Compensation in a NSW CTP claim depends on your injury, your earnings, who was at fault and your accident date, not on your postcode. If you live in Lithgow and want to understand what you might be entitled to, start with the two kinds of compensation below, then use our free claim check to see which applies and whether legal advice would help.
Central West, Orana & Far West · Car accident compensation
Car accident compensation in Lithgow: what and when
No figures, no guesses. Just what compensation can include and what the amount depends on.
Postcode: 2790
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- Helping people in Lithgow & Mount Victoria
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
Payments beyond the 104-week mark
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
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
Claiming compensation from Lithgow
If Dubbo Base Hospital, Orange Health Service or Bathurst Base Hospital treated you, keep scans and reports together. They support the picture of your injury if damages become possible. Coming under Lithgow City Council has no bearing on compensation. Someone in Lithgow 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. From Lithgow, the Sydney CBD is around 107 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
- Central West, Orana & Far West
- Postcode
- 2790
- Local government area
- Lithgow City Council
- Nearest public hospital
- Lithgow Hospital
- From the Sydney CBD
- ~107 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.
Free claim check
Could a damages claim be open to you?
Call (02) 7238 7379 or start online. It's free, there's no obligation, and you'll know whether a damages claim may be worth exploring.
Compensation for income you've lost
If the injury means you can't return to the work you did, or can only work fewer hours, that loss can stretch well into the future. In a damages claim, future economic loss looks at what you would likely have earned if the crash hadn't happened. Evidence matters: payslips, tax returns, employer letters and medical opinions about your capacity.
- Payslips from before the accident
- Evidence of a recent pay rise or promotion
- Rosters showing regular overtime or shifts
- Your Certificates of Fitness
Read next:CTP weekly payments
Timing, settlement and offers
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.
Pain and suffering: the 10% line
Where your injury sits against the 10% line is often unclear early on, and it isn't something to guess. Some injuries are plainly above it and many are below it. How and when impairment is assessed is a subject of its own; for compensation, what matters is that pain and suffering damages depend on the line, while lost-earnings damages don't.
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
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.
The problem with compensation calculators
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?
When legal advice changes the picture
Whether legal help is worth it depends on which kind of compensation you're pursuing and whether anything is in dispute. Here's a general guide to both sides.
Often worth talking to a lawyer
- You may have lost some of your future earning capacity
- An offer to settle has come from the insurer
- Your injuries may be above the 10% impairment line
- Your injury may be more than threshold and another driver was at fault
You may not need one
- You were mostly at fault and don't dispute it
- You're receiving weekly payments and they look right
- The insurer is approving your treatment
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 Lithgow
- 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 Lithgow
- 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 Lithgow
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.
Yes, in two ways. Weekly payments replace part of your income while you recover: up to 95% of pre-accident earnings for the first 13 weeks, then up to 80% or 85%, subject to an indexed maximum. If you qualify for common law damages, you can also claim past and future loss of earnings, called economic loss, without needing impairment above 10%.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Car accident compensation: suburbs near Lithgow
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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.