Passenger Awarded $325,000 in Compensation Following a Car Collision
Case Overview A woman from Green Valley was a passenger in a car when the driver lost control of the vehicle, leading to a collision
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If you’ve sustained an injury in a motor vehicle accident in New South Wales, you might be eligible for compensation. Depending on your circumstance, your compensation can take many forms, including a lump-sum payment, ongoing medical expense coverages, or income support payments.
This guide will provide a general overview of the eligibility criteria, legal process, and types of compensation available for NSW motor vehicle accident claims. To get personalised advice on what you may be entitled to, book a free consultation with one of our personal injury lawyers.
Motor vehicle accidents aren’t limited to collisions between cars and trucks.
They can involve pedestrians, motorcyclists, bicyclists, buses and trains. This means those affected, and therefore those eligible to make a compensation claim, can be drivers, passengers, pedestrians, bus riders and anyone else on or near the road.
If you’ve been injured in a road accident, you could be eligible for compensation.
However, the compensation you receive is impacted by:
In assessing what injuries are compensable (and to what degree they’re compensable), insurers generally categorise injuries into the following two categories: threshold injuries and non-threshold injuries.
Threshold injuries, previously termed ‘minor injuries,’ typically include soft tissue injuries and psychological or psychiatric injuries that do not meet the criteria for a recognised psychiatric illness such as depression or PTSD.
These injuries encompass damage to muscles, tendons, ligaments and other connective tissues but exclude nerve injuries and ruptures.
Individuals with threshold injuries are generally expected to recover within a short period, and benefits are limited to an initial period of up to 52 weeks following the accident.
The exception to this 52-week benefits period is if the injured person was partially (or entirely) responsible for their injuries or if their accident took place before 1 April 2023, in which case the benefits period may be reduced to six months.
Non-threshold injuries are more severe and include conditions such as fractures, nerve damage, ruptured tendons, ligaments or cartilage, head injuries and internal organ damage.
Psychological injuries that qualify as non-threshold include diagnosed conditions such as depression, PTSD or specific phobias. These injuries entitle the affected individual to extended benefits beyond the initial period, including potential lump sum claims for past and future income loss, as well as non-economic losses like pain and suffering.
Lump sum compensation eligibility hinges on whether the injured person has a whole person — permanent — impairment exceeding 10%. This means that the individual’s overall functional capacity has been reduced by more than 10% due to the injuries sustained in the accident, impacting their ability to perform daily activities and work tasks.
Common permanent injuries that arise from motor accidents include:
These injuries often result in long-term or lifelong impairment, significantly affecting the individual’s quality of life and ability to work, thus qualifying them for higher compensation under non-threshold injury claims.
Examples of permanent impairment-injury ratings are as follows.
Example of Injury | Impairment Rating (Approximate) |
Discectomy surgery on the lumbar spine. | 10-16% |
Wrist fusion surgery. | 18% |
Lumbar spine fusion. | 21% |
Joint replacement in the knee, shoulder, or hip. | 21% |
Loss of vision in one eye. | 32% |
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In the 12 months leading up to April 2024, NSW saw 12,945 reported motor accident injury claims, with a total payout of $1.44 billion in benefits and lump sums.
This amounts to an average of $111,240 paid for each new claim.
The nature of the individual’s threshold and/or non-threshold injuries influences the economic and non-economic damages they may be entitled to.
Consider the following implications for economic and non-economic compensation in motor vehicle accident claims.
We recommend you consult with your medical treatment providers to undergo all relevant investigations to determine if your injuries entitle you to a lump sum claim beyond the Initial Period. These treatment referrals should be sent to the CTP insurer for approval and payment.
If you have:
The amount of compensation you receive may be impacted by your contribution to the accident’s cause (fault). However, even if you share some fault, you may still be eligible for compensation in NSW.
‘Contributory negligence’ refers to the degree to which the injured person’s actions contributed to the accident or their injuries.
Examples of partial contributory negligence include:
In such cases, the compensation you receive may be reduced based on your level of responsibility for the accident. However, you may still be eligible for certain benefits, such as the initial $5,000 for treatment costs and lost income within the first 52 weeks after the accident, provided by the Green Slip insurance.
Green Slip insurance refers to (Compulsory Third Party) CTP insurance. In New South Wales, all vehicles must have CTP insurance, which covers the cost of compensation claims for injuries caused to other people in a motor vehicle accident. This insurance ensures that drivers, passengers, pedestrians, and other road users are financially protected if they are injured in an accident.
There are certain exceptions to contributory negligence:
Following is an overview of what you can expect the motor vehicle accident claim process to look like.
Note, there’s a time limit for filing a car accident claim in NSW.
The statute of limitations is three years from the date of the accident. This means you must file your claim in court on or before the last day of this period. If you don’t file your claim by this deadline, you may lose the right to compensation.
While there may be exceptions in rare cases, it’s important to act promptly. The sooner you file your claim, the stronger your case will likely be. The evidence is fresher, witnesses are easier to locate, and it demonstrates your intent to pursue compensation.
In NSW, if you expect your accident-related expenses to exceed $5,000, your recovery will take longer than six months, and you weren’t at fault for the crash, you should complete a personal injury claim form with the insurer within six months of the accident.
To be eligible for personal benefits claims in NSW, you must meet the following criteria:
If you’re applying for personal benefits, you can apply online or through post.
Here’s how the process works:
If you’re applying for a lump sum payment for the long-term impacts of your auto accident, here’s what the common law claim process involves:
SIRA enables you to file a motor vehicle accident compensation claim without consulting with a personal injury lawyer.
However, there are instances where the help of a qualified motor vehicle accident lawyer becomes helpful:
We’re Australia’s leading personal injury firm. We have extensive experience helping those who’ve sustained injuries in motor vehicle accidents receive the compensation they’re entitled to.
We offer our clients our no-win, no-fee policy. This means that you can gain access to our expert legal services without the typical financial burden of such representation and legal advice. Through this policy, we take on all of your case’s upfront costs: court fees, expert witness testimony expenses, and others. We also only get paid if we win your case; in the rare instance that your case isn’t successful, this would come as no financial burden to you.
Click here to book a free, no-obligation consultation with one of our personal injury lawyers.
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