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Road Traffic Accident (RTA) charges

  • 21-04-2022 4:17pm
    #1
    Registered Users Posts: 455 ✭✭


    My brother was a victim of a hit and run about six months ago. He was not driving at the time, and thus was not covered by motor insurance. He also does not have health insurance. His injuries were thankfully not life-changing, but he spent some time in hospital and required an operation to regain the normal use of a leg. His recovery is still ongoing, but we are as optimistic as can be expected following such an event.

    A little while following his discharge he received a letter in the post from the hospital which provided the treatment demanding payment of circa €10,000 as he was admitted to hospital following a road traffic accident. The letter suggested that he reclaim the costs either from his own insurance company or the other party's insurance company. He has discussed this with the hospital administrators, and explained that the other party has not been identified (it was a hit and run after all). The Finance administrator he spoke to was sympathetic but explained that this was a condition imposed by the government and was "the law of the land". As he has a claim against the other party, the hospital has a responsibility to have the costs reimbursed.

    My brother does not have €10,000 lying around to pay this kind of charge, and so it has gone unpaid. A month ago he received a letter from a debt collection agency, demanding payment. He called the agency and explained, again, that this was a hit and run incident and that unless and until the Gardaí identify the party responsible, there is no prospect of him getting any compensation. The debt collector said that they would review his case and let him know what the outcome was. Then on Monday he received a call from a UK phone number demanding payment of the debt.

    I told my brother to raise this with his local TD or go on Joe Duffy, but he is reluctant to seek that kind of publicity. He says that this is all a huge misunderstanding, and that he doesn't have anything to worry about - but I can tell he is worried. Aside from that, is there anything we can do - against the hospital or the debt collector - to stop this? We don't want this derailing his recovery.

    Post edited by Beasty on


Comments

  • Registered Users Posts: 9,095 ✭✭✭RobertFoster


    Has anyone your brother has dealt with suggested claiming through MIBI?




  • Registered Users Posts: 455 ✭✭Sono Topolino




  • Registered Users Posts: 269 ✭✭JayPS 2288


    Tell the hospital to sign for it.



  • Registered Users Posts: 4,482 ✭✭✭MojoMaker


    MIBI is the first thing the Garda would/should have told your brother about.



  • Registered Users Posts: 33,650 ✭✭✭✭Hotblack Desiato
    Restaurant at the End of the Universe


    Scummy carry-on from the hospital all the same to go straight to debt collectors, even if this was a straightforward case with a known, insured, driver it could take years to settle (and it wouldn't be in an injured party's interest to settle until the longer term implications of their injuries, if any, are known)

    It took a while but I don't mind. How does my body look in this light?



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  • Registered Users Posts: 455 ✭✭Sono Topolino


    Yeah I was blown away by it tbh - it's incredibly aggressive behaviour on their part. This is why I wanted him to go on Joe Duffy tbh.



  • Registered Users Posts: 1,882 ✭✭✭BronsonTB


    Looks like the OP isn't the only one getting these letters.

    Seems to be a very piss-poor HSE management of collecting overdue charges on a huge scale with alot of the hospitals!

    https://www.msn.com/en-ie/news/other/hse-hospitals-call-in-debt-collectors-after-40m-owed-by-patients-last-year/ar-AAWsUGZ?cvid=afe34d0787414e2a98b30a3ab0dd0ada

    www.sligowhiplash.com - 3rd & 4th Aug '24 (Confirmed!)



  • Registered Users Posts: 455 ✭✭Sono Topolino


    Talked to my brother this morning and he's going to get a solicitor and see about making a claim to the MIBI as suggested above. I understand that he probably should have done this a lot sooner, but he's had a lot going in his life (and the accident hasn't helped there at all).

    I'm not surprised that €20.5m relating to "unpaid charges arising from road traffic accidents" is outstanding. It's ridiculous that these fees are charged to patients, when an additional tax on motor insurers would achieve the same result. A lot of these people, including my brother, experience serious (and even life-changing) injuries so it's unedifying that a state-funded health service would pursue them for charges like this. This is a horror story you hear about in America, and shouldn't be what we're going for with our health service.



  • Administrators, Social & Fun Moderators, Sports Moderators Posts: 74,773 Admin ✭✭✭✭✭Beasty


    Not sure if there are any Politics mods around, but this thread is clearly not politics-related

    The individual is seeking the advice of a solicitor, which seems the best course of action

    Thread closed



This discussion has been closed.
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