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 St Andrews 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.
Macarthur & Wollondilly · Car accident compensation
St Andrews: how car accident compensation works
Weekly payments, lost earnings, offers and the 10% line, explained for NSW CTP claims.
Postcode: 2566
- Free claim check, no obligation
- By phone & online, no office to visit
- Helping people in St Andrews & Bow Bowing
Compensation for people in St Andrews
If you were hurt on Picton Road or Appin Road and the injury will affect your work for years, future economic loss looks at what you would likely have earned without the crash, not only what you've lost so far. Coming under Campbelltown City Council has no bearing on compensation. Someone in St Andrews 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 St Andrews, the Sydney CBD is around 39 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
- Macarthur & Wollondilly
- Postcode
- 2566
- Local government area
- Campbelltown City Council
- Distance to Campbelltown
- ~5 km
Two kinds of compensation
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
Gaps people don't expect
Common law damages in the NSW CTP scheme generally don't include treatment and care costs, or gratuitous care, which is unpaid care from family and friends. Treatment and care continues through statutory benefits instead, within the limits that apply to you. That's a real difference from some other compensation systems, and it's worth knowing before you estimate anything.
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
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
Find out what your claim may include
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?
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 pre-accident earnings seem to have been set too low
- A family member died and dependants may have a claim
- Fault is disputed or shared
- 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
- You've recovered and are back at your usual work
Damages claims run on a clock. A claim must generally be made within 3 years of the accident, and within 2 years if you want weekly payments to continue past that point. CTP claim time limits
Not quite your situation?
- If the real question is how serious your injury is in claim terms, including impairment, the injury compensation page for St Andrews explains it. Injury compensation lawyer in St Andrews
- 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 St Andrews
- 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 St Andrews
When pain and suffering can be claimed
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.
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
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
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
- Evidence of a recent pay rise or promotion
- Letters from your employer about your role
Read next:CTP weekly payments
The problem with compensation calculators
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.
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.
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%.
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.
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.
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 injury settles, what the 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 St Andrews
Related reading
- How much compensation?
- Motor accident compensation: how it works
- Claiming damages
- Lump sum and damages claims
- Chronic Pain After a Car Accident
- Back Injury
- Disc Bulge After a Car Accident
- Pre-Existing Condition Aggravation
- Fatality and Dependency Claims
- Macarthur & Wollondilly: 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.