Tamworth Car Accident Solicitor - NSW Injury Compensation Claims

LAWYER HELPLINE: ☎ 1800 224 077

One of the most distressing and upsetting experiences of our lives can be a motor vehicle accident. Even if no one is hurt or minor injuries occur it can be a very stressful aftermath. If you are injured, then you can be sure that our motor vehicle accident compensation lawyers can help you to gain access to any benefits or compensation to which are you are entitled as a result of your injuries.

Tamworth Car Accident Solicitors work with accident victims and insurers on regular basis and have expert knowledge of the relevant legislation as well as the levels and types of compensation and benefits that are available to you.

You can access our help by either calling or legal team for advice or filling in our contact form.

Making a Claim

The Compulsory Third Party Insurance (CTP Insurance) scheme, looked after by the Motor Accidents Authority of New South Wales is the relevant legislation that covers compensation for personal injuries in NSW. Accidents involving cars, trucks, buses, taxis, motorcycles, trains and boats are all covered by the Motor Accident Compensation Act.

In whatever capacity you were involved in the accident (driver, passenger, cyclist etc.) you can make a claim for personal injury compensation as long as you were not wholly responsible for the accident and can prove that someone else was at least partly to blame.

Even if you can only prove that you were partly not to blame you will find that you can make a limited claim for compensation, whereby some compensation and benefits will be available to you, if not the whole range of benefits. This is typically in circumstances where the person making the claim shares some responsibility for the accident or injury, for example by not wearing a motorcycle helmet or seatbelt.

Blameless Accidents

As with many insurance and compensation schemes, a key part of the legislation is based around proving fault. However, even if you are not able to prove that then under certain circumstances you may be able to claim compensation in the following situations :-

Children under 16 at the time of the accident, can make a claim for personal injury compensation to cover such items as medical & hospital services, as well as care and rehabilitation services, regardless of fault concerning the accident.

Compensation is also available in situations where a sudden accident has occurred due to an unavoidable collision, sudden illness or unexplained mechanical failure of the vehicle. Although any road user can make a claim under these circumstances, restrictions apply to drivers if they are the one who was suddenly taken ill, if it was their car that failed, or if the car that they were driving was the only vehicle involved in the incident.

Lifetime Care and Support Scheme

Although many injuries received in motor vehicles are fortunately quite minor, at times major injuries may result which necessitate long-term or life time care. In such situations provision is covered by the Lifetime Care and Support scheme (LTCS). This scheme covers serious injuries regardless of who caused the accident and is available to adults injured on or after 1st October 2007 as well as children (under 16 at the time of the accident) injured on or after 1st October 2006.

The LTCS scheme typically covers injuries which cause significant disability such as blindness or amputation of limbs, moderate or severe spinal or brain injury and cases of serious burns.

What Can You Claim?

Any services, treatments or benefits that you can claim must be related to the injuries that were received in the accident, and must be deemed to be “reasonable and necessary” to be covered. These may typically include (but are not limited to) :-

Hospital and medical services – for example drugs, rehabilitation, hospital expenses, medical fees.
Travel expenses – for example, travelling to and from medical appointments needed as a result of the injuries.
Care expenses – such as rehabilitation and respite care.
Loss of income and loss of ability to earn income in the future as a result of the accident injury or injuries.

Pain and Suffering

In special cases where there has been significant pain or suffering, or where it can be shown that there has been significant loss of quality of life leading to “loss of enjoyment of life”, and where it can be shown that there has been serious physical or psychological injury, then it may be possible to make a claim for permanent impairment compensation, once the requisite medical evidence to prove this has been provided. Because of limits on the amount of compensation that is usually given under these circumstances we advise that you receive advice from a lawyer under these circumstances.

Unregistered Vehicles

If you are unable to identify the vehicle responsible for an accident or if that vehicle is either uninsured or unregistered, then you will still be able to make a claim for personal injury compensation as long as the relevant criteria for such a claim are met.

In these cases it is possible to make a claim against what is known as the Nominal Defendant, which allows claims to proceed even if all the relevant details are not in place.

Death Claims

If you are closely related to a loved one who was killed in a motor vehicle accident, then the Compensation to Relatives Acts exists to provide compensation and benefits in such circumstances. Benefits include funeral expenses but also may include benefits to cover if the person who died was responsible for providing care and also loss of financial support. As with all of these benefits, it is advisable to use the services of a lawyer for full help and professional advice.

Time Limits

Time limits apply when making claims as a result of an accident. You should ensure that you inform the Police of the details of the accident within 28 days, and you should also send a personal injury claim form to the relevant CTP insurance scheme insurer within 6 months of the date of the accident. Failure to comply with these time limits may have a serious impact on your entitlement to make a compensation claim.

No Win No Fee

Tamworth Car Accident Lawyers deal with insurers and clients on a regular basis, and are willing to act on a no win no fee basis in most cases. For a free no obligation discussion you can call our free helpline or fill in our contact form online.