A CTP file has two halves. The first is the statutory benefits stage, with weekly payments and treatment while you recover. The second, for some people, is a damages claim, lodged later and resolved by negotiation, a settlement conference or a claims assessment. If you're near Fairfield Heights and working out how a solicitor would run your file, this page walks through it in order.
Liverpool & Fairfield · How a car accident solicitor runs a claim
Car accident solicitor Fairfield Heights: the file, start to finish
A damages file generally takes years, not weeks. Here's why, and what happens at each stage.
Postcode: 2165
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Fairfield Heights: records, hospitals and the file
Liverpool Hospital, Fairfield Hospital and Bankstown-Lidcombe Hospital may hold records after a crash here. A solicitor gathers them all, because a complete medical history avoids questions later. If your crash happened on a local road in the Fairfield City Council area, the police event number and any nearby camera footage may become part of the file. A solicitor usually checks early whether those records exist and are being kept. Whether it was on Polding Street or a side street, where the crash happened is fixed on the file early. It matters for the police record, for any witnesses and, occasionally, for which scheme applies near a border.
- Region
- Liverpool & Fairfield
- Postcode
- 2165
- Local government area
- Fairfield City Council
- Main roads
- Polding Street · Hamilton Road
- Nearest public hospital
- Fairfield Hospital
The first review of your claim
When a solicitor takes on a car accident claim, the first job is a review of what has already happened. That means the accident date, which sets the rules that apply; the date the claim was lodged; each decision the insurer has made; and any deadline already running, such as the 28 days to seek internal review of a decision. Nothing else is planned until those dates are clear.
If the claim doesn't settle: the PIC
If the insurer and the solicitor can't agree, the damages claim can generally go to claims assessment at the Personal Injury Commission, the independent tribunal that has handled CTP disputes since 1 March 2021. An assessor considers the evidence and submissions from both sides and assesses the damages. The solicitor prepares the application and the material the assessor will rely on.
Read next:The Personal Injury Commission
The first stage of the file: benefits while you recover
For the first part of a CTP file, the claim is about statutory benefits: weekly payments if you can't work, and treatment and care that is reasonable and necessary. Much of this runs directly between you and your case manager. The solicitor's role is to watch the insurer's decisions and step in where one affects your entitlements or your later damages claim.
Do you need a solicitor to run your CTP file?
Many CTP claims never reach the damages stage, and plenty of people manage the statutory benefits side on their own. A solicitor-run file makes more sense once a damages claim is possible or a decision needs challenging.
Often worth talking to a lawyer
- A settlement conference or claims assessment is coming up
- You started the claim yourself and it has become complicated
- Your impairment may be more than 10% and that could change the timing
- Your earnings are irregular and proving lost income will take work
You may not need one
- Your injuries are healing and no damages claim is likely
- Your injury has been accepted as a threshold injury and you agree with it
- Statutory benefits are being paid and nothing has been disputed
Consistent treatment makes for a clearer file. Ask us about doctors and allied health, such as GPs, physiotherapists and psychologists, who understand CTP claims and complete the Certificate of Fitness.
Not quite your situation?
- If fault is still being argued, the car accident lawyer page explains how it's decided and why it matters to your claim. Car accident lawyer in Fairfield Heights
- If you haven't decided whether you need a lawyer at all, the CTP lawyer page helps you weigh it up first. CTP lawyer in Fairfield Heights
- If the big question on your file is how serious your injury is in claim terms, the injury compensation lawyer page explains impairment. Injury compensation lawyer in Fairfield Heights
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Six stages of a solicitor-run CTP claim
From the first review to the final settlement or assessment, a damages file usually runs for years rather than months. The six stages below are the general shape of it, in the order they usually come.
At the start
File review and costs disclosure
First comes a review: what happened, which insurer has the claim, what it has decided and which dates matter. You should also be given written information about costs before significant work starts, and you can ask questions about it.
The first months
The statutory benefits stage
While you recover, weekly payments and treatment come through statutory benefits. The solicitor watches the insurer's decisions, such as whether your injury is treated as a threshold injury, and helps you challenge ones that seem wrong within the review time limits.
As injuries settle
Medical evidence and impairment
Once your injuries have stabilised, the solicitor may arrange medico-legal reports from independent doctors, and the insurer may ask you to attend its own examination. Whole person impairment may be assessed, which matters if it could be more than 10%.
From 20 months
The damages claim is lodged
A damages claim generally can't be made before 20 months after the accident, unless whole person impairment is more than 10%. It must generally be made within 3 years, and within 2 years if you want weekly payments to continue beyond 2 years.
After lodgement
Negotiation with the insurer
The insurer considers the damages claim and may accept or dispute parts of it. The solicitor exchanges evidence and offers with the insurer, and may take part in a settlement conference. You decide whether to accept any offer.
Resolution
Settlement, or assessment at the PIC
A file ends with a settlement you agree to, a claims assessment at the Personal Injury Commission or, less often, court proceedings. Settling in the first 2 years after the crash generally isn't allowed unless impairment is above 10%.
General information, not legal advice. Every file is different, and the timing rules depend on your accident date. Time limits apply.
How a damages file usually settles
When a claim settles, you'll usually sign a release or deed that ends the claim in exchange for the agreed amount. Read it carefully and ask what it covers before you sign, including what happens to any benefits still being paid. A signed settlement is very hard to undo, which is why solicitors generally advise against settling before your injuries have stabilised.
Read next:CTP settlements
The damages claim: timing and content
Preparing the damages claim means pulling the file together: an account of the crash, the medical evidence, and proof of what the injury has cost you in earnings, past and future. Payslips, tax returns and business records matter here. The solicitor assembles them so the claim sets out the losses clearly from the start, which helps later negotiation.
If you're self-employed or your income varies, proving lost earnings takes more work. Business records, business activity statements and an accountant's reports may all be needed, and gathering them can take time. The solicitor will usually start collecting them well before the damages claim is due, so missing documents don't put the timing rules at risk.
Read next:CTP damages claims
Reports, examinations and impairment
The medical evidence on a file comes from what your treating doctors record, what independent specialists report, and how your injuries look once they've settled. The insurer may arrange its own examination. Impairment assessment usually waits until recovery has plateaued, because an early assessment can understate a lasting injury. How impairment is assessed is covered elsewhere; here it matters for timing.
Already lodged your claim? How a solicitor steps in
Taking over a running claim is mostly about catching up. The solicitor checks whether any decisions can still be reviewed, whether benefits are being paid correctly and when a damages claim can or must be made. Some steps you took yourself may need no change at all. Others, such as a threshold decision you didn't challenge, may need attention quickly if a time limit is still open.
Read next:Free claim check
Frequently asked questions
Insurers commonly ask claimants to attend an independent medical examination, and refusing without a good reason can hold up your claim. Tell your solicitor as soon as you're asked. They can check the arrangements and tell you what to expect. At the examination, be accurate and consistent about your symptoms, neither understating nor overstating them. Afterwards, note how long it lasted and what you were asked.
The file shifts to proving the points the insurer disputes. That may be who caused the crash, whether you were mostly at fault, or whether your injury is more than a threshold injury. The solicitor gathers evidence on each point and responds to the insurer. If the dispute can't be resolved by negotiation, it may go to the Personal Injury Commission. Statutory benefits you're already receiving are a separate question and may continue meanwhile.
You may. A medico-legal report is written by an independent doctor for the claim itself, not for treatment. Your solicitor may arrange one or more, often once your injuries have stabilised, to give an opinion on your injuries, their cause and your capacity to work. They're different from your treating doctors' records, which remain important. Ask your solicitor who is being asked for a report and why.
It's the usual way a CTP damages claim is decided if it doesn't settle. The Personal Injury Commission, an independent tribunal that has handled CTP disputes since 1 March 2021, appoints an assessor to consider the evidence from both sides and assess the damages. Your solicitor prepares the application and the supporting material. The process is generally less formal than court, and what follows an assessment depends on the circumstances.
It depends on your injuries and the timing rules. As a general rule, not before 20 months after the accident unless whole person impairment is assessed as more than 10%, and generally no later than 3 years after it. Many solicitors aim to lodge within 2 years, because that keeps weekly payments available beyond the 2-year point while the claim is pending. The right moment balances those limits against how settled your injuries are.
Usually, if they're relevant. Police records can confirm how and when the crash happened, who was involved and whether anyone was charged. The solicitor will generally ask for them where liability is in question or the insurer relies on them. Give the solicitor the police event number if you have it. If police didn't attend, your own report and any witness details become more important.
Car accident solicitor: suburbs near Fairfield Heights
Related reading
- CTP lump sum and damages claims
- Car accident lawyer help
- CTP settlement: what to expect
- Whole person impairment
- Neck Injury
- Lower Back Pain After a Car Accident
- Headaches After a Car Accident
- Pre-Existing Condition Aggravation
- CTP claims for drivers
- Liverpool & Fairfield: area guide
- Car Accident 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.