After a crash, most people want to know what they can claim. For people in Penrith, as anywhere in NSW, the honest answer has two parts. Statutory benefits, meaning weekly payments and treatment, are available to most injured people. Common law damages, a lump sum, are open only to some. Our free claim check looks at which applies to you, and connects you with an independent CTP lawyer if damages may be possible.
Penrith & the Nepean · Car accident compensation
Car accident compensation after a crash near Penrith
A free check by phone or online. If damages may be open to you, we'll connect you with an independent lawyer.
Postcode: 2750
- Free claim check, no obligation
- By phone & online, no office to visit
- Helping people in Penrith & Kingswood
Penrith: what shapes your compensation
From St Marys to Emu Plains, many working days start on the M4 or the Western Line. If a crash has stopped yours, lost earnings are measured from your own pre-accident income, so keep rosters and payslips. Whether your council is Penrith City 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. Specialists you see through Nepean 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 Penrith, the Sydney CBD is around 49 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
- Penrith & the Nepean
- Postcode
- 2750
- Local government area
- Penrith City Council
- Nearest public hospital
- Nepean Hospital
- From the Sydney CBD
- ~49 km
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
What damages generally don't include
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.
Weekly payments while a damages claim is pending
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
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
The two kinds of CTP compensation
Here's how the two parts of CTP compensation compare. Statutory benefits start early and are available to most people. Damages come later, if at all, and have stricter entry rules.
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.
Compensation claims: lawyer or not?
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
- Your injury may be more than threshold and another driver was at fault
- You may have lost some of your future earning capacity
- Your pre-accident earnings seem to have been set too low
- Fault is disputed or shared
You may not need one
- The insurer is approving your treatment
- You only need to understand how weekly payments are calculated
- 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 Penrith explains it. Injury compensation lawyer in Penrith
- 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 Penrith
- If you only need the basics of weekly payments and how to lodge, the CTP claims page for Penrith sets out the steps. CTP claims in Penrith
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.
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
Get advice before accepting any settlement offer. A settlement generally ends your damages claim, and once signed it's usually final.
When the injury affects your work
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.
- Tax returns and notices of assessment
- Rosters showing regular overtime or shifts
- Your Certificates of Fitness
- Letters from your employer about your role
Read next:CTP weekly payments
Online estimates and their limits
Instead of a figure, get clarity on the questions that matter. Is your injury more than threshold? Were you mostly at fault? What did you earn before? Could impairment exceed 10%? Our free claim check works through those questions, and where a damages claim is possible, we'll connect you with an independent lawyer.
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.
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.
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%.
Generally from your income before the accident, using payslips, tax returns or business records. Amendments passed in 2022 allow pre-accident earnings to reflect a higher income earned in the 12 months before the accident, and your actual earnings after it are also taken into account. If your income had recently risen, tell the insurer and provide the evidence. Errors here affect every weekly payment.
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.
Car accident compensation: suburbs near Penrith
Related reading
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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.