If you're injured and off work, the compensation question is really a household question: how will the bills get paid? For people in Chippendale, statutory benefits usually come first, with weekly payments based on your pre-accident earnings. A damages claim may follow if someone else was at fault and your injury is serious enough. A free claim check tells you where you stand.
Sydney CBD & inner city · Car accident compensation
How much car accident compensation? A Chippendale guide
A free check by phone or online. If damages may be open to you, we'll connect you with an independent lawyer.
Postcode: 2008
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- Helping people in Chippendale & Broadway
Your work, your injury and your claim in Chippendale
Whether your working day starts at Central, Town Hall or Wynyard, a crash that keeps you home turns the question to lost earnings. Keep payslips, rosters and tax records, because they set the base for weekly payments and any damages claim. Whether your council is the City of Sydney or another one in NSW, the CTP rules on weekly payments, treatment and damages are the same. What moves the amount is your injury and your earnings, not your address. If Royal Prince Alfred Hospital admitted you, the dates of your stay and the time off work that followed are part of your earnings picture. Keep the discharge letter with your payslips, because lost income is assessed from both.
- Region
- Sydney CBD & inner city
- Postcode
- 2008
- Local government area
- City of Sydney
- Nearest public hospital
- Royal Prince Alfred Hospital
Benefits first, damages maybe
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
Payments beyond the 104-week mark
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
To keep weekly payments going past 2 years, lodge the damages claim within 2 years of the accident. Waiting until the general 3-year limit can mean payments stop in the meantime.
Read next:CTP weekly payments
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%.
- Payslips from before the accident
- Business records if you're self-employed
- Rosters showing regular overtime or shifts
- Your Certificates of Fitness
Read next:CTP weekly payments
Benefits and damages, side by side
A NSW CTP claim can pay two different kinds of compensation. Most injured people get the first. Only some can claim the second. Neither comes with a set figure; what you receive depends on your circumstances.
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.
Free claim check
Could a damages claim be open to you?
No figures pulled from thin air. A free, no-obligation claim check by phone or online looks at what your claim can actually include.
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
- You may have lost some of your future earning capacity
- A family member died and dependants may have a claim
- Fault is disputed or shared
- The insurer disputes how serious your injury is
You may not need one
- You only need to understand how weekly payments are calculated
- You were mostly at fault and don't dispute it
- Your injury is a threshold injury and you agree with that
If your recovery has stalled, the right treatment matters more than any figure. We can connect you with doctors and allied health experienced with CTP claims and the Certificate of Fitness, alongside legal help if you need it.
Not quite your situation?
- If the real question is how serious your injury is in claim terms, including impairment, the injury compensation page for Chippendale explains it. Injury compensation lawyer in Chippendale
- 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 Chippendale
- If you only need the basics of weekly payments and how to lodge, the CTP claims page for Chippendale sets out the steps. CTP claims in Chippendale
When a damages claim can be made and settled
The timing rules for damages, which generally rule out a claim before 20 months and a settlement within 2 years unless impairment is more than 10%, give injuries time to stabilise before they're valued. A claim resolved too early may not reflect how the injury turns out. That's one reason to get advice before accepting any offer: a settlement generally ends the claim for good, and once it's signed there's usually no going back.
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.
Non-economic loss explained
Many people assume every injury attracts compensation for pain. In the NSW CTP scheme it doesn't. Non-economic loss damages require whole person impairment of more than 10%, and you still need to meet the other damages conditions: someone else at fault, you not mostly at fault, and more than a threshold injury.
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.
What damages generally don't include
Common law damages in the NSW CTP scheme generally don't include treatment and care costs, or gratuitous care, which is unpaid care from family and friends. Treatment and care continues through statutory benefits instead, within the limits that apply to you. That's a real difference from some other compensation systems, and it's worth knowing before you estimate anything.
Why no calculator can give you a figure
It's natural to want a number. But in the NSW scheme, compensation depends on assessments that haven't happened yet in most claims, such as impairment and future earning capacity. Any figure given early, by a website or anyone else, should be treated with caution. A careful look at your facts is more useful than an estimate.
Read next:Can I claim damages?
Frequently asked questions
Statutory benefits can include weekly payments if you can't work, or can't work as much, and treatment and care that is reasonable and necessary. If you qualify for common law damages, they can include past and future loss of earnings and, if your whole person impairment is more than 10%, pain and suffering. After a fatal crash, reasonable funeral expenses are covered regardless of fault.
The same principles apply, but proving earnings takes more paperwork. Tax returns, business activity statements, accountant's records and contracts help show what you earned before the accident. If your business was growing, records from the year before the crash can matter. Gather them early, because the insurer relies on them for weekly payments, and they matter again in any damages claim.
No one can tell you that without knowing your facts, and we don't publish figures. Compensation depends on your injuries, your pre-accident earnings, whether someone else was at fault, whether your injury is more than a threshold injury, your whole person impairment and your accident date. Most people receive statutory benefits. Some can also claim damages. A free claim check helps you understand which applies to you.
Generally not until 20 months after the accident, unless your whole person impairment is assessed as more than 10%. The claim must generally be made within 3 years of the accident. If you want weekly payments to continue beyond 2 years, lodge the damages claim within 2 years of the accident. Because these dates interact, it's worth getting advice well before the 2-year mark.
Only if your whole person impairment is more than 10%, and only as part of a common law damages claim. That means another driver must have been at fault, you must not have been mostly at fault, and your injury must be more than a threshold injury. If your impairment is 10% or less, you may still claim damages for lost earnings.
Get advice before you accept any offer. A settlement generally ends your damages claim for good, so it needs to reflect your lost earnings and, where relevant, pain and suffering, based on reliable medical evidence. An independent CTP lawyer can check whether the offer takes account of your future. There's no obligation to accept an offer simply because it has been made.
Car accident compensation: suburbs near Chippendale
Related reading
- How much compensation?
- Claiming damages
- CTP claims for self-employed and gig workers
- Lump sum and damages claims
- Chronic Pain After a Car Accident
- Back Injury
- Disc Bulge After a Car Accident
- Pre-Existing Condition Aggravation
- Fatality and Dependency Claims
- Sydney CBD & inner city: area guide
- CTP Lawyer Help in Sydney
Ready to talk it through?
Get a free, no-obligation claim check. It's the first step toward understanding where your claim stands and what help it needs.
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.