“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 Engadine, our free claim check sorts out which of these apply before you commit to anything.
Sutherland Shire · Car accident compensation
Engadine: how car accident compensation works
Weekly payments, treatment, lost earnings and the 10% line, explained for NSW CTP claims.
Postcode: 2233
- Free claim check, no obligation
- By phone & online, no office to visit
- Helping people in Engadine & Yarrawarrah
Your work, your injury and your claim in Engadine
Whether your working day starts on Illawarra Line trains from Cronulla, the South Coast Line or the Princes Highway, a crash that stops you working makes lost earnings the main question. Keep payslips and tax returns from before the accident. Coming under Sutherland Shire Council has no bearing on compensation. Someone in Engadine and someone at the other end of the state are assessed under the same NSW rules, based on their injuries, their earnings and who was at fault. Follow-up care after your time at The Sutherland Hospital, such as a specialist review or physiotherapy, is generally funded through statutory benefits rather than damages. Keep receipts for anything you pay yourself, and ask the insurer before committing to large costs.
From Engadine, the Sydney CBD is around 28 km away. That doesn't limit your options: an independent lawyer can run a damages claim by phone, email and video, and the claim check itself runs over the phone or online.
- Region
- Sutherland Shire
- Postcode
- 2233
- Local government area
- Sutherland Shire Council
- Nearest public hospital
- The Sutherland Hospital
- Distance to Sutherland
- ~5 km
Two kinds of compensation
The first question isn't “how much?” but “which kind?”. If your injury is a threshold injury, or you were mostly at fault, compensation is generally limited to statutory benefits for up to 52 weeks. If neither applies and someone else caused the crash, a damages claim may sit on top of your benefits.
Read next:Statutory benefits vs damages
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
- Tax returns and notices of assessment
- Business records if you're self-employed
- Letters from your employer about your role
Read next:CTP weekly payments
Why damages take time
If the insurer makes an offer, take your time. Ask what it covers, what it assumes about your future earnings and whether it accounts for all your injuries. An independent CTP lawyer can check it against the evidence. Accepting generally ends your damages claim, so it's worth a careful look before you sign anything.
Before you accept an offer
Get advice before accepting any settlement offer. A settlement generally ends your damages claim, and once signed it's usually final.
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
Get clarity before you accept anything
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.
When legal advice changes the picture
Statutory benefits often run without a lawyer. Damages claims usually involve one. These lists show common situations, and your own claim check can confirm where you sit.
Often worth talking to a lawyer
- Your injuries may be above the 10% impairment line
- You may have lost some of your future earning capacity
- An offer to settle has come from the insurer
- The 2-year mark is close and no damages claim has been lodged
You may not need one
- You've recovered and are back at your usual work
- Your injury is a threshold injury and you agree with that
- You're receiving weekly payments and they look right
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 Engadine
- If it isn't clear yet whether this is a CTP injury claim, a damage claim or something else, begin with the car accident claim page. Car accident claim in Engadine
- For the day-to-day side of weekly payments, such as rates, certificates and the case manager, the CTP claims page is the better fit. CTP claims in Engadine
Treatment, care and the damages claim
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.
Pain and suffering: the 10% line
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.
When weekly payments can run past 2 years
Weekly payments are where statutory benefits and damages overlap. A pending damages claim can stretch weekly payments past the usual 104 weeks: to as long as 156 weeks for impairment at or below the 10% line, or 260 weeks where impairment is more than 10%. Because a damages claim generally can't be made until 20 months after the accident unless impairment is above 10%, the window to lodge in time for this is narrow.
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
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
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.
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.
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.
Possibly, and you don't have to work it out alone. Close relatives who were financially dependent on the person who died, such as a spouse or de facto partner, parent, child or sibling, may be able to claim for the financial support and domestic services they've lost. This generally depends on the person who died not being mostly at fault. Try to lodge within 3 months of the crash; claims must generally be made within 3 years. CTP Assist (1300 656 919) can connect you with a Principal Liaison Coordinator.
Generally 3 years from the accident. A later damages claim may be allowed only with a full and satisfactory explanation, so don't count on it. The earlier marker matters too: lodge within 2 years if you want weekly payments to continue past 2 years while the claim is pending. Statutory benefits run to much shorter deadlines of their own, so make sure that claim is in first.
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.
Car accident compensation: suburbs near Engadine
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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.