Can you claim? Compensation lawyer answers for Leura

Think of it as two layers. The first, statutory benefits, is open to most injured people whoever caused the crash, and covers things like weekly payments while you can't work and treatment and care that is reasonable and necessary. The second, common law damages, is a lump sum only some people can claim: another driver must have been at fault, you must not have been mostly at fault, and your injury must be more than a threshold injury.

Three things shape what you can claim: who was at fault, how serious your injury is, and when the accident happened. Fault mostly affects damages and how long some benefits last. Seriousness decides whether your injury is treated as a threshold injury. The date decides which version of the rules applies, because the law changed for accidents from 1 December 2017 and again from 1 April 2023.

The help you need depends on where your claim is up to. Just after the crash, the priority is lodging and keeping records. While benefits are being paid, most questions are about payments and benefit decisions. After a decision against you, the question becomes whether to challenge it. Later, a damages claim or an offer may be on the table. The pages linked below cover each stage in detail.

• Just after the crash: the CTP claims pages cover lodging and the early deadlines
• A decision against you: the claim denied page explains internal review and the Personal Injury Commission
• Thinking about damages: the damages guide below explains what a lump sum can include and when

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. The records of your injury, the Certificate of Fitness and evidence 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.

• Requesting the records the claim depends on
• Preparing a review or dispute when a decision looks wrong
• Keeping track of the deadlines that apply to you

You'll see the same kind of lawyer described as a compensation lawyer, a personal injury lawyer, a CTP lawyer or a motor accident lawyer. These are mostly descriptions of the work, not separate professions, and many lawyers who handle NSW motor accident claims use several at once. What matters more is experience with the scheme your claim falls under, so ask about that directly.

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.

• Statutory benefits: weekly payments and treatment and care that most injured people can claim regardless of fault
• Damages: a lump sum for losses such as past and future earnings, available only in some claims
• Case manager: the person at the insurer who handles your claim day to day
• Nominal Defendant: the fund that stands in when the vehicle was unidentified or uninsured
• Personal Injury Commission: the independent tribunal that decides many disputes in the scheme

Some injuries lead to claims outside the motor accident scheme. A fall in a shopping centre or on a public footpath is usually a public liability claim. A total and permanent disability (TPD) claim is usually made through the insurance attached to your super. Medical negligence claims follow their own path. All three are usually outside what we help with. Damage to your car is different again: CTP pays for injuries, not vehicles, as the car accident claim page explains.