Can you claim? Compensation lawyer answers for Collaroy Plateau West

In NSW, the answer to 'can I get compensation?' after a road injury is often yes, in some form. Statutory benefits, such as weekly payments and treatment and care, are available to most people regardless of fault. Common law damages are narrower. They need another driver at fault, you not mostly at fault, and an injury that is more than a threshold injury. The claim check tells you which of the two are likely to apply.

Your accident date matters more than most people expect. For accidents on or after 1 December 2017, the Motor Accident Injuries Act 2017 sets the rules, and further changes apply to accidents from 1 April 2023. If the crash was before that first date, the older Motor Accidents Compensation Act 1999 applies. That's one reason a general answer only goes so far, and why a claim check starts with the date.

It helps to think of the role as a set of tasks rather than a title. Explaining entitlements. Collecting evidence. Negotiating with the insurer. Running disputes. Advising on offers. Some claims need all five, some need one or two at a particular moment, and many need none. Knowing which tasks your claim needs makes the question of whether to call a lawyer much simpler.

What a lawyer can't do is create evidence that doesn't exist. Your treating doctor's notes, the Certificate of Fitness and records of what the injury stops you doing carry most of the weight. A lawyer's value lies in knowing which of those the insurer will look at, which are missing, and how the rules for your accident date treat them.

• Checking insurer decisions against the rules for your accident date
• Preparing a review or dispute when a decision looks wrong
• Keeping track of the deadlines that apply to you

Insurer letters and claim forms use words that mean something specific in the NSW scheme. You don't need to learn them all, but knowing a handful makes letters easier to follow and helps you ask better questions. Here are some of the most common, in plain English. Most have their own page on this site if you want the detail.

• Whole person impairment (WPI): a percentage rating of how much an injury affects you overall, assessed under set guidelines
• Case manager: the person at the insurer who handles your claim day to day
• Internal review: asking the insurer to look again at a decision you disagree with
• Certificate of Fitness: the form your doctor completes to record your injuries and your capacity for work
• Nominal Defendant: the fund that stands in when the vehicle was unidentified or uninsured

Lawyers choose titles partly to match what people type into a search box, so one practice might call itself compensation lawyers on one page and CTP lawyers on another. For you, the difference is small. What you want to know is whether the person you speak with works on NSW motor accident claims regularly, and whether your claim needs them yet.

A claim rarely needs the same thing twice. Early on, the job is getting the claim in and the evidence started. In the middle, it's keeping benefits and treatment on track. At a decision you disagree with, it's the review. Near the end, it may be damages or an offer. Work out which stage you're at, then read the page that deals with that stage.

• Benefits being paid: payment and treatment questions usually go to your case manager first
• A decision against you: the claim denied page explains internal review and the Personal Injury Commission
• An offer has arrived: the car accident compensation page covers offers, so read it before signing anything final

Not every compensation search is about a road injury. People also look for help with TPD claims through their super, public liability claims after a fall in a public place, or complaints about medical treatment. Those follow their own rules, and they usually fall outside what we help with. Vehicle damage is never a CTP claim either, because the green slip covers injuries only. If you're not sure which you have, the claim check will say so plainly.