“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 Wiarborough, our free claim check sorts out which of these apply before you commit to anything.
Goulburn & Southern Tablelands · Car accident compensation
Car accident compensation for people in Wiarborough
No figures, no guesses. Just what compensation can include and what the amount depends on.
Postcode: 2580
- Free claim check, no obligation
- By phone & online, no office to visit
- Helping people in Wiarborough & Taralga
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
Gaps people don't expect
If a family member has been driving you around 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 and care costs, which are handled through statutory benefits. The rules for your accident date are worth checking.
Your work, your injury and your claim in Wiarborough
If you were hurt on the Hume Motorway or Federal Highway, look carefully at any offer to settle. Check how it treats your future earnings, because a settlement generally ends the damages claim for good. Whether your council is Upper Lachlan Shire Council or another one in NSW, the CTP rules on weekly payments 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 Goulburn. From Wiarborough, 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
- Goulburn & Southern Tablelands
- Postcode
- 2580
- Local government area
- Upper Lachlan Shire Council
- Distance to Goulburn
- ~58 km
Benefits and damages, side by side
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.
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Tell us about your injury and your work. We'll explain which compensation may apply, free and with no obligation.
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.
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.
Loss of earnings
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%.
- Business records if you're self-employed
- Your Certificates of Fitness
- Letters from your employer about your role
- Records of any income since the accident
Read next:CTP weekly payments
When weekly payments can run past 2 years
If you're still off work as the 2-year mark approaches, plan early. Weekly payments generally end at 104 weeks unless a damages claim is pending, and only a claim lodged inside the first 2 years keeps them going. Whether you can claim damages at all depends on fault and on your injury being more than threshold, so it's worth getting advice well before month 20.
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 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?
Compensation claims: lawyer or not?
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
- The insurer disputes how serious your injury is
- Your injury may be more than threshold and another driver was at fault
- You may have lost some of your future earning capacity
- A family member died and dependants may have a claim
You may not need one
- The insurer's benefit decisions look right to you
- You've recovered and are back at your usual work
- You only need to understand how weekly payments are calculated
Before you accept any offer, get it in writing and check what it covers: past and future lost earnings and, where impairment is more than 10%, pain and suffering. Take your time; an offer doesn't have to be answered on the spot. CTP settlements
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 Wiarborough
- 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 Wiarborough
- If you only need the basics of weekly payments and how to lodge, the CTP claims page for Wiarborough sets out the steps. CTP claims in Wiarborough
Frequently asked questions
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 Wiarborough
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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.