3.When a person receives:
treatment at a hospital (other than one run for profit) for injuries sustained in a road traffic accident;
and subsequently makes a successful claim for compensation for personal injury against the holder of a compulsory motor vehicle insurance policy;
then the hospital can require the compensator to meet some of the costs of the victim's treatment.
4.This provision has existed in road traffic legislation for more than sixty years and is currently found in sections 157 and 158 of the Road Traffic Act 1988. However it is not supported by any central administrative arrangements for collection of the charges due. Action is taken locally by hospitals and performance is patchy. Nationally the amount of money recovered is far short of the potential sum. In his Budget speech of 2 July 1997 the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced that the Government would take steps to recover the full costs of treatment in these cases.