If you were hurt in a motor accident and live in Mount Colah, the most useful things you can do now are simple. Get the injury treated, tell every doctor the crash caused it, and start keeping your own records. A personal injury lawyer will build on those records if you ever need one. Our free claim check looks at where you're up to and whether a lawyer, a doctor or both would help.
Upper North Shore & Hornsby · Personal injury lawyer help
Personal injury lawyer Mount Colah
A free claim check first. An independent lawyer only if your case calls for one.
Postcode: 2079
- Free claim check, no obligation
- By phone & online, no office to visit
- Helping people in Mount Colah & Mount Kuring-gai
How injury claims work in NSW
'Personal injury' covers harm to your body or mind caused by an event, as opposed to damage to property. After a motor accident in NSW, the claim goes to a CTP insurer, and most injured people can claim statutory benefits whoever was at fault. Injuries at work sit under a separate workers compensation scheme with its own rules, and we can point you to the right help if that is you.
Read next:What a CTP claim is
The medical side of an injury claim
Treatment and care that is reasonable and necessary for your injuries is generally paid for by the insurer, within your benefit periods. The insurer decides each request, and its decisions can be reviewed. Your part is to follow the treatment plan, turn up to the sessions arranged for you, and keep copies of certificates and reports. Gaps in treatment are hard to explain later.
If the insurer arranges its own examination
An examination with a doctor the insurer picks is generally worth attending. Describe your symptoms accurately, then make a short note of what happened while it is fresh.
Read next:The Certificate of FitnessInsurer medical examinations
Records worth keeping from now on
These are records only you can make, and they are easiest to make as things happen. None of them proves a claim on its own. Together they show how the injury has affected you, which is what a doctor, an insurer or a lawyer needs to understand.
- Photos of visible injuries, taken again every week or so as they change
- A short symptom diary: pain, sleep and mood, a line or two a day
- Everyday tasks you now need help with, and who is helping
- Copies of every form, email and letter you send the insurer
- Activities you have stopped or cut back on since the crash
- Notes of calls with the insurer: the date, who you spoke to and what was said
General information, not legal advice. Your records support a claim; they don't decide it. Time limits apply.
Getting treatment and keeping records from Mount Colah
If you rode the Old Pacific Highway north of Berowra before the crash and can't now, record it. Activities you have had to give up belong in your diary as much as pain does. Everyday places around Mount Colah, such as Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park, are a useful measure of how an injury has changed things. If a trip there now takes planning, rest breaks or a lift from someone, write it down. Keep a note of every visit connected with the crash, starting with Hornsby Ku-ring-gai Hospital if you went there. Dates, who you saw and what changed make your records far easier for anyone to follow.
When travel is painful, help should come to you. The claim check runs by phone and online, and many motor accident lawyers work that way too, so being 4 km from Hornsby needn't slow anything down.
- Region
- Upper North Shore & Hornsby
- Postcode
- 2079
- Local landmarks
- Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park
- Nearest public hospital
- Hornsby Ku-ring-gai Hospital
- Distance to Hornsby
- ~4 km
Choosing a personal injury lawyer
Choosing a lawyer is less about the name on the letterhead and more about who will actually run your file. Ask whether the person you meet will handle it day to day, or pass it to a colleague. Either can work well. What matters is knowing who to call, and that they know your injury and your dates.
It's fine to speak to more than one lawyer before deciding, and fine to take a day to think. You shouldn't feel pressed to sign on the spot. If we connect you with an independent lawyer after your claim check, you remain free to decide not to go ahead with them.
Read next:Choosing a CTP lawyer
Recording how your injury changes
If your injury changes, your records should change with it. A symptom diary that stops after a fortnight can suggest you recovered, even if you didn't. Keep it going, even at a line or two, until your treating doctor says things have settled. What a change means for your claim is a separate question, and someone can answer it once the change is written down.
Don't tidy up your records
Write what actually happened, including the good days. A diary that records only bad days is less convincing than an honest one, and harder to rely on later.
Read next:Injuries after a car accident
Recording the effect on your everyday life
If you've missed paid work, keep a list of the dates and any leave you used. If you went back on lighter duties or fewer hours, write down what changed and who agreed to it. Your doctor records your capacity for work on the Certificate of Fitness, but your own notes add the detail a certificate can't hold.
Self-employed or working casually? Your records matter even more, because there may be no payslip showing what you've lost. Keep invoices, the jobs you turned down and any work you handed to someone else. Working out lost earnings is the insurer's job, and a lawyer's if it's disputed, but both will need your records to do it.
The first questions a lawyer will ask
Expect to be asked what happened, in your own words, and what has happened since. The lawyer is listening for the things that shape a claim: the date, whether someone else caused the crash, how serious the injury looks and whether the insurer has already decided anything. If you don't know an answer, say so. A guess causes more trouble later than a gap does.
- When and where did it happen?
- Who else was involved, and in which vehicles?
- What injuries do you have, and who is treating them?
- Has the insurer made any decisions or requests?
Read next:What to do after a car accident
When it's worth asking for help
Earlier is usually easier. A claim lodged within 28 days of the accident can have weekly payments back-paid to the day after it, and some insurer decisions have short windows for review. If you're unsure about anything, from which form to fill in to whether your injury is being taken seriously, a free claim check is a low-effort way to see where you stand.
Read next:What help do I need? Quick check
Your injury and legal help: where do you sit?
A lawyer can't speed up your recovery, but can help when your injury and the insurer's view of it don't line up. Use these lists as a rough guide, then check your own situation with us for free.
Often worth talking to a lawyer
- Your injury may affect your ability to earn for years, not months
- An offer has arrived and you can't tell whether it reflects your injury
- New symptoms have appeared and the insurer doesn't accept they came from the crash
- Your injury isn't improving and you're unsure what that means for your claim
You may not need one
- You're back to your usual work and routine
- Your injury is healing well and treatment is being paid for
- Your claim is accepted and nothing the insurer has decided worries you
If your injury has changed, or you're not sure your treating team has the full picture, a fresh look can help. We can suggest doctors and allied health who know CTP and 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 are still working out what kind of claim covers your injury, and what compensation means, the compensation lawyer page starts there. Compensation lawyer in Mount Colah
- The personal injury solicitor page covers how to check a solicitor's credentials and how the working relationship generally goes. Personal injury solicitor in Mount Colah
- If your injury is serious or may be permanent, the injury compensation lawyer page explains what that means for compensation. Injury compensation lawyer in Mount Colah
Free claim check
Not sure what your injury claim needs?
Call (02) 7238 7379 or request a callback. We'll go through your dates and records with you, by phone or online.
Frequently asked questions
When you claim, you'll generally be asked to authorise the insurer to obtain medical information relevant to your injuries. That can include records from before the accident if they bear on the same part of the body or on your capacity to work. Read any authority before signing it, and ask the insurer what it covers if you're unsure. A lawyer can check whether a request goes further than it should.
Whenever suits you, but earlier helps. A claim lodged within 28 days can have weekly payments back-paid to the day after the accident. Contact also helps when something changes, such as a new symptom, a refused treatment request or an offer you're unsure about. There is no charge for the claim check, and no obligation afterwards. If you only need a doctor or some reassurance, we'll say so.
Yes, if you can. A short daily or weekly note of pain, sleep, mood, what you managed and what you couldn't is one of the most useful records you can have. It helps you describe the injury accurately to doctors, and it gives a lawyer or insurer the detail that memory loses. Keep it honest, include the good days, and date every entry.
In some claims, insurers do use surveillance, generally where a lot is at stake or something in the claim doesn't add up to them. It is lawful within limits. The simplest protection is accuracy: tell your doctors and the insurer what you can and can't do, including the good days. If your records match how you actually live, footage has little to show.
Age doesn't stop you claiming. Older people can take longer to recover, and a crash can aggravate existing conditions such as arthritis, which makes clear medical records especially important. Weekly payments are based on what you were earning before the accident, so they may not apply if you weren't working, but treatment and care can generally still be claimed. Rules can vary with circumstances, so check your own situation.
Photos help, particularly for bruising, cuts, swelling, scars and anything that changes as it heals. Take them soon after the accident and again every week or so, with the date recorded. Keep the originals on your phone or computer rather than edited copies. Photos of aids you now use, like a brace or crutches, can help too. They support your medical records; they don't replace them.
Personal injury lawyer: suburbs near Mount Colah
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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.