the exits.

CheeseandPickledOnion · 09/10/2012 16:48

I take back my bollocks. It looks like you can be charged ambulance charges. But not treatment costs.

www.national-ambulance.com/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=60

Hopeforever · 09/10/2012 16:48

This is about 10 years old, so pre the conservatives

news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/1519272.stm

doinmummy · 09/10/2012 16:49

It sounds like its insurance companies trying to get compensation. You do not have to pay the NHS for treatment.

NovackNGood · 09/10/2012 16:51

You can and it was brought in by Labour.

Original poster
fluffyraggies · 09/10/2012 16:52

Under the old system, the NHS could claim a flat-rate fee of £21.30 for emergency treatment, but under the new system it can claim much more - £354.

The NHS can also recover the costs of hospital admissions. Insurers are charged £435 per day with a maximum charge of £10,000 in any one case.

Shock

from the link above.

OP posts:
digerd · 09/10/2012 16:57

A few days before my marriage on Xmas Eve, I got palpitations and my arm went numb and phoned Emergency and they sent an ambulance. After several tests I was diagnosed with a panic attack, and had to take a taxi home. Later I had to pay £20 for the ambulance as it was a false alarm !!!!!! That was in 1983

jerryfudd · 09/10/2012 17:00

As far as I am aware, if someone makes a claim for personal injuries as a result of a traffic accident accident the parties (usually the one going to be paying out) have to notify the cru (compensation recovery unit) who will issue a certificate which shows how much has to be repaid out of damages for any benefits paid as a result ie if you are claiming loss of earnings from responsible party but claimed from state whilst out of work as result of accident then any sums claimed gets deducted from the loss of earnings recovery. On the same form is a tick box indicating whether any hospital treatment had following accident and if ticked yes the cru will pursue "rta charges" from paying insurer. I can't remember whether it was £175 or £375 though