TAC medical excess payments refer to the amount payable by an injured person for medical treatment outside of hospital before the TAC can start paying the expenses.
Where a person has been involved in a motor vehicle accident and has an accepted TAC claim, that person must pay the first $629 for medical treatment for accidents occurring on or after 1 July 2015. The excess varies for accidents occurring before this date. The excess applies except in accordance with a small number of exceptions.
The excess will not apply when an injured person is admitted to hospital. The TAC can start paying for medical expenses immediately in this case. Being taken to hospital and being checked over is not sufficient to have the excess waived; the injured person must be admitted to the hospital. If an immediate family member is involved in the same motor vehicle accident and is admitted to hospital as an inpatient, the medical excess will be waived for all other family members that have been injured in that motor vehicle accident.
If more than one family member is involved in the same motor vehicle accident and no member of the family is admitted to hospital, only one medical excess will apply to all members of that family. This means that all family members’ medical treatment will go towards reaching the $629 threshold.
Family members include your partner, parents, children or siblings.
The medical excess also does not apply to ambulance services. A person injured in a motor vehicle accident will not be responsible for paying the cost of the ambulance service if it is required.
Services that are covered by the Medicare scheme can go towards reaching an injured person’s medical excess. This means that a person will not necessarily be out of pocket before the TAC starts paying for their treatment.
Travel expenses to and from medical appointments can also be claimed by an injured person. The travel expenses also go towards the excess and will not be reimbursed to a person until that excess is reached.
It is important for a person injured in a motor vehicle accident to keep a record of any treatment they have received as a result of the motor vehicle accident. Once the excess has been reached, all receipts and proof of payment can be lodged with the TAC who will then be able to start paying for treatment.
The TAC medical excess applies to all people injured in a motor vehicle accident with an accepted claim subject to the exceptions above.
