This series of articles considers a selection of the clauses in a typical UK motor insurance policy. We are looking at the "Emergency Treatment" policy clause which sorts out who pays for any medical attention needed following a motoring incident.

Under current UK legislation, you must pay costs to the first medical practitioner to treat you following an accident. This is part of the Road Traffic Act. People have been known to refer to this as a charge for an ambulance. Strictly speaking this is not correct but in real life terms it is normally the ambulance men that provide the medical assistance and the bill comes to you from the N H S region that supplied the ambulance and its crew.

YOU MUST PAY THIS BY LAW no matter who is blamed for the accident. Your insurer will meet the cost under this section. Just send the invoice on to them and they will pay it directly to the hospital. Alternatively you can pay it out of your own pocket and ask your insurer to repay you.

Sometimes in a busy insurance environment, the clerical staff might miss the account if it was sent in amongst other paperwork. It's possible that you could receive a reminder from the hospital that the account remains unpaid. Tell them who your insurance company are and telephone your claims office. Be forceful but please don't be angry.

The insurance company paying this account will not in fact affect your no claims bonus. It is not treated as a claim. So, in the very unlikely event your insurance company were to pay the medical treatment invoice and nothing else your bonus remains unharmed. In reality, in an accident where someone is hurt, it is highly improbable that there will be no other claims to be met.

Technically, if somebody else is at fault for the accident you can send the invoice on to their insurance company but you are just inviting unnecessary hassle. I would advise you not to bother. It doesn't make any difference to you whichever way.

Owing to recent alterations to the law, hospitals now also charge insurers for treatment given to third party victims of accidents, with certain limitations applied. These are claimed by the NHS Trust in cases where they have judged you to have been negligent and someone else 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 increasing taxation by stealth by the Government.