One way to understand a car accident claim is to follow the file. It opens with a review of dates and decisions, moves through statutory benefits and medical evidence, and, if a damages claim is open to you, ends in settlement or assessment. We're not a law firm. For people in Tascott, we explain the path and can introduce you to an independent solicitor if it would help.
Central Coast · How a car accident solicitor runs a claim
Car accident solicitor Tascott: the file, start to finish
The stages of a NSW CTP file, the rules that set its pace, and what you do along the way.
Postcode: 2250
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Tascott: records, hospitals and the file
Gosford Hospital and Wyong Hospital treat most Central Coast crash injuries. Their records, with your GP's, are the starting point for the medical evidence a solicitor builds on the file. If your crash happened on a local road in the Central Coast 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. Crashes on busy routes like Brisbane Water Drive often involve several vehicles. A solicitor reviewing the file checks which insurer accepted the claim and whether liability for damages has been admitted, denied or not yet decided.
- Region
- Central Coast
- Postcode
- 2250
- Local government area
- Central Coast Council
- Main roads
- Brisbane Water Drive
- Nearest public hospital
- Gosford Hospital
The first review of your claim
Early on, the solicitor works out which stage your claim is at and what is coming next. If you're still receiving statutory benefits, the focus may be on keeping them in place. If the insurer has made a threshold decision, the focus may be whether to challenge it. If a damages claim is possible, the solicitor starts planning its timing from your accident date.
Building the medical side of the file
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.
The damages claim: timing and content
Timing the damages claim is one of the solicitor's main decisions. Lodge within 2 years of the accident and weekly payments can continue beyond the 2-year point while the claim is pending. Lodge before 20 months only if impairment is more than 10%. Leave it past 3 years and the claim may only be allowed with a full and satisfactory explanation.
Once lodged, the insurer considers the claim and decides whether it accepts liability for damages. It may accept, dispute some parts, or deny liability altogether, for example if it says you were mostly at fault. The solicitor responds to each position with evidence. Your part is mainly to keep up treatment and tell the solicitor about any change in your work or health.
Read next:CTP damages claims
While benefits are being paid
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.
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
How a damages file usually settles
Damages claims are most often resolved by negotiation. The insurer and the solicitor exchange evidence and offers, sometimes at a settlement conference with you present or available. You'll hear what each offer means against the evidence, and what going further could risk. You decide whether to accept. If an offer seems low, the solicitor can generally answer it with further evidence rather than a flat refusal.
Read next:CTP settlements
Taking over a claim you started yourself
Many people lodge a CTP claim themselves and only look for a solicitor later, often after a decision goes against them or when a damages claim comes into view. That's common and generally not a problem. The solicitor notifies the insurer, obtains your claim file and reviews what has happened so far. The time limits keep running throughout, so earlier is better than later.
Read next:Free claim check
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
The solicitor reviews your accident date, when the claim was lodged, every insurer decision and any deadline already running. Before substantial work begins, you'd generally expect written information explaining how fees are worked out.
The first months
The statutory benefits stage
Statutory benefits run from early in the claim. For threshold injuries they generally end at 52 weeks, for accidents from 1 April 2023; otherwise weekly payments can generally continue for up to 104 weeks. The solicitor tracks these limits and the decisions that affect them.
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 damages claim generally can't settle within 2 years of the accident unless impairment is more than 10%. If negotiation doesn't produce an agreement, the Personal Injury Commission can assess the claim, and some claims go to court instead.
General information, not legal advice. Every file is different, and the timing rules depend on your accident date. Time limits apply.
Handing your file to a car accident solicitor: when it helps
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
- You started the claim yourself and it has become complicated
- Your impairment may be more than 10% and that could change the timing
- The insurer has disputed liability for your damages claim
- An offer has arrived and you don't know how to weigh it
You may not need one
- Statutory benefits are being paid and nothing has been disputed
- Your injury has been accepted as a threshold injury and you agree with it
- You accept that you were mostly at fault and your benefits are flowing
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 your main question is who caused the crash and what a fault finding means, the car accident lawyer page covers it. Car accident lawyer in Tascott
- 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 Tascott
- 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 Tascott
Free claim check
Solicitor questions near Tascott? Free check
Call (02) 7238 7379 or leave a few details online. The check is free with no obligation, and we'll help you see what comes next on your file.
Frequently asked questions
Yes, a solicitor can generally take over a claim at any stage. They'll tell the insurer they're now handling it, obtain the claim file and review what has happened so far, including any decisions that can still be reviewed. Keep dealing with the insurer as usual until the solicitor confirms they've taken over. Bringing someone in earlier leaves more options open, because the time limits keep running either way.
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.
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.
Usually years rather than months. The timing rules set the pace: a damages claim generally can't be lodged before 20 months unless impairment is more than 10%, and generally can't settle within 2 years of the accident on the same condition. After lodgement, negotiation and any claims assessment add further time. Files with serious injuries can move earlier, while disputes over liability or medical evidence can slow things down. Your solicitor can give a rough estimate for your file.
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.
Usually not. Most CTP damages claims are resolved by negotiation, and those that don't settle generally go to claims assessment at the Personal Injury Commission rather than to court. Court proceedings are possible in some circumstances, for example where a claim is exempt from assessment, but they're less common. If court becomes an option on your file, the solicitor will explain the process, the timing and the risks before anything is decided.
Car accident solicitor: suburbs near Tascott
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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.