Upper North Shore & Hornsby · Car accident compensation

How much car accident compensation? A Milsons Passage guide

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 Milsons Passage, our free claim check sorts out which of these apply before you commit to anything.

Postcode: 2083

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How NSW CTP compensation is structured

Think of statutory benefits as the support that keeps you going while you recover, and damages as compensation for what the injury has cost you over the longer term. You can receive benefits without ever claiming damages, and many people do. Damages are a separate claim with their own timing, evidence and rules.

Read next:Statutory benefits vs damages

Treatment, care and the damages claim

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.

Your work, your injury and your claim in Milsons Passage

If Hornsby Ku-ring-gai Hospital or Royal North Shore Hospital treated you, ask for copies of scans and reports. A damages claim often relies on the medical history built from those first records. Whether your council is Hornsby Shire Council 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. Understanding your compensation options doesn't require a trip to Gosford. From Milsons Passage, the claim check happens by phone and online, and if a damages claim is possible, the lawyer you speak with can generally advise remotely too.

Region
Upper North Shore & Hornsby
Postcode
2083
Local government area
Hornsby Shire Council
Public hospital in the region
Hornsby Ku-ring-gai Hospital
Distance to Gosford
~19 km

The two kinds of CTP compensation

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.

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Timing, settlement and offers

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

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?

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

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

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.

Loss of earnings

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
  • Tax returns and notices of assessment
  • Letters from your employer about your role
  • Records of any income since the accident

Read next:CTP weekly payments

Why no calculator can give you a figure

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?

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

  • A family member died and dependants may have a claim
  • Your pre-accident earnings seem to have been set too low
  • The insurer disputes how serious your injury is
  • Your injuries may be above the 10% impairment line

You may not need one

  • You were mostly at fault and don't dispute it
  • You only need to understand how weekly payments are calculated
  • You've recovered and are back at your usual work

Compensation turns on medical evidence, from your first Certificate of Fitness to any later assessment. We can point you to doctors and allied health who understand CTP claims and keep clear records.

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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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