Canterbury-Bankstown · CTP claim denied

Insurer said no? CTP dispute options in Campsie

Internal review first, then the Personal Injury Commission. Check your options free, by phone or online.

When a CTP insurer refuses a claim or stops payments, the decision letter generally sets out its reasons. Those reasons are your starting point. For people in Campsie, the next step is usually an internal review, then the Personal Injury Commission if needed. We can check your situation for free and, if your dispute calls for one, put you in touch with an independent CTP lawyer.

Postcode: 2194

  • Free claim check, no obligation
  • By phone & online, no office to visit
  • Helping people in Campsie & Belmore

What a review looks like from Campsie

A crash on the Hume Highway, Canterbury Road or the M5 can end in a fault finding you disagree with. If the insurer's view of fault goes against you, the review window is generally 28 days, so gather police details and photos early. People in Campsie, within the City of Canterbury-Bankstown, follow the same dispute path as everyone else in NSW: internal review first, generally within 28 days, then the Personal Injury Commission. Where you live doesn't change the deadlines. There's no need to get to Burwood, or anywhere else, to dispute a decision. From Campsie, review requests are generally made in writing, the lawyer you speak with can advise by phone, and the claim check works by phone and online too.

Region
Canterbury-Bankstown
Postcode
2194
Local government area
City of Canterbury-Bankstown
Distance to Burwood
~3 km

A refusal isn't the end of the road

A decision you disagree with is a reason to act, not to give up. Start with the reasons in the letter. Some refusals turn on missing information you can supply. Others turn on a legal question, such as fault or the threshold definition, where advice helps. Either way, the review path is open for most decisions.

Read next:CTP claim denied?

When the argument is about your injury

Disputes about injuries often come down to evidence. If the insurer says your injury is threshold, or that treatment and care isn't reasonable and necessary, the answer is usually a clear written report that deals with the insurer's reasons. If the dispute reaches medical assessment at the Commission, a certificate review must generally be sought within 28 days of issue.

Read next:Threshold injury disputesWhen the insurer says “threshold injury”

What the Commission does

The Personal Injury Commission, or PIC, is an independent tribunal that started on 1 March 2021. In the CTP scheme it handles merit review, medical assessment, miscellaneous claims assessment and claims assessment of damages claims. It replaced the older dispute bodies, so older material that sends you elsewhere is out of date.

Read next:The Personal Injury CommissionPIC disputes explained

A bearded man on a phone call indoors, looking down as he listens

Free claim check

Check your review options, free

No office visit and no charge for the check. A quick claim check by phone or online tells you whether a review is worth pursuing.

Free · No obligation

How to request a review

Reviews are often decided on the papers, so what you send matters. If the decision was about your injury, send any report that deals with the point the insurer relied on. If it was about earnings, send payslips or tax records. If it was about fault, include police details, photos and witness contacts.

If the review confirms the original decision, that isn't the end. You can generally take most disputes to the Personal Injury Commission. If the review changes the decision, check the new letter carefully to make sure it covers everything you raised, and ask about anything it leaves out.

The 28-day window

The clock generally runs for 28 days from the day the decision reached you. Note the date the letter arrived, not just the date printed on it.

Read next:Insurer stopped my weekly payments

The IRO and what it handles

A dispute is about a decision, such as whether your claim is accepted. A complaint is about conduct, such as delays, unanswered calls or unclear letters. Complaints about the conduct of CTP insurers go to the Independent Review Office (IRO) on 13 94 76, 8:30am to 5:30pm weekdays, or online at iro.nsw.gov.au. The IRO doesn't fund lawyers for CTP claims.

Decisions people often ask about

Not every decision is a flat refusal. Sometimes the claim is accepted but limited: benefits capped at 52 weeks, weekly payments set lower than you expected, or a particular benefit declined. These partial decisions can matter as much as a refusal over time, and most can be reviewed in the same way.

  • You were found wholly or mostly at fault
  • Weekly payments were stopped or reduced
  • A treatment and care request was declined
  • Your pre-accident earnings were set lower than you expected

Read next:Claim denied? Quick check

What a dispute might cost

In a dispute about statutory benefits, legal costs work differently from what many people expect. Costs are recoverable only where the Regulation or the Personal Injury Commission allows, the insurer pays whatever is recoverable, and in some disputes nothing can be recovered at all. So before you engage a lawyer for a review, ask how their fees would work for this particular dispute, and get the answer in writing.

Read next:What does a CTP lawyer cost?

How to challenge a CTP decision, step by step

Insurers make decisions under the scheme rules, and the scheme also sets out how to challenge them. These are the main steps and the timeframes that generally apply.

  1. Step 1

    Read the decision letter

    Note the date you received it, what was decided and the reasons given. The date matters, because the time to ask for a review generally runs from when you receive the decision.

  2. Within 28 days

    Ask for an internal review

    For most decisions, you can ask the insurer for an internal review, generally within 28 days of receiving the decision. Say what you disagree with and include any new evidence.

  3. 14 to 28 days

    The insurer decides

    Expect a review decision in about 14 days in most cases, 21 days for some medical and miscellaneous matters, and up to 28 days where the insurer needs more information.

  4. If you still disagree

    Apply to the Personal Injury Commission

    If the internal review doesn't resolve things, you can generally apply to the Personal Injury Commission. It's independent of the insurer and decides disputes under the scheme rules.

  5. 28 days from a certificate

    Medical assessment review

    If your dispute goes to medical assessment and you think the certificate is wrong, a review must generally be sought within 28 days of the certificate being issued.

  6. Any time

    Conduct complaints go to the IRO

    Unhappy with the insurer's conduct rather than its decision? Contact the Independent Review Office on 13 94 76, 8:30am to 5:30pm weekdays, or online. It's a separate path from a review.

General information, not legal advice. Timeframes are general, and some decisions follow different rules. Check your decision letter and get advice quickly.

Reviewing alone or with legal help

Whether you need a lawyer depends on what was decided and what's at stake. Use these lists to get a sense of it, then get a free claim check for your own situation.

Often worth talking to a lawyer

  • You've been found mostly at fault
  • Weekly payments were stopped and you can't work
  • You've missed the review deadline
  • A medical assessment certificate seems wrong

You may not need one

  • A request was declined only because some information was missing
  • The decision was about a small, one-off expense
  • You mainly want to complain about delays or communication

For statutory benefits disputes on accidents from 1 December 2017, SIRA's free CTP Legal Advisory Service can help before internal review starts. CTP Assist on 1300 656 919 can connect you with it. The Personal Injury Commission

Not quite your situation?

  • For the wider question of whether a lawyer is worth it on a CTP claim at all, the CTP lawyer page for Campsie is the better fit. CTP lawyer in Campsie
  • When the real argument is how serious your injury is, the injury compensation page for Campsie covers impairment and the threshold line. Injury compensation lawyer in Campsie
  • If nothing has been decided yet and your claim is still being set up, the CTP claims page covers the lodging steps instead. CTP claims in Campsie

Frequently asked questions

Ready to talk it through?

Get a free, no-obligation claim check. It's the first step toward understanding where your claim stands and what help it needs.

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.

Call now — (02) 7238 7379Free claim check