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NEWS

Health insurance companies claiming repayment of costs of accidents at work


1/4/2019

Recently, health insurance companies have increasingly requested to be reimbursed for the costs of healthcare provided to workers as a result of accidents at work; they have done so by claims addressed to those employers where the accident had taken place. The Public Health Insurance Act does indeed stipulate the insurance companies’ right to claim reimbursement of treatment costs incurred by the insurance company as a result of a third party’s wrongful act against the insured. However, despite the law being quite clearly interpreted as stipulating the potential application of such an insurer’s claim only against an employer guilty of a misconduct directly attributable to the accident at work (and there is also a decision of the Czech Supreme Court supporting this conclusion), it seems that insurance companies have now begun to make their claims against employers rather automatically. While the burden of proof in a potential dispute remains with the insurance company, the fact that reimbursing such costs of treatment is not covered by the compulsory employer’s insurance makes it rather desirable for employers to put up a fully qualified defence against such claims from the outset, thus avoiding the obligation to reimburse these costs to the insurers. Our firm will most certainly be happy to provide any support needed in this respect.