1911.

3. 3-4.

Contributions by insured persons, employers, and the Treasury.

Rates and

rules for contributions by employed contributors and their employers.

he shall be entitled to a certificate exempting him from the liability to become or to continue to be insured under this Part of this Act (a).

(2) All claims for exemption shall be made to, and certificates of exemption granted by, the Insurance Commissioners in the prescribed manner and subject to the prescribed conditions, and may be so made and granted before, as well as after, the commencement of this Act: Provided that the regulations of the Insurance Commissioners may provide for claims under this section being made to and certificates granted by approved societies and Insurance Committees hereinafter constituted.

Contributions.

3.-Except as otherwise provided by this Act, the funds for providing the benefits conferred by this Part of this Act and defraying the expenses of the administration of those benefits shall be derived as to seven-ninths (or, in the case of women, three-fourths) thereof from contributions made by or in respect of the contributors by themselves or their employers, and as to the remaining two-ninths (or, in the case of women, one-quarter) thereof from moneys provided by Parliament (b).

4. (1) The contributions payable in respect of employed contributors shall be at the rate specified in Part I. of the Second Schedule to this Act (hereinafter referred to as the employed rate), and shall comprise contributions by the contributors and contributions by their employers at the rates specified in that Part of that schedule, and shall be payable at weekly or other prescribed intervals (c) :

Provided that, in the case of an employed contributor of the age of twenty-one or upwards whose remuneration does not include the provision of board and lodging by the employer and the rate of whose remuneration does not exceed two shillings a working day, such part of the contributions payable in respect of him as is specified in the said schedule shall be paid out of moneys provided by Parliament (d).

(2) The employer shall, in the first instance, pay both the contributions payable by himself (in this Act referred to as the employer's contributions), and also on behalf of the employed contributor the contributions payable by such contributor, and shall be entitled to recover from the contributor by deduction (e) from his wages or otherwise the amount of the contributions so paid by him on behalf of the contributor, in accordance with the rules set out in the Third Schedule to this Act.

(3) Contributions in respect of employed contributors shall cease to be payable on their attaining the age of seventy.

(4) The employer of a person who though employed within the meaning of this Part of this Act is not insured under this Part of this Act by reason either

(a) In addition to those specified in this sub-section, the following persons are also entitled to exemption :

(1) Irish migratory labourers temporarily removed from their homes for the purpose of obtaining employment: see Section 81 (3);

(2) Persons whose employment is intermittent : see Section 8 of the National Health Insurance Act, 1918 (p. 98).

(b) As to further sums provided by Parliament, and the treatment of certain parts thereof as if derived from contributions made in respect of contributors, see Section 1 of the National Insurance Act, 1913 (p. 74), and Sections 2 (3), 2 (4) and 4 (1) of the National Health Insurance Act, 1918 (pp. 94 and 96).

(c) See, however, Section 19 of the National Insurance Act, 1913 (p. 79) which authorises modifications to be made as regards the rates of contributions payable by employer and employee respectively, and the time and manner of paying such contributions, in the case of certain persons whose employment is of a casual or intermittent

nature.

(d) See now, however, Section 9 of the National Health Insurance Act, 1918 (p. 98), which provides that where any part of the contribution payable in respect of an employed contributor is payable out of moneys provided by Parliament, such part shall be paid in the first instance by the employer, who will be entitled to repayment on making application to the Insurance Commissioners.

(e) It is an offence for an employer to deduct employee's wages or other remuneration any part of Section 34 (1) of the National Insurance Act, 1913

to deduct, from an contribution: see

(a) [Repealed by Section 3 (2) of the National Insurance Act, 1913
(p. 75)];

(b) that he has obtained and still holds a certificate of exemption
under this Part of this Act;

shall be liable to pay the like contributions as would have been payable
as employer's contributions if such person had been an employed con-
tributor (a), and such contributions shall be carried to such account and
dealt with in such manner as may be prescribed by regulations (b) made
by the Insurance Commissioners, and those regulations may provide for
applying the sums standing to the credit of the account, or any part
thereof, for the benefit of any persons in respect of whom contributions
have been so paid, in the event of such persons subsequently becoming
employed contributors.

1911.

s. 5-8.

contributions

5.-(1) [This sub-section, which had reference to the rates of contributions Rates and payable by voluntary contributors, was repealed by Section 48 (4) of the rules for National Health Insurance Act, 1918 (p. 117). It is now provided by by voluntary Section 7 (2) of that Act (p. 98) that the contributions of such contributors contributors. shall be payable at the employed rate, save that in the case of voluntary contributors resident in Great Britain who are not entitled to medical benefit the amount of the weekly contribution shall be reduced by one penny halfpenny.] (2) Contributions by voluntary contributors shall cease to be payable on their attaining the age of seventy.

6.-[This Section, which had reference to changes from the voluntary rate to the employed rate and vice versa, was repealed by Section 48 (4) of the National Health Insurance Act, 1918 (p. 117).]

7.-Subject to the provisions of this Act, the Insurance Commissioners may make regulations providing for any matters incidental to the payment and collection of contributions payable under this Part of this Act, and in particular for

(a) payment of contributions whether by means of adhesive or other
stamps affixed to or impressed upon books or cards, or otherwise,
and regulating the manner, times, and conditions in, at, and
under which such stamps are to be affixed or impressed or
payments are otherwise to be made (c);

(b) the entry in or upon books or cards of particulars of contributions
paid and benefits distributed in the case of the insured persons
to whom such books or cards belong;

(c) the issue, sale, custody, production, and delivery up of books
or cards and the replacement of books or cards which have
been lost, destroyed, or defaced.

Benefits.

Power to make regula.

tions for the payment of contributions.

8.-(1) Subject to the provisions of this Act, the benefits conferred by Benefits. this Part of this Act upon insured persons are—

(a) Medical treatment and attendance, including the provision of
proper and sufficient medicines, and such medical and surgical
appliances as may be prescribed by regulations to be made by
the Insurance Commissioners (in this Act called "medical
benefit "') (d) ;

(a) But see now Section 10 of the National Health Insurance Act, 1918 (p. 98), which provides that the contribution payable by an employer under this sub-section shall in every case (except where the person employed is a master, seaman, or apprentice to the sea service or the sea fishing service, serving on a foreign-going ship, or a ship engaged in regular trade on foreign stations), be at the rate of threepence (or in Ireland twopence halfpenny) per week.

(b) See Section 9 of the National Insurance Act, 1913 (p. 75), for particulars as to the benefits to be provided for exempt persons under the regulations to be made under this sub-section.

(c) See footnote (c) on preceding page.

(d) Medical benefit does not exist in Ireland: see Section 81 (9); and by Section 10 of the National Insurance Act, 1913 (p. 76), voluntary contributors with a total income exceeding £160 a year are not entitled to such benefit in any part of Great Britain,

1911.

3. 9-11.

Provisions in the case of contributors entitled to

compensation or damages.

6 Edw. 7, c. 58.

43 & 44 Vict.,

0. 42.

(9) As soon as the sums credited to approved societies as reserve values in respect of persons who enter into insurance within one year after the commencement of this Act have been written off in manner provided by this Part of this Act, the benefits payable to insured persons under this Part of this Act shall be extended in such manner as Parliament may determine.

9.-[This Section, which provided for reduced rates of benefit in certain cases, was repealed in part by Section 3 (1) of the National Insurance Act, 1913 (p. 75), and in part by Sections 12 (4) and 48 (4) of the National Health Insurance Act, 1918 (pp. 99 and 117).]

10. [This Section, which provided for the reduction and suspension of benefits where contributions were in arrear, was repealed in part by Section 8 of the National Insurance Act, 1913 (p. 98), and in part by Section 48 (4) of the National Health Insurance Act, 1918 (p. 117). For provisions as to the payments to be made by insured persons by way of cancelling arrears, and as to the reduction, postponement, or suspension of certain benefits on account of arrears, see now Section 18 of the latter Act (p. 104).]

11.-(1) Where an insured person has received or recovered or is entitled to receive or recover, whether from his employer or any other person, any compensation or damages under the Workmen's Compensation Act, 1906, or any scheme certified thereunder, or under the Employers' Liability Act, 1880, or at common law (a) (b) in respect of any injury or disease, the following provisions shall apply:

(a) No sickness benefit or disablement benefit shall be paid to such person in respect of that injury or disease in any case where any weekly sum or the weekly value of any lump sum paid or payable by way of compensation or damages (b) is equal to or greater than the benefit otherwise payable to such person, and, where any such weekly sum or the weekly value of any such lump sum is less than the benefit in question, such part only of the benefit shall be paid as, together with the weekly sum or the weekly value of the lump sum, will be equal to the benefit:

(b) The weekly value of any such lump sum as aforesaid may be determined by the society or committee by which the sickness and disablement benefits payable to such person are administered, but, if the insured person is aggrieved by such determination, the matter shall be settled in manner provided by this Part of this Act for settling disputes between insured persons and societies or committees:

(a) By Section 2 of the National Insurance (Part I. Amendment) Act, 1915 (p. 90). this sub-section has been extended to include any pension, grant or allowance granted to any insured person under the Injuries in War (Compensation) Act, 1914, the Injuries in War (Compensation) Act, 1914 (Session 2), the Injuries in War (Compensation) Act, 1915, or any similar Act which may be passed and with respect to which regulations made by the Insurance Commissioners with the consent of the Treasury provide that the said Section shall apply; and by Section 3 of the Government War Obligations Act, 1915 (p. 123), any scheme for compensation in respect of persons injured on any merchant ship or fishing vessel in connection with which any Government obligations are incurred shall, for the purpose of Section 2 of the National Insurance (Part I. Amendment) Act, 1915 (p. 90), have the same effect as if it were an Act of Parliament. (b) Section 19 (2) of the National Health Insurance Act, 1918 (p. 105), provides that where an insured person has recovered compensation in respect of any injury or disease, and in fixing the amount of the weekly payment regard was had to any such payment, allowance, or benefit as is mentioned in First Schedule (3) to the Workmen's Compensation Act, 1906, or where an insured person is in receipt of any such payment, allowance, or benefit in lieu of compensation, the weekly value thereof shall, in computing what benefit (if any) is to be paid to him, be added to the weekly sum payable by way of compensation or be treated as being a weekly sum payable by way of compensation, as the case may be. No account is, however, to be taken of any such payment, allowance, or benefit so far as the weekly value thereof, together with the weekly sum (if any) or the weekly value of the lump sum (if any) paid or payable by way of compensation, exoeeds the amount of the weekly payment which the insured person would, if there had been no such payment, allowance, or benefit, have been entitled to receive or recover by way of compensation.

1911.

(c) Where an agreement is made as to the amount of such com-
pensation as aforesaid, and the amount so agreed is less than
ten shillings a week, or as to the redemption of a weekly
payment by a lump sum, under the Workmen's Compensation
Act, 1906, the employer shall, within three days thereafter, or
such longer time as may be prescribed, send to the Insurance
Commissioners, or to the society or committee concerned,
notice in writing of such agreement giving the prescribed
particulars thereof, and proviso (d) to paragraph (9) of the
Second Schedule of the Workmen's Compensation Act, 1906
(which relates to the powers of registrars of county courts (a)
to refuse to record memoranda of agreements and to refer
the matter to the judge) shall, in cases where the workman is
an insured person, apply to agreements as to the amount of
compensation in like manner as to agreements as to the redemp-
tion of weekly payments by lump sums.

(2) Where an insured person appears to be entitled to any such compensation or damages as aforesaid and unreasonably refuses or neglects to take proceedings to enforce his claim, it shall be lawful for the society or committee concerned, either—

(a) at its own expense, to take in the name and on behalf of such
person such proceedings, in which case any compensation or
damages recovered shall be held by the society or committee
as trustee for the insured person; or

(b) to withhold payment of any benefit to which apart from this
section such person would be entitled.

In the event of the society or committee concerned taking proceedings
as aforesaid and failing in the proceedings, it shall be responsible for the
costs of the proceedings as if it were claiming on its own account.

(3) Nothing in this section shall prevent the society or committee paying to an insured person benefit by way of advance pending the settlement of his claim for compensation or damages, and any advance so made shall, without prejudice to any other method of recovery, be recoverable by deductions from or suspension of any benefits which may subsequently become payable to such person (b).

12.-(1) No payment shall be made on account of sickness disablement or maternity benefit to or in respect of any person during any period when the person to or in respect of whom the benefit is payable is an inmate of any workhouse (c), hospital, asylum, convalescent home, or infirmary, supported by any public authority or out of any public funds or by a charity, or voluntary subscriptions, or of a sanatorium or similar institution approved under this Part of this Act.

(2) During such period as aforesaid the sum which would otherwise have been payable on account of any such benefit to or in respect of any such person as aforesaid—

(a) If that person has any dependants, may at the discretion of the
society or committee administering the benefit, but after con-
sultation whenever possible with that person, be applied wholly
or in part for the advantage of, or be paid wholly or in part to,
those dependants; and

(b) So far as not applied under the preceding provision, or if that
person has no dependants, and if in any case he so authorises,
may be applied at the discretion of the society or committee
administering the benefit towards defraying any expenses for

(a) In Scotland, the Sheriff Clerks see Section 80 (16) and (17).

(b) Section 19 (1) of the National Health Insurance Act, 1918 (p. 105), provides for the recovery, in certain circumstances and subject to certain conditions, from the person liable to pay compensation or damages to an insured person, of benefit paid to the latter by way of advance pending the settlement of his claim for compensation or damages. (c) In Scotland, poorhouse: see Section 80 (17).

s. 12.

Provisions in the case of

contributors who are

inmates of hospitals, &c.

1911. s. 13.

Power to vary benefits in certain cases.

which he may be or become liable otherwise than to the institution while he is such an inmate as aforesaid, and in so far as not so applied may at the discretion of the society or committee be paid in whole or in part to the institution of which he is an inmate, unless that institution is a workhouse (a), poor law infirmary, asylum, or other similar institution, maintained out of public funds, or, if he is an inmate in receipt of sanatorium benefit, is a sanatorium in which treatment under this Part of this Act is provided :

Provided that

(i) If such an inmate as aforesaid is a married woman or a widow,
and the sums so payable or applicable as aforesaid include the
sums which would have been payable both on account of mater-
nity benefit payable in lieu of sickness or disablement benefit
and on account of maternity benefit not so payable, no part of
the sum which would otherwise be payable on account of that
last-mentioned maternity benefit shall be paid to or applied for
the relief or maintenance of her dependants, but the whole or
any part thereof may be paid to the institution of which she is
an inmate in the same manner as if she had no dependants;
(ii) Where any person who is entitled to any benefit under this Part
of this Act applies for admission to any workhouse infirmary,
or in Scotland to any poorhouse hospital, or the sick ward of
any poorhouse, admission thereto shall not be refused solely
on the grounds of the right to that benefit (b).

(3) Any sum which but for the provisions of this section would have been payable to any person on account of sickness, disablement, or maternity benefit shall, if and so far as it is not paid or applied during such a period as aforesaid in accordance with the foregoing provisions of this section, be paid in cash to that person after he has left the institution, and either in a lump sum or in instalments at the discretion of the society or committee administering the benefit, or if that person dies in the institution shall be deemed to form part of his estate (c) (d).

(4) Where any sum, which but for the provisions of this section would have been payable on account of sickness or disablement benefit, has been paid or applied in accordance with those provisions, that sum shall be treated as a payment in respect of sickness or disablement benefit as the case may be (d).

13. (1) Any approved society may submit to the Insurance Commissioners a scheme for substituting any of the additional benefits for sickness benefit and disablement benefit or either of those benefits or any part thereof, and the scheme may provide as respects the members of the society to whom the scheme applies that any such benefits shall be abolished or the rate thereof reduced or, in the case of sickness benefit, the commencement thereof postponed; and the scheme may contain such incidental and consequential provisions as appear necessary for adapting the other provisions of this Part of this Act to the members to whom the scheme applies.

(2) The scheme shall apply either to all members of the society or to any specified class thereof or to any members of the society who may elect to come under the scheme, according as may be provided by the

scheme.

(a) In Scotland, poorhouse. See Section 80 (17).

(b) This sub-section was substituted by Section 20 (1) of the National Health Insurance Act, 1918 (p. 105).

(c) See Section 37 (1) of the National Health Insurance Act, 1918 (p. 114) for provisions as to the manner in which sums of unpaid benefit forming part of the estate of a deceased insured person are to be disposed of.

(d) Sub-sections (3) and (4) were added by Section 20

Insurance Act, 1918 (p. 106).