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 Westleigh, 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.
Upper North Shore & Hornsby · CTP claim denied
CTP claim rejected? Review options for Westleigh
Calm, clear steps for a refused claim, stopped payments or a threshold decision you disagree with.
Postcode: 2120
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- By phone & online, no office to visit
- Helping people in Westleigh & Thornleigh
Challenging a decision from Westleigh
Riders on the Old Pacific Highway and drivers on Pennant Hills Road who disagree with a fault finding can generally seek an internal review. Records from Hornsby Ku-ring-gai Hospital may help your case. There's no need to get to Hornsby, or anywhere else, to dispute a decision. From Westleigh, 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. Your review rights don't depend on your council, whether that's Hornsby Shire Council or any other. Internal reviews and the Personal Injury Commission work the same way across NSW.
- Region
- Upper North Shore & Hornsby
- Postcode
- 2120
- Distance to Hornsby
- ~4 km
- Local government area
- Hornsby Shire Council
You can ask for a second look
Before deciding what to do, pin down three things: exactly what was decided, the reasons given, and the date you received the letter. The first two tell you what evidence might change the outcome. The third starts the clock, because an internal review is generally requested within 28 days. With those in hand, choosing between a review on your own and getting advice becomes much clearer.
Read next:CTP claim denied?
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”
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
Free claim check
Check your review options, free
The claim check is free and carries no obligation. Tell us what the insurer decided, and we'll point you to the right help.
The IRO and what it handles
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
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 treatment 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
- The crash is being treated as a work injury
- Weekly payments were stopped or reduced
- A treatment request was declined
Read next:Claim denied? Quick check
How to request a review
An internal review is a fresh look at the decision by the insurer. Ask in writing, generally within 28 days of receiving the decision. Say which decision you disagree with, why you think it's wrong and what outcome you want. Attach anything new: a report from your doctor, hospital records, payslips or witness details.
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
Paying for help with a review
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?
Your review path
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Any time
Conduct complaints go to the IRO
If your concern is how the insurer has treated you, such as delays or poor communication, that's a complaint, not a dispute. The Independent Review Office handles those complaints on 13 94 76.
General information, not legal advice. Timeframes are general, and some decisions follow different rules. Check your decision letter and get advice quickly.
When a dispute calls for legal help
Many people handle an internal review themselves. Disputes that reach the Personal Injury Commission, or that affect a damages claim, are where legal advice more often helps.
Often worth talking to a lawyer
- The dispute is heading to the Personal Injury Commission
- Weekly payments were stopped and you can't work
- The whole claim has been refused
- You were driving for work and the insurer has refused on that basis
You may not need one
- The decision was about a small, one-off expense
- You agree with the decision once it's explained
- A treatment request was declined for lack of information you can supply
Many disputes turn on medical evidence. If you need a clear report on your diagnosis, or an up-to-date Certificate of Fitness, we can point you to doctors and allied health familiar with CTP claims.
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 Westleigh is the better fit. CTP lawyer in Westleigh
- When the real argument is how serious your injury is, the injury compensation page for Westleigh covers impairment and the threshold line. Injury compensation lawyer in Westleigh
- 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 Westleigh
Frequently asked questions
Insurers make decisions under the scheme rules, and a refusal usually points to one of them. Common grounds include a claim lodged late, an injury classed as threshold, a finding that you were mostly at fault, or a view that the crash falls under a different scheme. The decision letter should give reasons, and those reasons tell you what evidence might change the outcome.
Not in the usual sense. If you were driving for work, or the crash otherwise happened in the course of your work, workers compensation through your employer's insurer is generally the claim to make first, and CTP statutory benefits are generally not payable where workers compensation is available. That's a question of which scheme applies, not a finding about your injury. A CTP damages claim against the at-fault driver's insurer may still be possible, so get advice. The work quick check is a sensible first step.
Generally yes. If your dispute went to medical assessment at the Personal Injury Commission and you think the certificate is wrong, you can seek a review, but it must generally be sought within 28 days of the certificate being issued. The grounds for a review are generally limited, so it's worth getting advice quickly about whether a review is likely to be accepted.
Once more than 3 months have passed since the accident, a claim can only be accepted in limited circumstances, usually with a full and satisfactory explanation for the delay. If the insurer rejected your explanation, you can generally ask for an internal review. Put your reasons in writing with supporting evidence, such as medical records, and speak to a lawyer straight away.
Sometimes, but it's limited. For a statutory benefits dispute, legal costs are recoverable from the insurer only where the Regulation or the Personal Injury Commission allows, and some disputes allow no recovery at all. Ask any lawyer, before they start, what the costs position is for your specific dispute, and get it in writing.
First, check the letter for the reason. Payments may stop because the insurer says you can work, because your benefit period has ended, or for another reason under the scheme rules. If you disagree, ask for an internal review, generally within 28 days. Keep your Certificates of Fitness up to date in the meantime, and get advice if you can't work.
CTP claim denied: suburbs near Westleigh
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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.