Starting a CTP claim after a crash near Darlinghurst

You can lodge a claim for statutory benefits online through Service NSW, or directly with the relevant CTP insurer. If you're not sure which insurer that is, CTP Assist (1300 656 919) can help you identify it. The form asks about the accident, your injuries, your work and the treatment you've had so far, so have those details close by.

The Certificate of Fitness is where your medical story meets the insurer. It lists your injuries and says what work, if any, you can do. If a certificate misses an injury or overstates your capacity, weekly payments may not reflect your situation, so read each one before it goes to the insurer and raise anything wrong with your doctor.

The claim goes more smoothly with a few things ready: the police event number, the other vehicle's registration, your Certificate of Fitness, payslips or tax records showing what you earned, and your employer's details. If you've paid for treatment or medication, keep the receipts too. Missing something shouldn't stop you lodging on time.

• Police event number
• Registration numbers of the vehicles involved
• Your Certificate of Fitness
• Hospital discharge summary, if you were admitted
• Receipts for treatment, medication and travel

Some claims are capped at 52 weeks. For accidents on or after 1 April 2023, people whose injury is classed as a threshold injury can receive weekly payments and treatment and care for up to 52 weeks after the accident. The threshold label replaced the older term “minor injury” on that date. Whether an injury is threshold is a medical question in its own right; for running the claim, the point is the time limit it sets.

Insurers make decisions under the scheme rules, and your case manager is the person who passes them on. Most contact is routine: updated certificates, treatment approvals, payment questions. Reply promptly, keep copies of what you send, and ask for written reasons for any decision you don't understand. You can challenge decisions if you need to.

• Log every call with the date and the name of the person
• Ask for important decisions in writing
• Note the date on any decision letter

Income support is the part of a CTP claim most people ask about first. The insurer can only pay the right amount if it knows what you earned before the accident and what you can earn now, so send your earnings records early and tell it about any return to work. A maximum weekly amount applies and is indexed every year, so check the current figure with the insurer rather than relying on an old one.

Your CTP insurer covers treatment and care for accident injuries where it's reasonable and necessary, within whatever benefit period applies to you. That can include doctor visits, physiotherapy, medication and some travel for treatment. The insurer decides each request, and decisions can be reviewed, so ask before committing to large treatment costs.

Many people lodge and manage a CTP claim on their own. It's worth getting help when the insurer refuses the claim, classifies your injury as threshold when your doctor disagrees, stops payments, or argues about fault. It's also worth asking a lawyer about damages if your injury is more than threshold and someone else was at fault.