If your injury is worse than a sprain or strain, different rules may apply to your claim. An injury that is more than threshold can mean longer benefits and, if someone else was at fault, a damages claim. People in Merrill with a serious injury often benefit from early advice. Start with a free claim check, and we'll connect you with an independent lawyer if the case calls for one.
Goulburn & Southern Tablelands · Serious injury compensation
Injury compensation lawyer help for people in Merrill
The threshold line and whole person impairment, explained without promises.
Postcode: 2581
- Free claim check, no obligation
- By phone & online, no office to visit
- Helping people in Merrill & Gunning
After a serious injury near Merrill
Some serious injuries from crashes around Goulburn may be treated at Canberra Hospital, and those records count as much as any from Goulburn Base Hospital. Keep copies of both. If scans, specialist reviews or surgery mean trips to Goulburn, about 42 km away, keep a note of each trip and what it cost. Where you live needn't hold your claim back: advice and the claim check both work by phone and online, from home. Whether you live in the Upper Lachlan Shire Council area or elsewhere, the scheme measures a serious injury the same way. The local part is your treating team, and the record they keep of your injury over time.
- Region
- Goulburn & Southern Tablelands
- Postcode
- 2581
- Public hospital in the region
- Goulburn Base Hospital
- Distance to Goulburn
- ~42 km
- Local government area
- Upper Lachlan Shire Council
Threshold injury, or something more serious?
Where an injury falls against the threshold line affects how long statutory benefits can last and whether damages are possible. The comparison below is general. Symptoms alone don't decide it; the medical diagnosis does.
Usually treated as a threshold injury
- Sprains and strains of muscles, tendons or ligaments
- Whiplash-type neck pain with no nerve findings
- Bruising and soft tissue swelling
- A psychological injury the scheme classes as threshold
- Statutory benefits generally up to 52 weeks, for accidents from 1 April 2023
May be more than a threshold injury
- Nerve damage confirmed by a doctor
- A full or partial tear of a tendon, ligament, meniscus or cartilage
- A fracture, which is generally not a soft tissue injury
- A brain injury, or a diagnosed psychological condition beyond the threshold category
- Damages may be possible if another driver was at fault and you weren't mostly at fault
General information, not legal advice, and not medical advice either. The insurer decides on the medical evidence, its decision can be reviewed, and time limits apply.
What 'serious' means in claim terms
In everyday speech, a serious injury is one that hurts a lot or takes a long time to heal. The CTP scheme uses narrower tests. The first is whether the injury is more than a threshold injury. The second, for some kinds of compensation, is how much permanent impairment it leaves, measured as whole person impairment. Pain matters to you, but the scheme looks at diagnosis and lasting effect.
Read next:Threshold vs non-threshold injury
What makes an injury more than threshold
The threshold line is a medical line drawn by legal rules. Your doctor diagnoses the injury; the scheme's definition decides which side it falls on. Sprains, strains and whiplash without nerve findings usually sit on the threshold side. Confirmed nerve damage, a tear, a fracture or a brain injury generally takes an injury beyond it. The insurer makes the call, and you can challenge it.
Getting the classification right early helps. If you have symptoms that could point to nerve involvement or a tear, such as numbness, weakness, locking or a joint giving way, describe them to your doctor. Whether tests are needed is a medical decision. If a diagnosis changes, make sure the insurer has the new evidence, because the classification may need to change with it.
Check the date of your accident
The threshold rules and benefit periods depend on when your accident happened. Check which rules apply to your date before relying on any general statement.
Read next:Threshold injury disputes
The timing of an impairment assessment
Impairment is generally assessed once an injury has stabilised, meaning it's unlikely to change much with further treatment. Assessing too early can understate a serious injury. The insurer may arrange an assessment, your own doctors may give opinions, and if the insurer and you disagree about the degree of impairment, the Personal Injury Commission can carry out a medical assessment.
- Whether the injury has stabilised
- Whether every injured body part is included
- Changes in your condition since the last report
Read next:Insurer medical examinations
Is your injury serious enough to get advice?
The more serious and lasting the injury, the more likely the claim will involve impairment assessments, damages and long timeframes. Those are the areas where a lawyer tends to help. These lists are a rough guide.
Often worth talking to a lawyer
- You have a fracture, a tear, nerve damage or a brain injury
- You're wondering whether your impairment could be more than 10%
- You have a psychological injury as well as a physical one
- A pre-existing condition is being blamed for your symptoms
You may not need one
- Your injury is healing as expected and should resolve fully
- The insurer accepts the injury is more than threshold and benefits are flowing
- You want general scheme information that CTP Assist can give
With a serious injury, the right treating team matters for recovery and evidence alike. We can point you to doctors and allied health experienced with CTP, including GPs who complete the Certificate of Fitness.
Not quite your situation?
- If the injury happened at work, including on the road for work, workers compensation is usually the scheme that applies first, not CTP. After a crash, a CTP damages claim may still be possible. We can point you to the right help. Free claim check
- If you want to know what compensation can include and when it is paid, the car accident compensation page sets out the whole package. Car accident compensation in Merrill
- If the question is still which sort of claim you have at all, start with the compensation lawyer page before going further. Compensation lawyer in Merrill
- If the insurer has already decided your injury is threshold and you want to challenge it, the CTP claim denied page sets out the steps. CTP claim denied in Merrill
What whole person impairment is
People are often surprised by how technical WPI is. It is assessed under guidelines that rate specific impairments, such as lost movement in a joint, and express the result as a whole-body percentage. More than 10% is the key line in CTP claims, because damages for non-economic loss, meaning pain and suffering, are only available above it. Loss of earnings doesn't need that level.
Because so much can turn on a few percentage points, WPI assessments are often contested. Your treating doctors, the insurer's chosen doctor and, if there's a dispute, a medical assessor through the Personal Injury Commission may reach different figures. Keep every report, and get advice before accepting an assessment you think is wrong.
Read next:Can I claim damages? Quick check
Mental health after a serious crash
A crash can cause psychological injury as well as physical injury, and sometimes instead of it. Some psychological injuries are classed as threshold injuries; others are not, depending on the diagnosis. Anxiety, low mood, flashbacks or fear of driving are worth raising with your GP early, both for your own sake and so the injury is recorded and properly diagnosed.
Read next:Psychological injury after a crash
Serious injury and your future earnings
A serious injury can change more than the next few months of work. It can limit the kind of work you can do for years, or permanently. In a damages claim, that is called loss of future earning capacity, and it can be a significant part of a serious injury claim. It generally needs evidence from your doctors, your work history and sometimes vocational experts.
Read next:Statutory benefits vs damages
Building the evidence for a serious injury
Serious injury claims rest on medical evidence gathered over time: hospital records, imaging, operation reports, specialist opinions, and treating doctors' notes that track your progress. Your own records add the human detail. Start collecting early, keep everything in date order, and make sure each doctor knows about all your injuries, not just the one they're treating.
- Hospital admission and discharge records
- Operation and specialist reports
- Reports from a treating psychologist or psychiatrist, if any
- Records of how the injury affects your work
Read next:Gathering medical evidence
Free claim check
Serious injury? Talk to us before the next decision
Tell us about your injury and what the insurer has decided. We'll say whether an independent lawyer would help.
Frequently asked questions
More than one person may. Your treating doctors can give opinions, the insurer may send you to a doctor it chooses, and where you and the insurer disagree about the degree of impairment, a medical assessor at the Personal Injury Commission can decide it. Timing matters as much as who: an assessment made before the injury has settled can understate it. To challenge an assessment, see the CTP claim denied page, and act quickly because the deadlines are short.
Usually, yes, because most whiplash is soft tissue injury to the neck. But not always. If a doctor finds nerve damage, or a full or partial tear of a tendon or ligament, the injury may be more than threshold. Symptoms like arm pain, numbness or weakness are worth describing to your doctor. The insurer decides on the medical evidence, and its decision can be reviewed.
Tell your doctor about the change, get it recorded, and make sure the insurer receives the new evidence. An earlier assessment may no longer reflect your condition, and in some circumstances the injury may be looked at again. Whether and how that happens depends on the stage of your claim and the rules for your situation, so this is a good point to get advice.
It could. Tingling, numbness or weakness can sometimes point to nerve involvement, and confirmed nerve damage takes an injury outside the threshold definition. These symptoms can also have other causes, so it's a question for your doctor, who can decide whether tests are needed. Describe the symptoms precisely, note when they started, and make sure any diagnosis reaches the insurer.
It's a percentage, often shortened to WPI, that a doctor gives to the lasting impairment an injury leaves. It's usually assessed once the injury has stabilised, and it measures impairment, not pain or lost income. The figure to know is 10%. Above it, damages for pain and suffering become possible and some timing rules for a damages claim change. At 10% or less, lost earnings can still be claimed if the other conditions for damages are met.
Generally, no. A threshold injury is generally a soft tissue injury, and a broken bone isn't soft tissue. So a fracture caused by the crash will usually take the injury beyond the threshold, although the insurer still decides on the medical evidence. If you have a fracture along with soft tissue injuries, make sure the fracture is clearly recorded on every certificate and report.
Injury compensation lawyer: suburbs near Merrill
Related reading
- Whole person impairment
- When the insurer says threshold injury
- Threshold disputes: a general guide
- Lump sum and damages claims
- CTP damages claims
- Whiplash
- Traumatic Brain Injury
- Chronic Pain After a Car Accident
- Sciatica and Nerve Pain
- Pre-Existing Condition Aggravation
- Goulburn & Southern Tablelands: area guide
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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.