Can you claim? Compensation lawyer answers for Como

Compensation after a NSW motor accident generally runs through CTP, the compulsory green slip scheme. It has two parts. Most people can claim statutory benefits, meaning weekly payments and treatment and care, regardless of who was at fault. Some can also claim common law damages, a lump sum, if another driver was at fault, they weren't mostly at fault and the injury is more than a threshold injury.

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.

A compensation lawyer's job is to turn what happened to you into a claim the scheme can pay. In a motor accident claim, that usually means explaining what you're entitled to, gathering the medical and financial evidence, dealing with the insurer, challenging decisions that look wrong and advising you on any offer. Knowing that list helps you judge whether your claim needs any of it right now.

A lawyer also can't change the scheme's rules. If your injury is a threshold injury, or you were mostly at fault, some forms of compensation may simply not be open to you, and an honest lawyer will say so. That's useful in itself. Knowing early what isn't available saves time and lets you put your energy into the parts of the claim that are.

• Preparing a review or dispute when a decision looks wrong
• Keeping track of the deadlines that apply to you
• Arranging medical reports when the claim needs them

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
• Thinking about damages: the damages guide below explains what a lump sum can include and when
• Someone died in the crash: the car accident compensation page covers what dependants may claim

If you're new to claims, the language can feel like a barrier. It needn't be. Most of the key terms describe simple ideas: what the insurer pays, how serious an injury is, and how to challenge a decision. These plain definitions are a starting point, not legal advice, and the rules behind them can change.

• Threshold injury: the term that replaced 'minor injury' in 2023, generally covering soft tissue and some psychological injuries
• 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
• Personal Injury Commission: the independent tribunal that decides many disputes in the scheme

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.

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.