Liverpool & Fairfield · Car accident compensation

Car accident compensation after a crash near Austral

Statutory benefits for most people. Damages for some. Here's how to tell which applies to you.

“How much will I get?” is the question everyone asks, and the true answer is that it depends. It depends on whether your injury is more than a threshold injury, whether someone else was at fault, what you earned before and your whole person impairment. For people in Austral, our free claim check sorts out which of these apply before you commit to anything.

Postcode: 2179

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Claiming compensation from Austral

Records from Liverpool Hospital, Fairfield Hospital and Bankstown-Lidcombe Hospital can matter long after the crash. If your injury may be above the 10% impairment line, those early notes help. Council boundaries don't change what you can claim. Compensation under the NSW CTP scheme depends on your injury, your earnings and fault, and the same rules apply under Liverpool City Council as in every other council area. Austral is about 12 km west of Liverpool, and you don't need to travel there for advice about compensation. Our claim check is by phone and online, and lawyers who handle damages claims can generally work the same way.

Region
Liverpool & Fairfield
Postcode
2179
Local government area
Liverpool City Council
Nearest public hospital
Liverpool Hospital
Distance to Liverpool
~12 km

How NSW CTP compensation is structured

It's easier to ask what each part pays for. Statutory benefits pay for time off work and for treatment, from early in the claim, and most people get them whoever was at fault. Damages pay for the longer-term cost of the injury: earnings you've lost or will lose and, where impairment is above the 10% line, pain and suffering. The two sit side by side rather than one replacing the other.

Read next:Statutory benefits vs damages

Gaps people don't expect

CTP covers personal injury only, so vehicle repairs sit outside it altogether and are generally a matter for your own car insurer or the at-fault driver's insurer. Within the injury claim, damages generally cover lost earnings and, above 10% impairment, pain and suffering, while treatment stays with statutory benefits. If you've paid for treatment yourself, keep the receipts and raise them with the insurer as a statutory benefits question.

Compensation for income you've lost

Lost income is covered at two stages. Weekly payments replace part of your earnings as you go: up to 95% of pre-accident earnings for 13 weeks, then up to 80% or 85%. A damages claim can also include past and future loss of earnings, called economic loss, if you qualify. Economic loss damages don't require impairment above 10%.

  • Evidence of a recent pay rise or promotion
  • Rosters showing regular overtime or shifts
  • Letters from your employer about your role
  • Records of any income since the accident

Read next:CTP weekly payments

Benefits and damages, side by side

It helps to see the two side by side. The points below are general and depend on your accident date, so treat them as a guide to the right questions rather than an answer.

Statutory benefits

  • Available to most injured people, regardless of fault
  • Weekly payments: up to 95% of pre-accident earnings, then up to 80% or 85%
  • Treatment and care that is reasonable and necessary
  • Up to 52 weeks for a threshold injury or if mostly at fault (accidents from 1 April 2023)
  • Weekly payments generally end at 104 weeks unless a damages claim is pending
  • Claim within 28 days for back-paid weekly payments

Common law damages

  • Only if another driver was at fault and you weren't mostly at fault
  • Your injury must be more than a threshold injury
  • Can include past and future lost earnings
  • Pain and suffering only if whole person impairment is more than 10%
  • Generally doesn't include treatment and care or unpaid care from family
  • Generally must be claimed within 3 years of the accident

General information, not legal advice. We give no dollar figures because every claim is different. Time limits apply.

Two people going through a form together at a kitchen table, with a calculator and a laptop

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Find out what your claim may include

Our claim check is free, by phone or online, with no obligation. Where a damages claim looks possible, we can introduce you to an independent lawyer.

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Do you need a lawyer to get compensation?

Most people don't need a lawyer just to receive weekly payments. When a lump sum may be involved, it's a different story. Use these lists to get your bearings.

Often worth talking to a lawyer

  • An offer to settle has come from the insurer
  • A family member died and dependants may have a claim
  • You may have lost some of your future earning capacity
  • Fault is disputed or shared

You may not need one

  • The insurer is approving your treatment
  • You only need to understand how weekly payments are calculated
  • You've recovered and are back at your usual work

Your treating team shapes the evidence for lost earnings, starting with the Certificate of Fitness. If you don't have a team yet, doctors and allied health practitioners who work with CTP claims are a sensible place to start.

Not quite your situation?

  • If your injury is serious and you want to know how impairment is assessed and where the threshold line falls, the injury compensation page covers it. Injury compensation lawyer in Austral
  • Before asking what you can get, you may need to know what kind of claim you have, and the car accident claim page starts there. Car accident claim in Austral
  • If you only need the basics of weekly payments and how to lodge, the CTP claims page for Austral sets out the steps. CTP claims in Austral

Timing, settlement and offers

Unless your whole person impairment is assessed as more than 10%, a damages claim generally can't be made until 20 months after the accident. It generally can't be settled within 2 years of the accident unless impairment is more than 10%. And the claim must generally be made within 3 years of the accident, with only limited room for a late claim that comes with a full and satisfactory explanation.

Before you accept an offer

Settlement offers are worth a second opinion. The lawyer you speak with can check what the offer covers and whether the timing suits your recovery.

Read next:CTP settlementsShould I accept the first offer?

When weekly payments can run past 2 years

If you're still off work as the 2-year mark approaches, plan early. Weekly payments generally end at 104 weeks unless a damages claim is pending, and only a claim lodged inside the first 2 years keeps them going. Whether you can claim damages at all depends on fault and on your injury being more than threshold, so it's worth getting advice well before month 20.

The 2-year lodging rule

Payments beyond 104 weeks depend on a damages claim being pending. The 3-year limit is the outer edge for damages, but the 2-year mark is the one that protects weekly payments.

Read next:CTP weekly payments

Pain and suffering: the 10% line

Damages for pain and suffering, called non-economic loss, are only available if your whole person impairment is more than 10%. Below that line, a damages claim, if you have one, is limited to economic loss. This surprises many people, and it's one of the main reasons two claims that look similar can end very differently.

10% or less?

If your whole person impairment is 10% or less, you may still have a damages claim for lost earnings, as long as the other conditions are met.

Online estimates and their limits

Online compensation calculators can't account for the things that actually decide a CTP claim: whether your injury is more than threshold, who was at fault, your whole person impairment, your earnings history and your accident date. A figure produced without those facts isn't a guide; it's a guess. That's why we don't publish one.

Read next:Can I claim damages?

Frequently asked questions

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CTP Lawyer is not a law firm. This page is general information, not legal advice; the independent lawyer you speak with can advise on your own situation.

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