Macarthur & Wollondilly · CTP claim denied

CTP claim denied? Help for people in Varroville

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

Denied, cut off or classified as a threshold injury? Start by reading the decision carefully and noting the date you received it. The internal review window is generally 28 days. People in Varroville can handle much of a review in writing, and an independent CTP lawyer can help if the stakes are high. Our free claim check is a quick way to find out where you stand.

Postcode: 2566

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What a review looks like from Varroville

Crashes on Picton Road or Appin Road involving heavy vehicles can lead to fault disputes. If the insurer has decided you were mostly at fault, that finding can generally be reviewed, and a lawyer can advise on how. Varroville is about 7 km north of Campbelltown, but challenging a decision doesn't mean travelling there. Internal reviews are generally requested in writing, and our claim check runs by phone and online. Your review rights don't depend on your council, whether that's Campbelltown City Council or any other. Internal reviews and the Personal Injury Commission work the same way across NSW.

Region
Macarthur & Wollondilly
Postcode
2566
Distance to Campbelltown
~7 km
Local government area
Campbelltown City Council

Most decisions can be challenged

Insurers make decisions under the scheme rules: whether to accept a claim, how much to pay, what treatment to fund, whether an injury is threshold. Most of them can be challenged. The first step is an internal review, which you generally need to request within 28 days of the decision reaching you. If that doesn't resolve it, the Personal Injury Commission can decide.

Read next:CTP claim denied?

Complaints versus disputes

It helps to keep a dispute and a complaint apart. If the problem is the outcome, use internal review and then the Personal Injury Commission. If the problem is the way the insurer is handling your claim, the Independent Review Office can take a complaint. Sometimes both apply, and it's fine to use each path for a different part of the problem.

The decisions behind many disputes

The reasons vary, but some patterns are familiar. If you were driving for work, the insurer may say workers compensation comes first. If the claim was more than 3 months late, it may say your explanation isn't enough. If your scans show only soft tissue injury, it may classify it as threshold. Knowing the reason tells you what evidence to gather.

  • You were found wholly or mostly at fault
  • The crash is being treated as a work injury
  • A treatment request was declined
  • The insurer says the injury wasn't caused by the crash

Read next:Claim denied? Quick check

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Making your internal review count

A good review request is short and specific. Quote the decision and its date. Explain in plain terms where you think the insurer got it wrong, with reference to the evidence. If there's something the insurer didn't have, such as a specialist report, include it. Keep a copy and note when you sent it.

Don't wait until the last days of the window to start. Specialist reports and records can take time to arrive, and a rushed request is usually weaker. If some evidence won't be ready in time, lodge the request within the deadline anyway and tell the insurer what else is on its way.

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

When the argument is about your injury

A threshold decision limits statutory benefits to 52 weeks for accidents from 1 April 2023, and it rules out a damages claim. A threshold injury is generally soft tissue, and it doesn't include nerve damage or a full or partial tear of a tendon, ligament, meniscus or cartilage. If your medical evidence shows one of those, the classification may be wrong.

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

Taking a dispute further

If an internal review doesn't resolve your dispute, the Personal Injury Commission is generally the next step. It's independent of the insurer. Depending on the dispute, a member may review the decision on its merits, a medical assessor may assess your injury, or the Commission may assess a damages claim. The type of dispute decides which path applies.

Read next:The Personal Injury CommissionPIC disputes explained

Legal costs in a dispute

Free help is limited once a dispute is under way. The CTP Legal Advisory Service that SIRA funds stops short of matters already at internal review or before the Personal Injury Commission. CTP Assist can still give general information. For advice on the dispute itself, you'll generally need an independent lawyer.

Read next:What does a CTP lawyer cost?

How to challenge a CTP decision, step by step

Most CTP decisions follow the same review path. The deadlines are short, so it helps to know the order before you start. Complaints about how the insurer behaves are a separate track.

  1. Step 1

    Read the decision letter

    Read the letter twice: once for what was decided, once for why. Write down the date you received it. If the reasons aren't clear, ask the insurer to explain them in writing.

  2. Within 28 days

    Ask for an internal review

    Request the review in writing, inside the 28-day window that generally applies. The insurer looks at the decision again, so explain clearly why you think it's wrong and attach anything it didn't have.

  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 internal review leaves the decision in place, the next step is generally an application to the Personal Injury Commission, an independent tribunal. What you're disputing decides which of its paths applies, such as merit review or medical assessment.

  5. 28 days from a certificate

    Medical assessment review

    Medical assessment certificates can generally be reviewed, but the window is short: generally 28 days from the date the certificate is issued. Get advice quickly if you're considering it.

  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

  • The whole claim has been refused
  • Your injury was classed as threshold and it affects a damages claim
  • Weekly payments were stopped and you can't work
  • You've missed the review deadline

You may not need one

  • The decision was about a small, one-off expense
  • You mainly want to complain about delays or communication
  • The insurer asked for a document you can easily provide

When treatment is declined, the fix is often a clearer explanation of why it's needed. We can connect you with doctors and allied health who know how the scheme assesses requests and what a Certificate of Fitness should record.

Not quite your situation?

  • If you're not sure a dispute is worth taking on with legal help, the CTP lawyer page explains when a lawyer tends to be worth it. CTP lawyer in Varroville
  • When the real argument is how serious your injury is, the injury compensation page for Varroville covers impairment and the threshold line. Injury compensation lawyer in Varroville
  • If you haven't had a decision yet and are still getting the claim in, start with the CTP claims page for Varroville. CTP claims in Varroville

Frequently asked questions

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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.

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