“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 Kareela, our free claim check sorts out which of these apply before you commit to anything.
Sutherland Shire · Car accident compensation
Kareela: how car accident compensation works
Weekly payments, treatment, lost earnings and the 10% line, explained for NSW CTP claims.
Postcode: 2232
- Free claim check, no obligation
- By phone & online, no office to visit
- Helping people in Kareela & Jannali
How NSW CTP compensation is structured
NSW CTP compensation comes in two parts. Statutory benefits, meaning weekly payments and treatment and care, are paid as you go and are available to most injured people regardless of fault. Common law damages are a lump sum, open only where another driver was at fault, you weren't mostly at fault and your injury is more than a threshold injury.
Read next:Statutory benefits vs damages
Why damages take time
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.
Claiming compensation from Kareela
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. 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 Sutherland Shire Council as in every other council area. Specialists you see through The Sutherland Hospital may later be asked about your capacity to work. Their opinions can shape a claim for future lost earnings, so tell them about the work you did before the crash, not just your symptoms.
From Kareela, the Sydney CBD is around 20 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
- 2232
- Local government area
- Sutherland Shire Council
- Nearest public hospital
- The Sutherland Hospital
- From the Sydney CBD
- ~20 km
The two kinds of CTP compensation
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.
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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.
Compensation for income you've lost
Your pre-accident earnings are the anchor for both weekly payments and economic loss damages. Since amendments passed in 2022, pre-accident earnings can reflect higher income in the 12 months before the accident, and actual earnings after the accident are also considered. If you'd recently had a pay rise, a promotion or more shifts, make sure the insurer knows.
- Payslips from before the accident
- Business records if you're self-employed
- Evidence of a recent pay rise or promotion
- Letters from your employer about your role
Read next:CTP weekly payments
What damages generally don't include
If a family member has been driving you to treatment or helping at home, you might expect that to be compensated. Under the current NSW scheme, damages generally don't cover that kind of gratuitous care. Nor do they generally cover treatment costs, which are handled through statutory benefits. The rules for your accident date are worth checking.
Payments beyond the 104-week mark
Weekly payments generally stop after 104 weeks, or 2 years. They can continue if you've lodged a common law damages claim that is still pending: up to 156 weeks, or 3 years, where your whole person impairment is 10% or less, and up to 260 weeks, or 5 years, where it's more than 10%. The catch is timing. To keep payments going beyond 2 years, the damages claim must be lodged within 2 years of the accident.
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
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?
When legal advice changes the picture
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
- Your injury may be more than threshold and another driver was at fault
- The 2-year mark is close and no damages claim has been lodged
- Your pre-accident earnings seem to have been set too low
- You may have lost some of your future earning capacity
You may not need one
- You only need to understand how weekly payments are calculated
- You're receiving weekly payments and they look right
- The insurer is approving your treatment
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 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 Kareela
- 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 Kareela
- If you only need the basics of weekly payments and how to lodge, the CTP claims page for Kareela sets out the steps. CTP claims in Kareela
Frequently asked questions
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.
They can. The usual end point is 104 weeks, but a common law damages claim you've lodged that is still pending can extend them: to as long as 156 weeks where whole person impairment is 10% or less, or 260 weeks where it's more than 10%. The extension only works if the damages claim went in within 2 years of the accident, so the timing of your claim matters.
A damages claim generally cannot be settled within 2 years of the accident unless your whole person impairment is more than 10%. Beyond that point, the timing turns on how your recovery goes, what the medical evidence shows and how negotiations with the insurer progress. Be cautious of anyone suggesting an early result is possible without those conditions. Take your time, and get advice before you accept any offer.
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.
Not for NSW CTP claims. Compensation depends on facts a calculator can't assess, such as whether your injury is more than threshold, your whole person impairment, your share of fault and your earnings history. Many of those aren't known until well into a claim. Treat any online figure with caution, and focus instead on the questions that decide your entitlements.
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 Kareela
Related reading
- How much compensation?
- CTP claims for self-employed and gig workers
- Motor accident compensation: how it works
- Whole person impairment
- Chronic Pain After a Car Accident
- Back Injury
- Disc Bulge After a Car Accident
- Pre-Existing Condition Aggravation
- Fatality and Dependency Claims
- Sutherland Shire: area guide
- CTP Lawyer Help in Sydney
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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.