Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what mechanisms there are for hospitals to recharge insurance companies for the costs associated with the treatment of customers who are involved in road traffic accidents.

The Department already has a scheme in place for the recovery of National Health Service treatment costs for patients involved in accidents that subsequently go on to make a successful claim for personal injury compensation.

The NHS Injury Cost Recovery scheme places a legal obligation on insurers to notify the Secretary of State of all claims for personal injury compensation and provide information about whether the injured person was treated in an NHS hospital. The scheme is administered on behalf of the Secretary of State for Health by the Compensation Recovery Unit, which is part of the Department for Work and Pensions so in practice, notifications are made to them. Recovered costs are paid direct to the NHS hospital or ambulance trust that provided the treatment.