St Georges Basin: your CTP claim, step by step

There are two main ways to lodge: the Service NSW online form, or the CTP insurer itself. Either way, you'll be asked for the accident date and place, the vehicles involved, your injuries, your employer and income, and the doctors treating you. Most people can complete it themselves in one go if they have the details to hand.

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.

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.

• Ask for important decisions in writing
• Reply to requests promptly
• Ask what a request is for if it's unclear

Think of the claim as three bundles of evidence: what happened, what it did to your body, and what it's costing you. The first is police and vehicle details. The second is hospital records and your Certificate of Fitness. The third is proof of earnings and receipts. Lodge on time even if one bundle isn't complete yet.

• Date, time and place of the crash
• Registration numbers of the vehicles involved
• Recent payslips, tax returns or business records
• Your employer's name and contact details
• 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.

Weekly payments replace part of your income while the injury keeps you off work or on reduced hours. The insurer sets your rate from what you earned before the accident, so give it the full picture from the start: every job you held and the hours you usually worked. A legislated maximum applies and is indexed each year, so the cap itself changes over time.

Treatment and care is the other half of statutory benefits. The insurer generally funds treatment for your injuries, such as GP care, physiotherapy or psychology, where it's reasonable and necessary and within your benefit period. Approval isn't automatic: your practitioner usually requests it, the insurer decides, and you can ask for a review if you disagree.

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.