Reimbursement of the costs of medical attention to the dying employee, transport of his/her body and the costs of a funeral are payable not to any particular dependant on the basis of relationship, but to the person who actually paid that cost. This may of course be a person other than a spouse or child or even someone other than a 'dependant' of any description. Furthermore where those S16/S18 services remain unpaid, the appropriate amount as allowed by the SRCA may be paid by directly to the provider (i.e. doctor, ambulance service, undertaker).
Ss17(10) requires a single determination only where the claim is for compensation under Section 17. Thus, there is no reason why S16 and S18 entitlements need to be dealt with in the same determination that awards the S17 lump sums. In fact, it is more efficient and convenient in most cases to determine such matters separately.
The existing Defcare standard letter/determination with respect to Section 17 death entitlements (i.e. a determination format which assumes a spouse and joint children as the only entitled persons) includes, as the 'default' entitlement, provision for S16 and S18 determinations. These may be retained if convenient but in most cases – and no matter who may be entitled under S17 – the service providers will be pressing for payment well before the S17 matter is ready for determination. In this case it is recommended that the delegate make a separate determination in respect to these reimbursements.
Where paying the service provider direct, it is not enough to simply pay the account via Defcare/Dolars. Delegates will also need to raise a formal determination under S16 or S18. This should take the form of a letter to the claimant/provider. Where the claimant is also the service provider, delegates should make a separate determination for each service, i.e. as many determinations as there are providers, in order to preserve privacy and the business confidentiality of those providers.